i've always used one of those pencil-type gauges but today i tried a couple others just for curiosity and i got totally different readings on each. the one i have is stainless steel while the others were cheap plastic ones. now i'm wondering if i should just discount the readings on the cheap gauges or are these type of gauges not reliable? would a round analog or digital gauge be more accurate?

 

I used to have the metal analog one but if you're not careful they go bad, if the little lubrication they have gets mixed up with dirt, it will give you an erroneus reading because the shaft is not sliding smooth within the tube.
I have now a digital one and what a difference, it works great, I recommend you get a digital one.

 

I picked one up at AutoZones. Its a circle looking one.. It works better than the pencil ones IMO...

 

the digital ones are real nice as are the ones Mr mentioned

 

I STRONGLY recommend one of these:

Moroso 710-89560 for $44.99. It's been the best investment I've ever made for any of my cars!

Go here: http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerc...98&prmenbr=361

Buying the cover too is a nice addition to keep it safe. from bumps on the ground.

It may be a little expensive but WELL worth it. My last set of tires (Goodyear RS-A) I had on my 94' Talon have almost 70k miles and are still going strong through the winter. And they're not dry rotted either.

 

Get yourself a good gauge. I checked my tires a couple of weeks ago and 2 were off by 1 or 2 lbs. Ride is a lot better now. I've been using this one for over 10 years.
http://store.summitracing.com/defaul...pressure+gauge

The one that Tom mentioned is even nicer cause of the hose extension. Hmm...may have to pic up one for the garage so I can leave the old one in my car.

 

Just because it's digital, don't assume it's accurate. I just bought a digital from Sears for $15 because I wanted a second one for my other car. Right out of the package, it's about 12psi off and they claim 1psi accuracy.

 

The dial gauges historically are the most accurate. The pen gauges vary so you may want to spend a few extra $$$ to get a good one. Proper tire pressure is key to ride quality, handling and most importantly, tire wear.

 

how about when you set the pressure at the pump at the gas station and it rings when u reach it? are those accurate?? and how many lbs for a tls?

 

The manual says 32lbs. for both front and rear on this car. Some cars will have a front to rear staggered pressure.

If I get air at a gas station I overfill the tires by a few pounds at least. Your adding cold air to a tire that has hot air in it. So when the car sits long enough for ALL the air in the tires to cool down (when your supposed to check the pressure to get a correct/accurate reading) THEN you can let enough air out of each one to the proper poundage.

A good home air compressor is a wonderful investment. Campbell Hausfeld, Ingersoll Rand, Craftsman (though not my favorite because they use aluminum cylinders and heads) are just a few. I ordered the biggest one I could without having 240v installed in my garage. It’s a Campbell Hausfeld 26 gal. 5 hp horizontal with iron cylinders and head. It has two pistons and only requires the oil to be changed every year or so. Just remember to open the drain valve every few weeks to get rid of all the collected condensation.

You won’t believe the things you can do around the house with one of those. Air ratchets, impact wrenches, boating toys such as ski tubes, children’s inflatables, bike tires, drying off your engine after you wash it, pressure washers…the possibilities are endless.

 

i got a digital talking guage at radio shack for about 15 bucks. Do you think an inexspensive guage like this will be accurate?
it is certainly easier to use than the analog ones and i always check the same tire several times and the readings are uniform

 

I bought one of those round kind... and I like them, but here's a warning... I dropped it on the ground, and it threw the reading off! Luckily, I sensed the wrong reading early, cause it just seem like it was too much air I was putting in, so I bought a new one, campared it... and figured it out before blowing all four tires.

 

I was using one of those pencil type gauges for years and never put any thought on accuracy, until I read an article on an old Consumer's Reports magazine about how tire gauges are made and calibrated. They recommended a brand called Accu-Tire and I picked one up from a local shop (Canadian Tire) for less than $15.00, It is digital and measures to 0.5 PSI.

Vicman

________________

03 TL Type-S SSM
K&N

 

thx for the consumer reports tip. i was thinking about picking up one of those Accutire digital gauges at Canadian Tire. does yours have backlit?

