Tire Gauge

With the importance of proper tire inflation, how do you know if your tire gauge is accurate?  I have 2 digital gauges and 11 stick gauges, and they all show different pressure readings.  I've seen more expensive gauges at parts stores and camping world, but (again) how do you know if they're accurate?  Do the tire stores have a way of making sure their gauges are accurate?  With all the articles on checking and maintaining proper tire inflation, I've yet to read anything about the gauges.

I purchased a heavy duty Truck air gauge. The kind with the rubber hose attached. The only thing I did was check it with a couple of others. Pretty close. Then I never DROP IT. Then I purchased an up to 50 and one up to 150 and never drop them. The 50 for the car and the 150 for the RV

Tire pressure gauges have one guarantee, no two will read the same.  I needed to have accurate tire pressure in the slicks on my race car so I bought an ANSI Grade A air pressure gauge added a little hose and a connector to attach to the value stem.  This gave me a tire pressure gauge with a midrange accuracy of +/- 1%.  At 10-12 pounds that gave me an accuracy of + or - .1 pound.  You can save a little money by using a Grade B which has a midrange accuracy of +/- 2%.

Barry

well you learn something new everyday.  Who knew tire gauges had grades??

DJm

DJM

Just to clarify things a little.  I didn't buy a tire gauge.  I bought an ANSI graded PRESSURE gauge and made a DIY tire gauge.

Barry

Barry:

Again, who knew?  Thanks for the update.  I may have to be a copycat of you.

DJM

Tire pressure gauges have one guarantee, no two will read the same.  I needed to have accurate tire pressure in the slicks on my race car so I bought an ANSI Grade A air pressure gauge added a little hose and a connector to attach to the value stem.  This gave me a tire pressure gauge with a midrange accuracy of +/- 1%.  At 10-12 pounds that gave me an accuracy of + or - .1 pound.  You can save a little money by using a Grade B which has a midrange accuracy of +/- 2%.

Barry

Where do you buy them and an you post a picture? like to see it.

Here is a list of the piece parts required to make an accurate tire gauge.  I found the pressure gauge on the internet as an example.  Not sure of the company but the quality looks good.  The hose, air chuck and hose clamps can be found at any hardware store.  Pressure gauge and air chuck each have 1/4 inch NPT connections.

http://www.gaugestore.com/prodinfo.asp?number=38110


Connect with a length of 1/4 inch ID hose and secure with the hose clamps.  You now have an accurate  tire gauge for less than $30.

For those that want a ready made tire guage (a little less accurate) try this website as a start.  Look under TIRE GAUGE FAQ for TIRE GAUGE ACCURACY.  They claim Accu-gage used ANSI grade B pressure gauges.  I would make a call to ACCU-Gage before I ordered.


http://www.getagauge.com/index.cfm

Barry

After reading this string, I wondered how critical the absolute level of air pressure in the tires was considering that thermal expansion with driving will change the pressure by a few PSI.  Also, how critical is the symmetry of the tire pressure?  The reason that I ask is that the gauges are speced on accuracy, not on repeatability.  That means that theoretically if you have + or - 2% accuracy, you could have two adjacent tires 4% apart on real pressure.  One other question for those of you who are interested in this string.  Has anyone looked into the central electronic monitoring systems accuracy?  In the process industries most traditional pressure measuring devices using mechanical sensors have been replaced by electronic strain gauges, which are usually viewed as more accurate and repeatable.  Since the electronic central systems are getting more reasonable, I'm thinking I might want to invest in one.

Jerry