Customer Reviews

Auto Meter 2343 Autogage Mechanical Tire Pressure Gauge

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Here's my round-up of tire pressure gauges. Prices vary a lot on Amazon. Usually much cheaper if purchased directly from Amazon (free shipping) than from an affiliated seller. So be careful which seller you pick. If Amazon is out of stock, you may want to wait a week or two. Prices below are what I paid, including free shipping.

In Jan 2009, I bought two gauges: (a) Moroso 89560 ($40.04), an analog dial gauge, and (b) Accutire MS-5510B ($38.41), a digital dial gauge. I have separate reviews for these two units. Both are good units with a flexible hose attachment and a bleed valve. They are fine in the garage, and fit any tire, but are bulky to keep in a glove compartment if you want to check pressures when you're on the road (for example, if you suspect a leak). I just bought three compact units. All three are analog dial gauges: I don't want battery-powered units stashed away in a glove compartment (extreme high and low temps, and who wants a unit with a dead battery in an emergency?).

Same review posted for the following:

Milton (MIL) MILS902 $21.63
Professional Products (PP) 11101 $9.88
Auto Meter (AM) Auto gage 2343 $16.50

All five gauges have a range of 0 - 60 psi. My tires run from 28 - 35 psi. Main features to consider:

(1) Accuracy. Accuracy is specified with respect to a calibration source. Since I don't have a calibration source, I can't comment on accuracy.

(2) Resolution. (a) Accutire. Digital readout. 0.1 psi resolution. (b) Moroso. 2-1/2 in diam dial. Can estimate to nearest ½ psi. (c) MIL, PP, AM. 2 in diam dial. Can estimate to nearest 1 psi.

(3) Reproducibility. Repeated 6 readings for each gauge. Expected some air loss for each reading. No noticeable change for analog gauges. 0.5 psi drop total after six readings for Accutire (it's not leakier, it's only because of the higher resolution).

(4) Agreement. Ran 5 sequences of the 5 gauges in different order. All gauges agreed within +/-1 psi. This is good news. MIL consistently 1 psi lower than the others, but this is fine.

(5) Mechanical.

(a) PP and AM appear to be the same gauge, with two minor differences. Don't know if the innards are the same though...can't open the cases. Both weigh 150 gm, so probably the same inside as well. Heavy sheet metal body. Heavy metal neck, chuck, and valve. Heavy plastic dial cover (hard, not tough, plastic though). Tick marks and numbers on AM dial much sharper than on PP. PP comes with fitted plastic case; AM doesn't. Case is low quality though...hard, not tough, plastic; snap fit. Good for stashing in a glove compartment or tool box. But probably will crack and open up if dropped.

(b) MIL. Heavy metal neck, chuck, and valve. **Extremely el-cheapo and flimsy plastic body and dial cover.**


Common features (MIL, PP, AM):

(1) Have a neck with an angled chuck. Non-swivel. PM, AM neck 2 in length. Milton neck about ¾ in longer.

(2) Have bleed valve. Smooth operation. After gauge is removed, pressure reading is supposed to hold until bleed valve is released. (PP, AM): Reading holds even after 30 sec. (MIL): Reading starts to drop once the gauge is removed (not acceptable).

Common negs:

(1) None come with a boot. Should be standard. A boot is available, but Amazon doesn't sell it directly. An affiliated seller wants $2.99 + $6.95 shipping. That's more than I paid for the PP gauge itself. I have a couple of 25+ yr old Brookstone gauges that have finally deserved a decent burial. Their rubber boots are still in good shape after all these years, and they fit my new gauges just fine.

(2) Gauges without a hose are tricky to use. Many wheels now have spokes, and the valve stems are recessed. Worse, my wife's car has short rigid tire sensors: the stems don't flex at all. If you get a gauge with a straight chuck, the neck is often too short and you can't seat the chuck (the gauge body gets in the way). So these units have an angled chuck. The design is idotic though, because the bleed valve is on the same side as the chuck. Depending on the tire, the bleed valve presses against the wheel when you try to seat the chuck. Not good. There is no swivel head. So if you position the gauge to clear the wheel, you may end up with the gauge oriented such that you can't read it. In which case, it's critical that the bleed valve doesn't leak...that way you can get a valid reading after you remove the gauge. You, of course, lose the capability to overfill the tire a bit and then bleed the pressure to the right value as you look at the dial. So these operate more like stick gauges. In this respect, none of this group of three is totally satisfactory.

