I am looking for a decent tire gauge.

[bigbikerrick]

Hi Folks, maybe I am asking too much of my tire gauges, but I have a drawer full of mostly junk, untrustworthy,or gauges that only work on certain bikes, etc. I have tried the slime digital ones, and they dont last. I have bought the best analog gauge I could find Accu rite , I think, and even with its swiveling head, it doesnt fit on the rear wheel of my 03 cali ,between the spokes.
  I need a gauge that will read accurately down to about 5 psi for atvs, and then on the high side I only need to go to around 45 psi. I need it to fit in tight spots at weird angles on different bikes, so it will probably have to have a hose, but maybe not.
  I also would prefer something that if electronic, does not use those darn little "watch" batteries, if at all possible.
Am I asking for too much? I appreciate any recommendations, what do you guys use ?
Thanks
Rick.

[John Croucher]

I built my own.  Bought a certified gauge from McMaster Carr.  Added hose and swivel chuck fitting.

[bigbikerrick]

No Kidding John! Thats the ultimate Guzzisti way of doing it...If you cant find what you like ,build it yourself! 
 I would love to see a picture of it, if its not too much trouble.
Rick.

[Lannis]

I've got two Accu-rites with hoses and bleed valves so you can "bleed" down to the right pressure.

Bikes, tractors, lawnmowers, tillers, cars, trucks, trailers, there's no valve around here they won't reach and read.   They'll read a couple pounds on turf tires and up to 60 for trailer tires.

Lannis

[Chuck in Indiana]

I've got two Accu-rites with hoses and bleed valves so you can "bleed" down to the right pressure.

Bikes, tractors, lawnmowers, tillers, cars, trucks, trailers, there's no valve around here they won't reach and read.   They'll read a couple pounds on turf tires and up to 60 for trailer tires.

Lannis

+1

[Gliderjohn]

Another +1 on the accu-rites.
GliderJohn

[bikeridertim]

I bought a JACO ElitePro Tire Pressure Gauge - 60 PSI it reads from 0-60 PSI, guaranteed to be within 2%, flexible hose, and it even Glows in the dark!    Not sure why,  but it does! 

[kingoffleece]

I have 3.  One to 10 lbs for the ATV.  Two mid range for the bikes-one straight and one right angle.  And another one (guess that makes 4) for the high pressure truck and camper tires.  I don't ask my 100 psi gauge to read down to 6 psi and vise versa.  And the Motion Pro inflation to fill the spoke straight valves is worth it's weight in gold.

[bigbikerrick]

Kingofleas, what is the Motion Pro product you like?
Thanks
Rick.

[Guzzistajohn]

I've had a accu-rite for like....20 yrs. I got the one with the rubber hose. And my little SLIME compressor is dead on with it

[kingoffleece]

it's a chuck with a funny shape.  the inflator is angled back at something like 145 degrees.  it lets you get right on to those stright valves that are a pain due to length and/or brake disks in the way.  I'll look for a picture for you.  They make a real pain in the butt job super easy.

[kingoffleece]

https://www.motionpro.com/product/08-0602

This one.  really well thought out

[bigbikerrick]

Dang, Thats sweet! KOF. And I see it can be used with Motion pro pressure gauges too. I think you may have found the solution for me!
Thanks
Rick.

[LowRyter]

I've got a bunch of them, cheap pens and more expensive dial types.  All seem to be within a couple of pounds of each other consistently.

I've never worried about a couple of pounds on a car or bike.

[Demar]

I like these. I've bought a few. The hold pressure when you take the gauge off the stem and reset when you push the button on the side. You can use the button with the gauge on the stem to air down to the pressure you want.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Accu-Gage-Tire-Pressure-Gauge-60-PSI-Swivel-Angle-chuck/221160767750?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

[harry h]

I have had this Rhino gauge for a couple of years now.  Really good quality and believe made in the USA.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01J580F2K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[flower_king001]

Bought mine thru MG-Cycle

https://www.amazon.com/Cruztools-DTPG1-TirePro-Dial-Gauge/dp/B000N5QUGK

[s1120]

Good thread!  Ive been thinking the same thing. I have a ton of nice gauges... but none fit the rear wheel on my California.. Just not enough room. I found a cheap pencil gauge, but they are a pain to read for my old eyes.  Ill be looking into a few of these choices for sure!! 

