whats’up with this nitrogen tire fill idea that my dealer gave me a brochure about?
Do you need to buy different tires then I have on my car now?
Is this a good idea to change to using nitrogen instead of compressed air?
What’s your experiences & opinions?
If there is an extra charge - not worth it. You don’t need to change your tires, or get new ones. If it is free, fine.
I use a tire shop that promotes Nitrogen fill without charging for it. I really don’t see any difference. When I have a tire go soft I just use my little air pump to fill it back up.
Personally, I prefer hydrogen over nitrogen…lower mass, decrease unsprung weight, potentially discourage theft of valuable rims, and possibly much more spectacular results when hitting curbs and potholes.
@CapriRacer - I like the Barry’s Tire tech site. nice!
Everything you need is at @CapriRacer 's link. Short answer - waste of money.
@dagosa: Certainly the decrease in unsprung weight would benefit fuel economy, but I wonder about the difference in handling caused by tires wanting to float…you know, decreased tread contact and all.
Good one, Ha!
Air is over 75% nitrogen anyway. The differences are far too small to be meaningful.
While there is no harm with nitrogen, if they want to charge you for it, they are charging too much
Even Costco has gone to nitrogen filled tires, and you get those neat green valve caps. Agree this is of questionable value, since the 25% of the air inside the tire that is OXYGEN is not going to cause a lot of corrosion.
While it’s fine if it’s free from Costco, I worry that those green caps will keep some people from using ‘plain air’ when they need it.
Yes, that’s entirely possible that an unknowing person will believe that he/she MUST now use only nitrogen to pressure up. I would call it subtle intimidation.
All kidding aside. With nitrogen, your tire pressures will remain more constant, saving you a small amount in fuel and tire-maintenance costs. There will be less moisture inside your tires, meaning less corrosion on your wheels. But really… for most, you will not be able to feel any difference in the ride or handling or braking, unless your tire pressures were seriously out of spec and changing to nitrogen brought them back to the proper numbers. Or…you can just adjust them yourself and use air instead and avoid the cost. Mainly for people who don’t want to be bothered with checking their tires, don’t want to learn to use a tire gauge, and are willing to pay for
Nope, nitrogen and air expand at exactly the same rate with temperature. And, as described in the link, there’s very little chance of water condensation in a tire.
The last time I looked, air from the standard pump takes ambient air which contains moisture depending upon the humidity. To say that some one sells 100% nitrogen is to infer that there is no moisture. It has nothing to do with condensation, everything to do what the pump brings in.
Bunk,the best use I can think of Nitrogen for would be for hydraulic accumalators or cushoin ride suspension-pure Nitrogen seems to be more immischible with petroluem based oils-Kevin
And I can testify that I have never, ever, had a problem with corrosion on a rim inside a tire. If anyone here has actually experisnced such a problem, I’d be interested in hearing the story.
IMHO this is just another in a long list of scams. I do admit, however, that you do get those pretty green valve caps!
Same “And I can testify that I have never, ever, had a problem with corrosion on a rim inside a tire.” neither have I. BTW, you can have corrosion and have no problem with it… Guess you guys never read the rest of my post…it’s all negligible and tire pressures would have to be seriously out of spec already to have any noticeable effect. And not worth it but…the fact remains, moisture is found more in ambient air then pure nitrogen, dah. This is just a selling point that means nothing to the average user. The idea is adding nitrogen serves no more purpose then adding air to your tires already…guess you guys have nothing else to do but shoot someone who agrees with you. I know we all can Google…I’m impressed, Geez.
Well dag, you said ‘your tire pressure will remain more constant’. I don’t understand that, I can’t think of why that would be true. The air coming out of the compressor has been dehumidified to some degree, so no condensation will likely occur in the tire.
Dag, my point is that I’ve never seen corrosion in a wheel, even a steel wheel, that wasn’t exposed to the elements. Only in wheels that have.
Anyway, I think the origin of this “nitrogen is better” train of thought probably came from racing. Sanctioning bodies mandate nitrogen because the pits can be a every dangerous place, and having tanks of compressed oxygen could cause a simple fire to rapidly become a raging disaster. Nitrogen can smother a fire, oxygen will feed one. The racing application evolved into “nitrogenin the tires is better” perception and the idea took on a life of its own.
Texases my good friend, the statement was “more” constant, not constant. I don’t think that any gas will do that over time…
I’m going to trust these guys, just like you all can trust any source you can find. Nitrogen migrates less then o2 through rubber. Because there is less o2 comparably in air, it’s just not a factor…it seems it may be for race cars who have more $$$$$$ invested. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.