Nitrogen vs. air...

Infiltrator said:
I saw where Consumer Reports said it was a waste of money. My last tires got filled with it, and I think I got better life out of the tires. Probably personal preference. Probably not worth the money, but if it comes with the tires, I would go for it.
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Nitrogen will not extend the life of tires. Keeping them properly inflated and rotating them will though.
 
Worth it for me, if only because it keeps the tires at the proper inflation. But then, I only paid the equivalent of $1.25 per tire, and the tire shop tops them up for free, as needed - I can imagine that things might be different if it cost more.
 
The whole air is too unstable under extreme hot and cold is a farce. All my winter tires have air and go from 50 to -40 degrees. I have never had a pressure problem. My track slicks go from road temp to pretty hot and they have just air in them. No pressure problem!

Now do they stay inflated a little longer? Yes. But it's more worth every 6 months going and dropping a buck at the gas station to fill it up. Also I have never heard of the gas station pumps pumping water into your tires.
 
Andr3wilson said:
The whole air is too unstable under extreme hot and cold is a farce. All my winter tires have air and go from 50 to -40 degrees. I have never had a pressure problem. My track slicks go from road temp to pretty hot and they have just air in them. No pressure problem!

Now do they stay inflated a little longer? Yes. But it's more worth every 6 months going and dropping a buck at the gas station to fill it up. Also I have never heard of the gas station pumps pumping water into your tires.
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No one said the air was unstable, only that the pressure change during temperature swings is much greater with air than it is with nitrogen.

I'm guessing since they're track slicks you're deflating them somewhat before runs, right? If not you're testing your luck. I'd be willing to bet you that if they're filled to spec and you're heating them up like that one of these days you'll be hearing a startling *POP* Heat is only going to make the tire weaker and with pressure on them they're bound to find a weak spot in the walls or you run the chance or picking up some debris on the track. Just because you have had good luck so far doesn't make it false.

As far as gas station pumps. Have you ever purged an air compressor's tank? If you don't do it on a regular basis they'll collect water from the humidity in the air. It's not that they do it on purpose, they just don't maintain tanks like they should and water starts to build up which in turns transfers to the tires.
 
Nitrogen will change pressure with temperature changes like any gas. It's the moisture content that makes the difference. The moisture expands with heat. Dry nitrogen fills keep tire pressure more constant as it heats up. You can do the same thing with a painters water separator.

Just pickup a cheap water separator from harbor freight and mount it on your garage wall with matching air chucks for your compressor. I run my air through this system all the time. It makes your air tools last longer and you don't have to worry about filling your tires with moist air. Mine was made for painters and works great. Charge your neighbors to fill their tires to pay for your home system.
 
I have been a Respiratory Therapist for 30 years........I know oxygen, nitrogen and over gases inside out............AIR= 21% OXYGEN and 79% NITROGEN (less than 1 % of air are rare trace gases like argon and helium). Your tires with air already have 79% nitrogen in them. If you would flush out your tires and put 100% nitrogen in them you wouldnt notice a difference in mileage, ride, performance, or anything else....Any difference you notice is from keeping your tires properly inflated, not from the nitrogen........
 
I think I'll start selling helium filled tires to make your car lighter and get better gas mileage. It seems all these scams work for a while.
 
Helium diffuses alot faster than air, so you would have to refill your tires often.........
 
I've seen/read a few test reports and they seem to mostly conclude it's not worth it for the average Joe. The most recent test was done on the TV show Fifth Gear. Here's a video of that segment:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knHeUF9JLzg]Fifth Gear on Nitrogen Tires - YouTube[/video]


If you don't feel like watching it, they did scientific and subjective tests.

In the scientific tests they concluded that normal nitrogen filling stations (as opposed to the expensive units used by Formula-1 teams with unlimited budgets) aren't up to the purity standards and didn't help.

On the subjective tests, the balance, ride quality, handling, and lap times were the same between nitrogen filled and air filled. So they couldn't see a reason to recommend nitrogen filled, and they concluded with, "if you're not checking your tire pressure regularly, you shouldn't be on the road at all."