[blackcat]

The Accu-gage is guaranteed for life. Just mail it back to them with return postage

[kballowe]

Last time, I stopped by NAPA and picked up a couple of those stick (pencil) gauges.  Six bucks apiece, I think.

Those el cheapo pencil gauges at WalMart haven't been accurate for me.

[Moto]

Accu-gages are now all guaranteed by the manufacturer for one year, not for a lifetime (https://www.ghmeiser.com/dial-gauges.htm).

Not too many years ago the company shifted production of its standard dial gauges out of the U.S. In addition to their lower-end regular gauges (made in China, probably) they now offer special M-series gauges made entirely in the U.S. (a continuation of their old production I think), and a newer A-series assembled in the U.S. out of U.S., European, and Taiwanese components.

I just got a standard Accu-gage as a gift and had its plastic transparent dial cover collapse partway onto the dial as I was fitting a rubber boot. 

My collection of gauges includes two old 0-60lb. Accu-gages, made in the U.S. One is about 25 years old and the other must be 40. I also have two inexpensive 0-50lb. Milton stick gauges (model S-921), one probably 30 years old and the other maybe 10. I'll go out to the garage and compare measurements.

I plan to measure the same car tire four times with each of the four gauges, in this sequence (a latin square):

1 2 3 4, 2 4 1 3, 3 1 4 2, 4 3 2 1

I expect the air loss from repeated measurements to be noticeable, but the design will balance out the measurements for each gauge across the loss. I can fit a regression line to capture the air loss effect if it seems large, and then measure deviations for each gauge around the line. This seems like a fair test of the two models.

I assigned the numbers as follows. 1 = older Milton; 2 = younger Accu-gage; 3 = older Accu-gage; 4 = younger Milton. I marked each gauge with its number.

Here are the data I obtained, in the planned order of measurement (the tenths digit is just an approximate guess):

1 30.5
2 29.7
3 29.2
4 29.9
2 29.2
4 29.8
1 30.3
3 29.6
3 29.5
1 30.2
4 29.7
2 29.2
4 29.7
3 29.2
2 29.1
1 30.1

The first summary just collects the observations for each gauge without considering the air loss across them:


. tab gauge, summ(psi)

            |           Summary of psi
      gauge |        Mean   Std. Dev.       Freq.       Min        Max
------------+---------------------------------------------------------
      M-old |      30.275   .17078223           4      30.1       30.5
    A-young |   29.300001   .27080137           4      29.1       29.7
      A-old |      29.375   .20615499           4      29.2       29.6
    M-young |      29.775   .09574208           4      29.7       29.9
------------+---------------------------------------------------------
      Total |    29.68125   .43698753          16


The results look pretty good so far. The next step is to fit a regression on the measurement sequence number (recentered at 8.5), and calculate residuals from the line for each observation.

 gen seqctr = seq - 8.5

. regress psi seqctr
...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         psi |      Coef.   Std. Err.      t    P>|t|     [95% Conf. Interval]
-------------+----------------------------------------------------------------
      seqctr |  -.0242647   .0236581    -1.03   0.322    -.0750061    .0264768
       _cons |   29.68125   .1090582   272.16   0.000     29.44734    29.91516
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are the residuals for each gauge:

.  predict resid, resid

. tab gauge, summ(resid)

            |        Summary of Residuals
      gauge |        Mean   Std. Dev.       Freq.
------------+------------------------------------
      M-old |   .59374976   .03424971           4
    A-young |  -.38124967   .17786886           4
      A-old |  -.30624986   .23165232           4
    M-young |   .09374976   .03107178           4
------------+------------------------------------
      Total |  -9.313e-10   .42144104          16

The mean values are differences from the overall average. The two Accu-gages are within .075 of each other, while the Miltons are 0.50 apart. Interestingly, both Miltons are noticeably more consistent from measurement to measurement as shown by their standard deviations. In this tiny sample the Miltons are more reliable, but not necessarily more accurate. The average fitted reading across all four gauges at the middle of the sequence is 29.68 psi.

If we want to give the Accu-gages the benefit of the doubt, we can take their average reading as the standard, which would be  29.68 - (.381+.306)/2 = 29.3 psi at the middle of the sequence. Then the two Miltons would read  29.68 + (.593+.093)/2 = 30.0, or 0.7 psi too high.

