What do you trust more? TPMS or tire gauge?

[jjdustr340]

I have an old school Milton stick guage that I bought because it reminded me of the one I used as a young man working at a full service gas station. Pretty expensive at the time but seems to work fine but its not been calibrated.

I've also bought the below Jaco dial gauge to keep in the jeep, I liked it so much I've bought quite a few of them as Christmas gifts for family and friends.

Looks like a quality piece and keeps the pressure reading until you press a button to release pressure. Very cool gauge.
I don't want a gauge that takes a battery.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010A6B6KG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Been using that one since 2018. I find it to be quite accurate and very reliable

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[Mad Mac]

Based on the recommendation of kb5czr
I ordered one of those Jaco air gauges last week
to replace my old Monkey Grip dial air gauge
which could not lock in readings.
To use that one you had to do the Macarena.

 

[ecidiego]

33 posts in and no one mentioned that the tps does not give out an instant reading. Unless I missed a line.
If you turn on the Jeep and go to the tps page, it will give you the last readings.
I do not know how frequently it refreshes, but it is not instantaneous.

Give the sensors a minute to reset and then check against your gauge.

My TPS is dead on. Don't look at it for the 1st 5 minutes tho after cold start. It's never right on boot.

=D

 

[Curt Oz]

I always go by a good tire pressure gauge.
My tpms shows 2psi +

https://www.longacreracing.com/prod...prodid=95470&pagetitle=Deluxe-2-½”-Tire-Gauge

 

[WILDHOBO]

+1 on Longacre

Upon these suggestions, I ordered a longacre with the pressure relief valve. It shows up sometime this week. Any suggestions on calibrating them, for those that have done so?

 

[PaulW]

Get a good gauge
From consumer reports and tested against lab for accuracy. 18 tested.
Accutire MS-4021B, Accutire MS-4400B, Around $10 best ones tested
Accutire MS-4350B $20
Accutire MS-4800B $6
Intercomp 360060 Above $55 just as good. Nice Dial gauge
Others not so accurate
Been using the 4400B for over 20 years and it still works fine.

 

[BearFootSam]

My TPMS always matches what my gauges say. I've got a decent digital gauge, and another dial/analog gauge that is very accurate. If the cluster says the tire is 35, when I measure with my gauge, it's 35.
It's very unlikely ALL sensors are reading bad (high or low) at the same time.
Why not check your gauge against a standard?
I have yet to see a Jeep TPMS be inaccurate. If my wife tells me that her Jeep is alerting her to a low tire and I check it, it's likely to be spot-on.
I don't trust stick gauges - I trust dial gauges or digital. And mine all match.
I can measure the tires on my Jeep, and my wife's Jeep, and all of the readings will be within a psi or so and considering rounding of digital displays and the parallax of dial gauges, that's damned good.

I use a high quality fluid damped gauge and find it matches the TPMS. Interestingly I've learned that some TPMS systems use a temperature adjustment factor apparently.

My Triumph Tiger for example will trigger a low tire pressure warning at different pressures depending upon whether the tires are warm or hot. I'm not sure if automotive TPMS systems are temperature adjusted as a few PSI difference will not impact handling to any where near the extent as on a motorcycle.

A common complaint though on all systems is the inability to suspend the warning for oiff road use. Again the motorcycle is a more extreme example as the weight of rider and luggage are such a substantial portion of the gross combined weight that adjustment to compensate for weight is needed more frequently.


I still think it is prudent to do a periodic gauge check even if TPMS is reliable. Tire pressure can profoundly influence handling, grip and tire longevity that the additional assurance is a worthwhile investment in a few minutes.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Tested my new longacre today. It’s the first one that has matched TPMs perfectly. Love it.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Tested my new longacre today. It’s the first one that has matched TPMs perfectly. Love it.

Which did you get? Analog or digital? Nice that there's a hose on them - mine I have to lean down and look just right depending on where the valve stem is positioned.
They've got several versions of each.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Which did you get? Analog or digital? Nice that there's a hose on them - mine I have to lean down and look just right depending on where the valve stem is positioned.
They've got several versions of each.

This one.

 

[RubiDukkie]

FWIW, I used a MORRFlate digital gauge and filled my tires today to 40 psi (I usually run them at 37, but am doing some testing after adding more weight in the bed and a winch on the front). Anyway, I then measured psi on all four with a stick gauge I've had forever and it said 41 psi, which agreed with the TPMS after driving a couple of minutes.

I dropped to 40 psi using the stick gauge, drove another couple minutes and the TPMS reported all four tires at 40 psi. I'll continue drop 1 psi per day until I'm back down to 37 psi, just to see fi can feel any drivability difference.

Not sure which is more accurate the digital gauge or the stick gauge and/or TPMS, but they are within 1 psi, so that is close enough for me. Eventually I will do another chalk test. The last time I did one, I didn't have the winch or as much weight in the bed and only chalked the front tires. At that time 35 psi looked like the sweet spot for cold psi.

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