Tire pressure gauges

What to check before you buy

• Inflate to the pressure on the sticker inside the driver's door (or in the owner's manual), not to the number on the sidewall: that one is the most the tire can hold, not what your car needs.
• Check before driving, when the tires are cold: the sidewall maximum is a cold pressure.
• Digital gauges are easy to read; dial gauges need no battery; pencil gauges are the smallest.
• Check the spare too, if your car has one.

How to use it

1. Take the cap off the valve.
2. Press the gauge straight onto the valve until the hiss stops.
3. Read the pressure, add or let out air, read again.
4. Put the cap back.

Good to know

• Check tire pressure at least once a month and before a long trip.^1,2,3
• Tire pressure drops about 1 psi for every 10 degrees F that the outside temperature falls, so check again when the weather turns cold.^2,4,5
• Tires count as cold when the car has been parked for at least three hours, or driven less than about a mile.^2,6,7
• On newer vehicles the pressure label is on the driver's side door jamb; on older ones look on the door edge, the door post, the glove box door or the fuel door.^1,8,9,10

How we checked this page

Checked on October 16, 2026. We kept a fact only when two independent sources agree, and each one is numbered to its sources below. We never write a price: the listings come straight from eBay and show what sellers ask. This page was written with an AI assistant and checked against the sources below.