Hot take: I spent $150 on a fancy digital tire gauge before learning how to use a manual one

I was convinced the digital one was the only way to get an exact reading, you know, with the little screen and beeps. So I bought this pricey model online and used it for about six months. Then the battery died during a road trip in the middle of nowhere, and I had to borrow my dad's old stick gauge from his glove box. Turns out, that simple tool is way more reliable (and it never needs a charge). I felt pretty silly for wasting all that cash on something that broke when I needed it most. Learning to read the manual gauge properly took maybe two minutes, and now I keep one in every car. Has anyone else gone back to a basic tool after a fancy one let them down?

2 comments

2 Comments

emma721d ago

A mechanic friend told me fancy digital gauges can get thrown off by temperature changes. The old stick style just works because it's simple physics. Sometimes the basic tool is the smarter buy.

hollyr281d ago

Actually, those digital gauges can be calibrated for temperature changes, so they stay accurate. The old sticks can get stuck or be hard to read in bad light. For a lot of jobs, the digital readout gives you a precise number faster, which is a real help.