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[Gav]

Nitrogen in your tires
after riding south on 81 for a couple of hours, on a hot day, we had stopped for gas and a bud of mine came over and put his hand on my rear tire-quickly pulling away.
While I was asking him what the Heck he was doing he planted his hand firmly on his rear tire and left it.
-same tires both at spec pressures.
i tried the same, mine hot as hell-his not even. he is auto shop wrench/ race driver and he told me he had some nitrogen around and completely removed the air-Vacuumed out almost till the bead broke- and replaced with the nitrogen.
Have seen some ads for this on autos in the past just thought it was a scam.
He stated race cars been doing it for years.
Just wondering if anyone has done this / have you noticed better tire wear...................
cost/value?
Gav

[mr_magoo]

The trick is quick access to nitrogen which most folks don't have.

[miker]

Lots of high end auto dealers offer the service.  They have a machine that will purge the air and refill with nitrogen so you DON'T deflate the tire and risk bead damage.  The leak down rate for nitrogen is much lower than air.  Sorry for the omission...What a dumba$$

Miker

[Tbone]

I've noticed our local Costco has a banner in their tire bays advertising nitrogen.

Bob

[Chief]

Our local HD Dealer offers it. I believe their charge is in the neighborhood of $10 a fill.

[mr_magoo]

A small tank and regulator maybe the way to go.  Going by airco on the way home will check on it.

[RJ749]

Here's an article on nitrogen for your tires.

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/Nitrogen.htm

[Chief]

Based on the following composition of air:

Nitrogen N2 78.084%
Oxygen O2 20.947%
Argon Ar 0.934%
Carbon Dioxide CO2  0.033%

I get 78% Nitrogen in my tires when I fill them up with my compressor. So, since O2 leaks out faster than N2, when I top them off, I'm basically replacing the lost O2 with 80% N2. As time goes on, the fill in my tires get closer and closer to pure N2, for free.

There's always the moisture content to worry about, but so far, I've never had to replace a rim on any vehicle due to escessive corrosion.

I agree that filling a tire with N2 may be better than air, but I think the people selling the $10 fills are benefitting more from it than I would be.

[miker]

Based on the following composition of air:

Nitrogen N2 78.084%
Oxygen O2 20.947%
Argon Ar 0.934%
Carbon Dioxide CO2  0.033%

I get 78% Nitrogen in my tires when I fill them up with my compressor. So, since O2 leaks out faster than N2, when I top them off, I'm basically replacing the lost O2 with 80% N2. As time goes on, the fill in my tires get closer and closer to pure N2, for free.

There's always the moisture content to worry about, but so far, I've never had to replace a rim on any vehicle due to escessive corrosion.

I agree that filling a tire with N2 may be better than air, but I think the people selling the $10 fills are benefitting more from it than I would be.

 

[Gav]

I guess I will go that rout, definitely if there is significant tire savings.

[Twolanerider]

My tires are always filled with nitrogen.  Always have been.  At least about 78.08% worth.

[Gav]

oh the scientific minds
now all I need to know is the composition of tequilla, chipotly,(spelt wrong) chicken wing sauce,
we will save that for the recipe section.
Thanks guys

[Chief]

Thanks Google..... (http://suvs.about.com/od/tiresandwheels/a/nitrogentires.htm)

Ingersoll Rand claims that there are several distinct advantages to filling your tires with Nitrogen:

Better air pressure retention -- Nitrogen doesn't seep out through the tire walls like Oxygen can, so tires remain fully inflated longer.
Enhanced fuel economy -- Nitrogen dissipates heat faster than air, and heat causes rolling resistance. "Maintaining tire pressure can boost fuel economy by as much as 6 percent."
Longer tread life -- Filling your tires with pure Nitrogen makes tires run cooler, which will reduce tire failure. It also prevents oxidation, which can cause tread separation and belt failure. Since Nitrogen doesn't carry moisture, it won't cause rust on the inside of rims and valve stems.
Slow chemical aging -- "Filling a tire with Nitrogen also significantly slows the chemical aging process of the tire's rubber components."


It costs between $3 and $10 per tire to get your SUV running on a cushion of Nitrogen. Is it worth it?
There's significant debate about the value of filling your tires with Nitrogen. On Eng-Tips Forums, a web board for engineering professionals, the "Nitrogen filled tires?" thread is full of passionate discussion, most of it quite skeptical about the practical benefits of the practice. The consensus opinion on Eng-Tips Forums seems to be that the benefits of Nitrogen are largely academic -- tires are engineered to be filled with ambient air, wheels are designed to cope with the moisture that air carries, and the benefits of Nitrogen, in real world applications, though real, are not worth the cost.

My bottom line advice: Save your money, and keep your tires properly inflated with air. You'll get much better results investing in a small compressor for your garage and keeping your SUV tires properly inflated with air. If your local tire shop has a Nitrogen Tire Inflation System, see if you can get them to include a free fill-up with Nitrogen when you buy your next new set of tires, and try it on for size. Do some real-world tests and join the debate.

I guess it boils down to this. If you check your tires regularly, it doesn't make sense. If you ignore your tires and wait for the shop to check them every oil change or tire change, get the Nitrogen.

[Twolanerider]

oh the scientific minds
now all I need to know is the composition of tequilla,

Tequilla.  One part distilled century plant, one part floor (or two parts floor if you bounce once when you land).

[Twolanerider]

Thanks Google..... (http://suvs.about.com/od/tiresandwheels/a/nitrogentires.htm)

I guess it boils down to this. If you check your tires regularly, it doesn't make sense. If you ignore your tires and wait for the shop to check them every oil change or tire change, get the Nitrogen.

As a sidebar, as opposed to a total thread jack, that's a bit of easily introduced and already common technology that Harley could hang on the bikes without great effort.  Tire pressure monitors.  Not even after anything fancy on the display side.  Just an idiot light in the dash to come on when a tired gets 5 psi below spec.  We'd check them a lot more and do a lot better job of keep them appropriately topped off with a gentle reminder like that.