On a personal note, I remember back when I used to live in a humid climate, if I'd let air out of the tire I could feel the moisture coming out. Now that I live in a dry climate I never notice the moisture out the valve. But the trouble is, even if you live in a humid climate, there's no guarantee the nitrogen filling station you use is actually any better in terms of lower water vapor than a standard air compressor.

Also, if you use your own compressor to fill your tires and you can feel moisture in the air stream, you can buy water vapor filters for it. There was a time when the water vapor in the air would cause rust issues with the TPMS sensor which used to have iron parts inside the tire, but they've mostly gone away from that nowadays.

The number one thing in my view is to buy a good pressue gauge (and you aren't going to get a good gauge for the 3 bucks the pencil types cost).
 
Lexi65 said:
for tires? Feed back please
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Just got off the phone with my tire guy (40 plus years in the
business). Told me that a lot of car manufacturers are now putting nitrogen in the tires in the factory. Said that air will be a thing of the past at some point. His take is that because of the
government guidelines for better gas mileage. He charges $7.50 per tire ($30) one time charge. Refills are FREE!

Just saying.
 
Lexi65 said:
Just got off the phone with my tire guy (40 plus years in the
business). Told me that a lot of car manufacturers are now putting nitrogen in the tires in the factory. Said that air will be a thing of the past at some point. His take is that because of the
government guidelines for better gas mileage. He charges $7.50 per tire ($30) one time charge. Refills are FREE!

Just saying.
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Nitrogen has nothing to do with fuel mileage. Keeping your tires inflated to the right pressure does.
 
zm1283 said:
Nitrogen has nothing to do with fuel mileage. Keeping your tires inflated to the right pressure does.
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Understood... but Nitrogen apparently/supposedly doesn't lose "air". FWIW, I have a garage queen and (knock wood) haven't had to add "air" since January 2012!!! Just saying.
BTW... I do use Nitrogen.
 
I have a large nitrogen bottle in my garage. It lasts me about five years. I fill all my tires, all my friends tires, and my portable "scuba tank" bottle for when I go to the track. I refill the scuba tank from the big bottle and when the big bottle pressure drops below 200psi I exchange it for a full one. Costs $24.00
I just like the fact that is completely dry.
 
oldmodman said:
I have a large nitrogen bottle in my garage. It lasts me about five years. I fill all my tires, all my friends tires, and my portable "scuba tank" bottle for when I go to the track. I refill the scuba tank from the big bottle and when the big bottle pressure drops below 200psi I exchange it for a full one. Costs $24.00
I just like the fact that is completely dry.
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How do you do that without a monthly rental fee???
 
Nitrogen molecules are larger than oxygen molecules as such the oxygen will leak out before before the nitrogen. Keep your tires filled with clean dry air and over time the nitrogen percentage will increase.

my 2010 Fusion Hybrid came from the factory with the tires filled with nitrogen.
 
oldmodman said:
I just like the fact that is completely dry.
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There has been so much erroneous information in this thread, but as was stated before moisture content is one of the major reasons to use nitrogen (it's not clear to me that the nitrogen generation stations used for this purpose are very dry, however). Compressed air has water vapor in it. Even if you use a refrigerated dryer, you aren't going to get a dewpoint much below 34°F, which means during the winter in most of the country that water vapor will be condensing and freezing, etc., then melting and re-vaporizing, contributing to pressure fluctuations.

feslope said:
Nitrogen molecules are larger than oxygen molecules as such the oxygen will leak out before before the nitrogen. Keep your tires filled with clean dry air and over time the nitrogen percentage will increase.
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Thanks for pointing that out, I was going to but I was trying to stay out of this thread because there has been so much nonsense in it.

feslope said:
Buy the cylinder.
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You can't own a DOT cylinder, even if you are (user) business. And if oldmodman owned it, he wouldn't be "exchanging" it.

Lexi65 said:
Just got off the phone with my tire guy (40 plus years in the
business). Told me that a lot of car manufacturers are now putting nitrogen in the tires in the factory. Said that air will be a thing of the past at some point. His take is that because of the government guidelines for better gas mileage.
Click to expand...

If the car mfr's are doing it, it's for liability purposes, to get the moisture and maybe the oxygen out. I always liked the idea of using nitrogen to not have the oxygen inside the tire working on the liner.
 
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