 

yep, ya'll need to keep track of stuff like this. it becomes more crucial when u start to drive a little faster than normal, especially in the twisties

 

I dunno if it's backlit (never used it in the dark), but it is angled and measures up to 99 PSI. The quality of their low-end ones and high-end ones (built-in light) seems to be the same.

Vicman

________________

03 TL Type-S SSM
K&N

 

on the dial gauges...

 

I notice that the above links aren't still working. Upon some inspection, I found that the lower-cost Moroso gauges are only accurate to 2%. On our cars, that's 7/10 of a pound. I'd really like to find a gauge with 1% or better accuracy. I also think that many people on these forums are confused as to the definition of accuracy. The fact that a gauge measures down to, say, 0.5 doesn't mean that it is at all accurate. Unfortunately when I search the web, finding actual accuracy numbers for gauges is rare.

A friend of mine has a digital gauge (I'm not sure how accurate), but I have always found it to be extremely hard to get a good seal when using it. I think I want to go with either a dial type or a digital one.

Any recommendations on a gauge that has high accuracy and isn't a pain to use?

 

I have a digital "racing" gauge (roughly $35) that reads tenths of a pound; usually my Accutire analog is within a pound or two max. I alway double check one tire with both gauges before doing them all- it can be a pain.
I never trust only one gauge, since I have found my Cooper SLE's like 36 front and 34 rear. Any device can drift off calibration over time.

 

I have 3 gauges, 2 pencil types and one dial type, and all 3 reads differently on the same tire. I might invest in a digital type next time. I found the dial type difficult to get a good seal to get accurate reading.

 

My $10 autozone digital reads .5 lb increments, also reads bar and something else so everyone can figure it out.

You can go to a race car supply shop and buy a very accurate guage, but at the track we always deal with .5 lb adjustments so why bother.

If you really want to know the correct pressure for your tires get a laser pointed non contact thermal temp guage $50
Take a reading at the inner middle and outer edges of a hot tire fresh off the twisty roads or fast freeway run
(in a 1/2-1 inch measure from actual edge)
If one or more differ -then adjust the pressure or alignment as needed

Low tech and fine for most humans-
Read the tire for max cold pressure at what weight
Then figure how much weight you actually have on it- probably less
Take the max pressure and subtract 20 percent or 10 % X2 (for the non-mathologivcal inclindededed,) and use that as a base number
Stock size tires many run 36-38 front ( al ittle bumpy)
and rear 32-34
If tire says max cold 44 psi - you can roughly run 36

 

I don't think 7/10's of a pound is too terrible. I mean you can easily get 3 lbs. difference between left and right tires depending on which side the sun is shining on.

"Accuracy" is also an opinion laced term. Some people may think their home stereo set up with 5% variance in it's capacitors is accurate. I personally don't think that happens till .5 or 1%. But that's just me....

 

Another thing I forgot to mention is that I use nitrogen. I only gain a couple PSI after a half hour of 75MPH highway driving. I doubt that the sun will affect me by 3 pounds.

I drive a lot (25,000-30,000/year) and my gas mileage and tire wear are very important to me. I figure if I'm going to buy a gauge, I want it to actually be accurate to within 0.5 of a pound. I figure if it isn't accurate to that, then why even have a gauge that reads down to 0.5?

 

I see where your concern is...been there. In one of my earlier posts I said that I've gotten over 70k on a single set of Goodyear RS-A's; that was using that same Moroso guage. I did run them over the factory recomended pressures (about 5 lbs.) which made for a bumpier ride but, eh. But as you know you just have to check and adjust the pressure a lot.

 

I have the magnaflow too and love it, they are cheaper on ebay but I wanted a warranty(salt in winter kills an exhaust) so I got it here. magnaflow 15892, or you can try one of the vendors here, they are always running sales/specials. either way its a great system and very easy to install.

 

Beside the 2 yo thread, they are talking tire pressure, not exhaust.
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