Tire pressure guages

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Ramnewbie

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I recently bought a dial tire pressure guage to replace the old pencil style one that I've had floating around in my tool box for years. With the cool mornings we've been having lately I decided this morning to check the dashboard readout to see what my tire pressures were. According to the TPS my tires were down to 33 psi which surprised me that I hadn't got a tire pressure warning since they're supposed to be 39 psi. So I used my new dial pressure guage to check them when I aired them up. According to my new guage I aired them up to 39 psi, but then when I checked TPS it said 44 psi. Dug out the old pencil style guage and it also said 44 psi. Now I know you shouldn't use the TPS system to inflate you're tires and they're not exactly accurate but should I believe my new dial guage or the old pencil style?

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69GWC

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Thats a tough one, Last spring I threw away 3 gauges because after checking they were all off.
Bought a new one amd closely matches my tps
 
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Ramnewbie

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Will the old pencil style stay accurate forever or is it just a crap shoot trying to get a guage that's accurate?

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TRCM

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TPMS needs to be driven to even out and read correctly

Pencil style gages can be off just from dust

I use a nice dial gage I got from summit racing (~50 bucks I think), and I set my tires by it....the TPMS will be close, but after driving ~ 20 miles or so, the TPMS reads within 1 psi of the gage
 
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Ramnewbie

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Ok thanks, I'll see what happen tomorrow. I didn't drive it after I aired the tires and I was kinda surprised that the TPS had picked it up at all.

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69GWC

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Yeah my problem with gauges was buying cheap ones and not bucking up and getting a good one to start with.
You know you get what you pay for....
 

Jared26

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I'd definitely trust a good dial gauge over the TPMS sensors, they're known to be a bit off. Last year one of mine went freaking out saying I had a flat on the right front for no reason, checked the tires they were all at 44PSI on my dial gauge, after a day or 2 the TPMS cleared itself and was showing 42psi all the way around.
 
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Ramnewbie

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Yeah my problem with gauges was buying cheap ones and not bucking up and getting a good one to start with.
You know you get what you pay for....
Yeah, this is a cheap one. I liked it because it was small and could be kept in console. Maybe just need to get a good one and keep it under back seat.

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patchelect

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I have been driving for almost 50 years and have owned pencil gauges for most of them. I probably did have an analog dial type at one point but the pencils were convenient and could be tossed in the glove box easily. Several years ago I was gifted a "multi tool" type of gauge that included a flashlight and a few other gizmos, but the TP readout was digital. Being "old school" I am always resistant to digital readouts but I've become enamored with this one. The numbers it reads agree with the TP readouts on the dash, but I also have to have blind faith that THAT is accurate, don't I?? True, in racing, TP is highly critical, but for my lifestyle as long as the TP "appears" correct I'll be fine. I tend toward higher than recommended numbers so I'm highly unlikely to be under inflating anything. If all the tires read a number that I find acceptable, I'm cool with that.
 
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Ramnewbie

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I'd definitely trust a good dial gauge over the TPMS sensors, they're known to be a bit off. Last year one of mine went freaking out saying I had a flat on the right front for no reason, checked the tires they were all at 44PSI on my dial gauge, after a day or 2 the TPMS cleared itself and was showing 42psi all the way around.
Drove truck today and apparently TPS finally figured out where it wants to be, all numbers between TPS and dial guage agree now.

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JB1

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I have this craftsman digital gauge from sears, it reads exactly what the TPMS reads at the same time. They always put them on sale round Christmas for 1/2 price

Sears.com

61tjZ5%2B--CL._SL1000_.jpg
 

SRR007

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Want a good guage get a liquid filled dial guage. I use one like this.
 

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reek

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after having 3 different, albeit cheap, gauges off by more than 10 psi when comparing them, I bought a liquid filled Motion pro gauge. mainly for my motorcycles, especially for track days. it was worth the 90 bucks!
 

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GsRAM

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I find that the tpms is off initially till I drive a few miles, then they all read the same or close to the same. After work i notice the side of my truck that has the afternoon sun on it , that side tires are about 2 or 3 lbs higher than the shaded side and they stay that way till i get home.

An example of how heat increases air pressure.

I typically just use a kobalt (Lowe's) pistol type gage\inflater combo. It's usually a pound or so off of the tpms so i figure it must be fairly accurate. I think it was $20 at Lowe's. Not bad, but those liquid filled ones are sweet!

What type of liquid is in them? Can it freeze? My shop is not heated.

I have a nice large display digital pistol type infilater, but out in the shop the batteries keep dieing
 

reek

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not sure what specific liquid is in the tool. Not sure if freezing would be an issue. We only get down to about high 30's at the coldest. The batteries in the Motion pro seem to work for about a year. I've since "calibrated"" all of my cheaper gauges to the motion pro so I know approximately how off they are.
 

Fergusontd

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I find that the tpms is off initially till I drive a few miles, then they all read the same or close to the same. After work i notice the side of my truck that has the afternoon sun on it , that side tires are about 2 or 3 lbs higher than the shaded side and they stay that way till i get home.

An example of how heat increases air pressure.

I typically just use a kobalt (Lowe's) pistol type gage\inflater combo. It's usually a pound or so off of the tpms so i figure it must be fairly accurate. I think it was $20 at Lowe's. Not bad, but those liquid filled ones are sweet!

What type of liquid is in them? Can it freeze? My shop is not heated.

I have a nice large display digital pistol type infilater, but out in the shop the batteries keep dieing
Make sure you buy lots of batteries. Those Sears gauges go thru batteries like **** thru a goose!

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Fergusontd

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I have this craftsman digital gauge from sears, it reads exactly what the TPMS reads at the same time. They always put them on sale round Christmas for 1/2 price

Sears.com

61tjZ5%2B--CL._SL1000_.jpg
Buy alot of batteries, those Sears gauges go thru batteries like **** thru a goose!

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JB1

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Funny you say that, had this exactly one year and just had to replace few days ago, they are CR2032. I use it all the time so I think a year was excellent.
 
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