Nitrogen in your tires?

[SRTenly]

I'll admit I'm not the most knowledgable, but I just got this from the service department as part of their "specials":

Install NITROGEN in your tires!
It's ONLY $10.00 to extend your tire life up to 30%!
Never adjust your tire pressure again! And keep your tires running cool!



:wtf:

I've never heard of that...is that a good idea? Bad? I don't have the first clue...

[FloridaRT]

Race cars use Nitrogen in their tires, and yes, it is good for your tires.
Worth $10? I guess so.................

The air we breathe is mostly nitrogen, about 70%, I think.

I think you would still have to adjust air pressure in your tires when the air temperature goes up or down (winter - spring).

Bob

[formerice]

I guess its good, but good old air is 70% nitrogen already. 30% more tire life that would be , hogwash. Actually hydrogen would make the car faster and handle better, but it would go flat every couple days like a helium balloon. That would be a neat experiment, fill a tire to 35psi with various gasses, weigh it. Then see how long it holds 35psi.

[2005rtmag]

Bottled nitrogen tends to moisture free. It's a tiny bit lighter. And not having the oxygen probably tends to keep the rubber from deteriorating as quickly. N2 is inert.

[Hemi RT]

Nitrogen doesn't expand when hot, that's why we use it on our stock cars. You can fine tune the stagger on the car when the tire is cold and it doesn't change due to heat buildup in the tire.

To put it completely in the tire, we fill it up with Nitrogen, roll it around a bit, drain it and re-do this 3 more times so we can get the most Nitrogen in as possible - therefore to displace as much air as possible.

Nitrogen will help slow down the deterioration of the tires but you have to make sure you do what we do above to make sure you are getting as much Nitrogen in the tire as possible.

[Super T]

That, and there's little to no moisture in it.

[CrAzYMoPaRGuY]

Nitrogen is almost 80% of air's ingredients. 79%, or close to.
Nitrogen's air molecules are larger, which is why the theory of tires not deflating as fast.
Nitrogen doesn't expand as fast with temperature as air does, which matters on a race car- tires get hot fast with high speeds and cornering.
Nitrogen is usually "dry"- used regularly by refrigeration companies to test lines because of the absence of moisture.

That's all I know.
:sad:

[lowriderman3]

I have been using it for 5 months or more. Love it!

[skeletonizer]

I say scam.

Much like the tornado or (snake) oil additives.

Dry air is free. You can adjust your pressures without any real cost and your not encouraging retailers to focus on marketing shenanigans at the expense of providing quality products and services.

[lowriderman3]

^^Not a scam. Race cars even use it. To be able to check the air in your tires no matter how long you have run them, is worth it to me alone.

[Hemi RT]

^^Not a scam. Race cars even use it. To be able to check the air in your tires no matter how long you have run them, is worth it to me alone.

Yes MOST race cars use it EXCEPT NASCAR, they have to run ordinary compressed air like most of us use. Those that run it will find in really cold temp. that for a while the tire will flat spot when sitting extended times, this goes away shortly after rolling and doesn't have any adverse affect on the tire itself.

[skeletonizer]

^^Not a scam. Race cars even use it. To be able to check the air in your tires no matter how long you have run them, is worth it to me alone.

I am not saying that it doesn't do what they say. I am just saying that the 10 to 20 dollars is better spent on beer. At least then you get a measurable effect on your real world experience.

A: The tornado does indeed make the air spin through your TB, neat huh?
B: Them Nitrogen molecule thingys 'r big.
C: mmmmm... beer.

I choose C

[stevesrt8]

mmmmm....beer.

Oh, sorry. But he's right. All BS. BTW, any gas expands when heated, check your physics. Even Nitrogen.

The reason it helps is its lack of moisture. That's it. All the other bennies are snake oil.

But remember, if you think it's better, then it IS!

[2005rtmag]

stevesrt8 is right about the expansion. There would be no difference from air. It's physics like he said.
I thought Nascar used Nitrogen, but I could be wrong.

I'll continue using my home compressor. The water settles to the bottom of the tank and I have a water trap on the line. Works for me.

[lowriderman3]

Benefits of nitrogen...

Better tire pressure retention – nitrogen migrates through a tire 3 to 4 times slower than oxygen. It may take 6 months to lose 2 psi with nitrogen compared to less than a month with oxygen.
Improved fuel economy – a result of having the proper air pressure which lessens the rolling resistance. Under-inflated tires have a greater rolling resistance.
Cooler running tires – tires inflated with nitrogen run cooler than tires inflated with regular air.
Removal of oxidation – oxygen is a highly reactive element at high temperatures and pressures. Replacing the oxygen with nitrogen helps eliminate the oxidation that damages inner liners and belt packages.
Improved retreadability – eliminating oxidation also improves the retreadability due to more flexibility in the tire casing. Less tire aging and tire cord rust could very well increase the number of retreadable casings and also increase the number of times a casing can be retreaded.
Elimination of rim rust – since nitrogen is completely dry, condensation is eliminated which in turn eliminates rim rust.
On-the-road reliability – tire failures can be significantly reduced which reduces down time and costly service calls.