My conclusion is that there is little to differentiate the gauges for accuracy: they all give about the same reading; while the Miltons do seem more reliable in the test/retest sense.

I've come around to the conclusion that the more compact and more rugged (and cheaper) Milton pencil gauges will be my preference for daily use, though I will calibrate them against the Accu-gages, just because.

Moto

P.S. I was considering a European Vondior gauge comparable to the Accu-gage, since it has an "easy to read glow dial" and also the black face that my older Accu-gages have. I think it's a little nicer, for those wanting a dial: https://www.amazon.com/Vondior-Tire-Pressure-Gauge-Certified/dp/B072Z4SBN9/ref=sr_1_17?crid=3U4VX47AS92W2&keywords=accugage+tire+pressure+gauge&qid=1564692824&s=gateway&sprefix=accu+gage%2Caps%2C174&sr=8-17

Also by the way, the new (white-faced) Accu-gage I obtained and broke had the 45-degree fitting, but that turned out not to fit well for either my Griso or my Italjet, to my surprise.

Finally, a reviewer of the Milton stick gauge on Amazon complained that the one he received had a wobbly red plastic sleeve between the indicator and the plated brass housing, which he took as a sign of lowered quality and presumed reduced accuracy. But both of my decades-old Miltons have exactly that same construction.

[blackcat]

No lifetime guarantee.....well that sucks.

[Moto]

Here are my results in graphical form, which might be easier to appreciate. (Click the graph to enlarge it.) The blue and green dots and lines are the super-reliable Milton stick gauges (in the test/retest sense). The downward slopes reflect the loss of air with the successive measurements.



In summary, the red and brown dots from the Accu-gage measurements are all over the place, while the blue and green Milton values are almost incredibly close to straight-line reflections of the slow loss in pressure. It's unfortunate that they read about one half pound different from each other, however.

Moto

[Testarossa]

I've been happy with this one.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HFX38U4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's as accurate and consistent as any digital gauge I've used.

[John Croucher]

No Kidding John! Thats the ultimate Guzzisti way of doing it...If you cant find what you like ,build it yourself! 
 I would love to see a picture of it, if its not too much trouble.
Rick.

Nothing special, looks like something from harbor freight except for the pink duct tape wrapped around it so I don't loose it.

[rschrum]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Longacre-53000-Pro-Digital-Tire-Pressure-Gauge-0-60-PSI/332733828055?hash=item4d787b4bd7:g:aZEAAOSwf6pbWiuF
To expensive for a tractor, you say?

[kingoffleece]

MOTO,
Simply brilliant!

[Moto]

MOTO,
Simply brilliant!

Err,  . I think I was answering a question the OP didn't ask, looking back at it now! (But thanks.)

Rick wanted:

... a gauge that will read accurately down to about 5 psi for atvs, and then on the high side I only need to go to around 45 psi. I need it to fit in tight spots at weird angles on different bikes, so it will probably have to have a hose, but maybe not.
  I also would prefer something that if electronic, does not use those darn little "watch" batteries, if at all possible.

Based on my new-found respect for Milton pencil gauges (reported above), I would recommend obtaining two Milton pencil gauges, one for 2-20psi (S-917) and one for 5-50psi (S-921). These are really solidly constructed and relatively heavy, made from plated brass. They absolutely fit at weird angles on bikes, if you get the "single-head" types I just recommended, making a hose unnecessary. Total price for the two together is about $13.

I also thought about the Motion-Pro chuck that KOF recommended. Though it is certainly nice (and even beautiful to a degree) I don't see that it has much advantage over a $2.69 Milton Single Head Air Chuck (S-699):



This has the same convenient head angle as the pencil gauges, and would easily do the three jobs pictured on the Motion-Pro website. Milton also has a locking version for about $9.50, and a barb-type for about $4.50.

In my Milton research I noticed they sell those plated brass valve stem caps with the core-removal tool on top. I'm getting a box of five ($4.84 on Amazon) so I can put one or more on all my bikes, instead of the one I've always had on one bike. Yee haw.



Moto

[bigbikerrick]

Thanks for all the recommendations, guys.   I remember the name "Milton" from many years ago when I worked at a gas station. They make good quality products at fair prices.
Rick.