I was dead wrong about that cheap tire pressure gauge

Picked up a $3 stick style gauge at a gas station in Tulsa last month because my digital one died. Laughed at how basic it looked, figured it would be off by 5 PSI easy. Checked it against my buddy's professional Snap-on gauge and it was within 0.5 PSI every time. Been using it for three weeks now and my gas mileage actually went up by 2 MPG because I started checking tires more often. I always thought you had to drop $40 on a digital gauge to get accurate readings. Has anyone else had a cheap tool turn out way better than expected?

2 comments

2 Comments

jordan9037d ago

Man I gotta push back on this one. Digital gauges have way too many failure points with cheap batteries and crappy sensors. That $3 stick is fine until the little spring inside goes bad or the plastic cracks, then you're reading air wrong and don't even know it.

the_alice6d ago

Three times now I've pulled one of those stick gauges out of my glovebox and the little ruler part just slid right out and fell on the ground. One of them the plastic clip broke the second time I used it, just sat there with the stick hanging loose. My digital one has lasted like four years on the same battery and still reads the same as the air pump at the gas station. I'd trust my luck with a cheap sensor before I trust myself not to fumble a stick gauge into a puddle.