[lowriderman3]

stevesrt8 is right about the expansion. There would be no difference from air. It's physics like he said.
I thought Nascar used Nitrogen, but I could be wrong.

I'll continue using my home compressor. The water settles to the bottom of the tank and I have a water trap on the line. Works for me.
Many race car teams use nitrogen instead of air in their tires because nitrogen has a much more consistent rate of expansion and contraction compared to the usual air. Often, a half pound of pressure will radically affect traction and handling. With track and tire temperatures varying over the duration of a race, the consistency of nitrogen is needed.
Nitrogen pressure is more consistent than normal air pressure, because air typically contains varying amounts of moisture due to changes in the relative humidity on race day. Water causes air to be inconsistent in its rate of expansion and contraction. So, a humid race in the southeast United States or a dry race in the desert western United States could make for unpredictable tire pressures if "dry" nitrogen were not used.

[Daniel454]

I have run Nitrogen in my tires on all my cars for going on 3 years now... LOVE IT, and while I have nothing but my personal experience to back me up, when my tires are filled with nitrogen, the PSI changes very little, less than 2lbs from hot to cold, summer to winter...

I did have them "accidently" load in air when I requested nitrogen, and found myself having to adjust air pressure 2 or 3 times in the next 6 months. I went back, had them re-fileld with Nitrogen, Didnt have to add anything for 9 months, then I sold that car, lol

[formerice]

Ok, I'm gonna blame bad air for my rear BFG 255/55's wearing out in 6,000 miles and the fronts still look new. jk I'll buy it's better for a race car, but I like the $40 worth of beer myself.

[NasaRacer]

Did someone say .... BEER!! I will take a six pack of my home town brew Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

[RMC_SS_LDO]

Mine came with "nitrogen filled" tires when I purchased it new.

Since then I have spent my nitrogen money on CO2 for my keg fridge and have replaced the keg a couple of times.

For professional racers it may give an advantage in tweakability. For the consumer, it's great marketing not great science.

Yea, my tires may not have as much N2 in them now, but I have a brand new full keg (happens to be Amber Bock this time). :beerchug:

[RT NOMAD]

From my educational knowledge, the major benefit of Nitrogen is that it is quite inert compared to air. Therefore there will be no internal tire/wheel corrosion when it is used.
I do know that the N2 molecule is larger than that of O2, the other major gas in air, which should reduce leakage.
Another benefit would be that the source for the nitrogen would seem to contain significantly less moisture than normal "simple" compressed air (another very significant corrosive).

It is an interesting cost/benefit consideration.

[skeletonizer]

From my educational knowledge, the major benefit of Nitrogen is that it is quite inert compared to air. Therefore there will be no internal tire/wheel corrosion when it is used.
I do know that the N2 molecule is larger than that of O2, the other major gas in air, which should reduce leakage.
Another benefit would be that the source for the nitrogen would seem to contain significantly less moisture than normal "simple" compressed air (another very significant corrosive).

It is an interesting cost/benefit consideration.

I think it is interesting as well. My interest lies in the ability of companies to market a product that is on such a fine cost/benefit line.

Motor oil as an example. The whole Royal Purple hoopla is interesting to me because I find it difficult to believe that spending the extra coin on it, over other sythetics is pointless for the vast majority of those who use it.

When I was a kid I used PJ1 in my snowmobile. I was convinced it made it faster. After all it said right on the bottle that the reduced friction of their oil over the other guy makes for more power.

No one is lying outright. After all the figures are in from the entire service life of the vehicle will any of these produces really make a difference.

Really?

[MikeEast]

Is it good? Sure it's good, if race cars use it and it doesn't leak as fast, bonus!

Is it worth $10? Not to me it isn't. My tires will never be retreaded and if I get in the habit of not checking air pressure, how will I notice that the left rear has a slow leak due to the nail in it?

Tell your dealer that you think it's a good idea, but only a $4 good idea and see what they think of that!

Not really a scam, just a really really good profit margin...

Mike

[F1fan]

Good or bad?...its up to the individual I guess.

Corrosion inside the tire/wheel......huh.....never heard that one before.

How many of us have had this happen???

I've never heard of a tire /wheel failure do to corrsion as a result of air being in the tire.