The Best Tire Pressure Gauges of 2024

The palm-sized WINTERS Tire Pressure Gauge, 100 PSI ($35) has a lot going for it. First off, cranking to 100PSI means anyone who has a big truck, a little sports car in the garage, and a motorcycle can use this gauge on the entire fleet. The straight stem design can make it easier to press straight down or up onto a valve and get an accurate reading.

With the Winters, you’ll be able to hit the valve core every time and get a quick reading. And the bleeder that’s anchored on the side of the 2 ¼-inch stem is simple to use for lefties or righties. We were able to insert the Winters between the spokes of a motorcycle wheel. Also, taking pressure checks on several different car wheel styles was fast and simple. The soft plastic body was perfectly grippy and small enough to operate with a single hand.

Angled heads have the advantage of enabling the gauge body to stand away from the wheel, so you can read the instrument. Plus, only a small portion of it has to penetrate into the wheel’s body. The only potential downside is that the angled stems can be tough to align just right to depress the valve, so you may have to dial in your approach.

Other than that, the WINTERS Tire Pressure Gauge, 100 PSI’s durability, ease of use, and versatility make it a winner in our book. Heck, it even comes with a nifty zippered red pouch for stashing in your car’s glove box.

During our lifetimes, we’ve “Slimed” tractor tires, car tires, and bicycle tires. The sealant brand just works, so why not try out The Slime 5-50PSI Pencil Gauge ($5), Slime’s dirt-cheap, simple pen-style gauge? And, despite its bargain-basement price, it was accurate to within a single PSI of the fancy ARB and Hoonigan. It was consistently reading about 1 psi lower than those more expensive models. 

What do you sacrifice for the low price? Well, the design is less great because the angled head and diminutive size made it tough for our tester to get a firm grip and hold the chuck against the tire valve — and the angled head doesn’t help. Also, depending on the wheel style you’re pretty frequently getting your knuckles backed against the body of the wheel or the outside of the tire.

Is there a bleeder in the house? Well, sort of, but the other downside of this style is that just opposite the chuck fitting there’s a nubbin of metal for pressing down on the tire’s stem. But you cannot accurately bleed off just a little air, because there’s no way to do so while keeping the gauge attached to read the pressure loss. But hey, what do you want for five bucks? 

That might be less of an issue for your household than the fact that fitting a pen-style gauge within the housing of some wheels can be very awkward. Still, there should be one Slime 5-50PSI Pencil Gauge in the glovebox of any car. They’re inexpensive, reasonably accurate, they’ll accurately read your tire pressure when you need it. Basically, having one gives you peace of mind, and that’s half the battle. 

The ARB ARB505 Deflator Kit 10-60 PSI Tire Pressure Gauge ($54) has a unique design. There are two knurled drivers attached to the oversized, bell-shaped chuck. The one closest to the chuck threads onto the tire’s valve, and the second one on the stem threads into the stem itself to grasp the tire’s valve core and pull it up. But unlike a fiddly dinky valve-core extractor that makes you fear losing the core, the ARB operation holds the core within the stem of the extractor.

Why is that important? It makes airing down your truck or 4×4’s tires exceptionally easy and well-controlled. We just pulled up on the collar of the driver closest to the chuck and bled air. And because the gauge/dial was still threaded onto the valve, we could read the PSI as we went.

Also, we didn’t have to keep holding the doo-dad in place. The ARB is threaded in place, so it’ll stay put if, say, you walk away and build a campfire. 

When you’re done, the threaded, knurled knob at the top lets you drive the core back into the tire and re-seat it, then unscrew the outer portion and you’re good to go. Basically, like your rig (hopefully), this design is super secure and beefy. 

What’s not to love? Well, the chuck of the ARB isn’t small, and it could be a battle to attach some wheel designs with closely or ornately spoked/patterned designs. Also: Do you really air down all that often? If not, this is a seriously beautiful kit, but it could be overkill. But if you frequently take your ride off-road and air down on a regular basis, the ARB ARB505 Deflator Kit 10-60 PSI Tire Pressure Gauge is the way to go.

If you have a complex or hard-to-reach wheel design, the smaller chuck on the AutoMeter Hoonigans 60 PSI Tire Pressure Gauge ($42) allows you to maneuver around to find the perfect fit. The body is oversized and chunky, with a baseball-sized face that’s super easy to read and secure in your mitt while your other hand presses the chuck onto the valve stem.

Also, we loved the 360-degree swivel fitting onto both ends of the braided line, which prevents you from battling the twist in the hose as you attach it to your tire to take a reading. The design perks continue: The bleeder location let us tap it with our left-hand ring fingers to let air out while we held the face of the gauge and read it, and our right hand kept the chuck attached to the valve. 

If we could change one aspect of the AutoMeter Hoonigans 60 PSI Tire Pressure Gauge, it would be to give it a thread-on valve attachment like the ARB. This allows you to secure it more steadily and get a more precise reading in one go. As it is, like any chuck that doesn’t thread to the valve, getting that “just right” angle was a bit hit-and-miss. Also, it comes with a giant plastic case that seems excessive and is far too massive for glovebox or even in-car toolbox ease.

The Slime Elite HD Gauge ($24) is certainly easy enough to use, with a relatively compact size that fits in a jean pocket or a glovebox with no trouble. Plus, the large, bright, digital screen is a snap to read, even if you’re dealing with midnight darkness. Is it accurate? Sure. And like the Winters, it reads to a stupidly high 99PSI. But…there are two big issues with these gadgets. Well, actually three.

First, it runs on batteries, and if you’re like most drivers, you’re going to toss this back into your glovebox or tool drawer and forget it for a while. Then, when you need it, the battery might be fried. A CR2032 coin-cell battery runs the thing, and you can find these at most hardware stores, but maybe not at most gas stations.

Second, the smooth housing will be slippery when wet, and the feel of this device wasn’t our favorite. If your hands are grimy and slick, like our testers were as he moved from car to car — one of which was wet since he’d just driven into the garage out of the rain — you’d be fumbling to get a firm grip on the Elite HD. 

Third, that bright green button on the stem isn’t a bleeder. That’s an on-off switch, and there is no bleeder at all. This is a pretty big fail, because typically at the aforementioned gas station, there’s no pressure gauge, or it’s profoundly inaccurate. So you’re left to add too much air, then bleed off the excess with a screwdriver or glove-box No. 2 pencil to press on the tire valve.

However, if an easy read is your priority and you can stay on top of keeping the batteries fresh, the Slime Elite HD Gauge is worth a good, hard look.