Summary: Of the three, though, I'd go with the PP. It has the lowest price and has a storage case. It's essentially the same as the AM. It's not worth the extra $ to get the sharper graphics on the AM. The MIL is the most expensive, is the flimsiest, and my unit came with a leaky valve. I returned it. Five stars to Amazon for free return shipping and processing a refund within several days.

Note added 8/22/09: Prices fluctuate a lot. Go with either PP or AM. If one is significantly cheaper when you order, go with that one.

This is a great gauge. Very accurate and holds the reading until you hit the release button. Seals on the stem perfectly. I like it much better than a stick type gauge.

Sturdy, well built and easy to use. Although a little more expensive than other similar qauges well worth the extra expense.

It's simple! No high tech digital crap to deal with or hard to find batteries none the less. AutoMeter is also a well known name when it comes to any type of automotive guages.

Very study, heavy feel, but not sure how well it will stand up if dropped.

I'm sure this guage is very accurate as well.

Excellent pressure gauge. I compared this to my other gauges and all were reading within 1psi. I like the fact that it holds the pressure until you release it. Since the neck is fairly short you may not always be able to see the reading while it is on the tire. But having the pressure release makes this a non issue.

Purchased August, 2008. After three years of occasional use, will not hold pressure reading.
Always stored in a plastic bag indoors.

This unit is solid feeling and fairly weighty. It seems to be made of quality materials.

I used it on a Toyota Echo and a Subaru Forester. The cap fits easily onto both vehicles, and will fit onto almost any car with standard valve stems. It is very easy to get a good reading, even though the cap does not pivot. Because the pressure reading is held until you press the release button, it doesn't matter if you have to turn the dial away from you to make the cap fit the orientation.

I found this unit to be more accurate than the stick type analog tire gauges also. The readings on this correspond to those given by my air compressor.

After struggling with pencil gauges for most of my natural life, I'm starting to wonder why they even exist. They are incredibly innacurate +/-10psi and never reproduce the same reading. Even heat/humidity affect their readings. Not to mention that the graduated 'pencil' part shifts mechanically when you remove it from the tire, changing the reading.

This is an excellent product that allows you to take a reproducible, accurate, reading; then remove the dial and view it. It doesn't require a perfect fit to the valve stem since you can shift it around a few times and the reading will only increase to the accurate reading if you seated it wrong the first time. You push a small button on the side to reset the dial.

You can also connect it to the valve stem and use the reset button to bleed off air from the tire. You can stage these bleeding process to keep an eye on how much pressure is left in the tire - great for finding that perfect 35-36 psi you're aiming for. It's a two step process, inflate the tire until you think it's beyond 35 psi, then take a reading and bleed off extra air until it drops to 35psi. Much quicker than the pain of releasing air with a pencil gauge.

It could use a flexible stem but that isn't a huge issue, since the price is so low anyways. If it fits your car, then it is well worth the price and you won't need anything fancier. It is contructed of stainless steel, glass, and hard plastic. The steel frame around the dial is flanged so the glass won't break if you drop it on a flat surface.

The best part is the feeling I get when I use this, rather than a pencil. I feel like a tire-inflation proffessional. I should charge people at the gas station to use my dial when they inflate their tires.

Received this gauge about a week ago and used it several times. Very solid, heavy and well made. Seems to give accurate readings, based against readings of other gauges. The needle stays at the tire pressure until you push a button to release the air trapped in the gauge, so you don't have to crook your head in exactly the right position to read the gauge before you take it off the tire. I like it so much I'm ordering more for my wife and sons to keep in their cars.

Amazon had it to me in three days with free shipping. Packed in a small box that fit in my mailbox. Very pleased.

I've bought a lot of tire gauges over the years - and thrown them all away - but I've bought my last one now. Well, I've bought my last TWO now since I got one for my wife as well. Order this item with confidence.