Many brands of tire pressure gauges are grossly inaccurate, ranging anywhere from 5 to 50 psi off. Here are the ones you should toss and the ones you should buy for your car. Plus, how Harbor Freight gauges fared.
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It's one of those oddities of car ownership: many car owners will pay more for questionably higher quality motor oil when studies show some of the cheaper motor oil brands are fine; will pay hundreds on having someone else detail their vehicle when they could save money just by spending a 15-30 minutes per week on car cosmetic upkeep themselves; and, will usually buy their car overpriced maintenance products at expensive at chain auto parts stores rather than a discount store like Walmart where online shopping is far cheaper for the same name brand product and is more convenient.
Related article: Best Tire Brands of 2024 You Should Be Buying This Year
However, when it comes to their tire pressure gauges, it is the cheaper ones you will find in a glove box and/or are too old.
Big mistake. Tire pressure gauges do wear out―even those all-metal traditional pocket clip models your Old Man used when you were a kid―and worse yet, many of the new model ones are little more than junk.
Why You Should Ensure You Are Using a Good Tire Pressure Gauge
The oddities listed above are meant to hammer in the point that sometimes we are all guilty of misplacing the money we spend on car maintenance costs. While a tire pressure gauge may not seem as big a deal as your motor oil, the fact is that ensuring your tires are always at the correct pressure will get the most mileage out of them. Good tires are not cheap!
Furthermore, correct tire pressures contribute to:
- Increased safety by reducing the risk of blowouts on the highway and ensuring that not just traction but your car is at its optimal handling and braking performance.
- Fuel savings by lowering your wheel's rolling resistance for better fuel efficiency.
- Avoiding having to risk changing your tire on a busy street.
Tire Pressure Related Deaths
However, the biggest argument toward ensuring you have an accurate tire pressure gauge is to avoid accidently overinflating your tires.
Here is a news report from last month about two separate tire deaths due to exploding tires:
Second tire death reported in 2 months in Lee County
In case you are counting on your car's Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) to monitor your tires, it may not detect minor deviations in pressure. A good tire gauge will provide more precise measurements.
What Brand Tire Gauge Types are Best?
Tire pressure gauges come in three style types: the pocket clip “pencil stick” style, analog pressure gauge style, and digital pressure gauge style.
Pencil stick style: Often, the traditional metal stick style ones are cheapest you will find and are physically durable but generally are not very accurate―especially as they age.
Analog style: A little more expensive but less durable for banging around in a glove box. Whether it is more accurate than a stick is a coin toss depending on the brand and quality of the build. The analog style usually has a bleeder valve built in for lowering the pressure of an over-inflated tire without having to remove the gauge from the tire pressure valve.
Digital style: Typically theses are the most accurate and the most expensive air pressure gauge. They come with an easy-to-read display―some of which are backlit. However, new batteries are required due to low battery power might affect its reading accuracy.
Which Tire Pressure Type and Brand is Best?
If you are considering upping your tire maintenance game and/or suspect it is time to toss out the tire pressure gauge you've had for years, now is the right time to buy a new one with the help of the Project Farm YouTube channel that recently provided a useful tire gauge review.
Follow along with the host and find out just how good (or how bad) many brands and types compare before shopping for a new one on which you can depend. The review covers the following brands:
- JACO
- Milton
- Merlin (HF)
- TireTek
- ETENWOLF
- Longacre
- DeWalt
- UNCO
- Joe's Racing
- Rhino USA
- Accu-Gage
- AstroAI
- Slime
- Campbell Hausfeld
- Pittsburgh (HF)
- Vondior
- SKS Germany
- CZC Auto
In case you do not have the time to watch the entire video, a summary of the review is provided for your convenience below the video.
Best Tire Pressure Gauge? Let's Settle This!
Best Tire Pressure Gauge Summary
Pitting a range of both digital, analog, and stick-style brands of tire pressure gauges against each other under a range of pressure, temperature, and seating performance on the valve stem, the top five listed in order of brand, price, and score value based on total pressure miss are as follows:
- JACO(Digital): $28 / Off by 0.9 psi
- Merlin(Digital) $30 / Off by 2.5 psi
- SKS Germany (Digital) $29 / Off by 2.6 psi
- CZC Auto (Pencil) $9 / Off by 3.0 psi
- Milton Dual Head (Pencil) $17 / Off by 3.0 psi
How Harbor Freight Did in the Review
One surprise is that the Merlin brand sold at Harbor Freight came in second with a total pressure miss of 2.5 psi. However, at a price of $30 which is not the kind of price HF shoppers typically look for. Wait for a coupon or Inside Track Member deal.
The not so surprising HF tire pressure gauge brand of Pittsburgh was near the bottom of the list with a total pressure miss of 23.5 psi and a price tag of only $1.39. Unacceptable but not surprising.
For additional articles related to your car's tire, here are a few useful ones for your consideration:
- Best Tire Values Rated by Consumer Reports 2024
- A Popular All-Terrain Tire is Recalled and What It Means to You
- Why You Should Not Fit Original Equipment Tires on Your Car
Timothy Boyer is an automotive reporter based in Cincinnati. Experienced with early car restorations, he regularly restores older vehicles with engine modifications for improved performance. Follow Tim on Twitter at @TimBoyerWrites for daily news and topics related to new and used cars and trucks.
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Image source: Deposit Photos
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