Anyone fill their tires with Nitrogen?
04-08-2007, 01:43 PM
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Anyone fill their tires with Nitrogen? just found this while doing a search on pirelli
If you’ve been listening to car guys for the past little while, you may have heard a few folks talk about filling tires with nitrogen, and wondered why. Well, we gave Mort Koch at Tire Trends a call, and asked why they fill their orders with nitrogen as opposed to air, and were somewhat surprised at the response we got, not because it wasn’t what we expected, but rather because it seemed to be one of those rare occurrences where there’s no downside to doing it. First off, Mort explained that nitrogen is less volatile than air, meaning it doesn’t contract and expand like air does when faced with temperature variations. That means no more remembering to fill up the tires in the winter, and no more letting air out in the summer. Also a major plus, because nitrogen is devoid of water, it won’t corrode your wheels like air. If you’ve ever seen a wheel that’s been stuck inside a tire for any amount of time, be it steel or aluminum, you’ve seen what air can do to a brand new wheel. Filling with nitrogen means that no matter how long your wheels sit there, wrapped in rubber, their insides will still look brand new when you pop the old tires off. Lastly, because nitrogen molecules are considerably larger than air, they don’t leak through the tire like air. That’s right, rubber is porous, and every minute of every day, hundreds of air molecules are escaping from your tires and there’s nothing you can do to stop them. That’s why any car left for long periods of time eventually gets flat tires. Sounds pretty good, eh? So, next question, where can you get nitrogen? Well, that depends on where you are. Sure, Tire Trends fills all their wheel/tire combos with nitrogen so you can just go ahead and order some new wheels and tires, or you can call around to your local tire shops and see if they fill their customers’ tires with nitrogen; if so, we’re sure they’ll help you out.
If you’ve been listening to car guys for the past little while, you may have heard a few folks talk about filling tires with nitrogen, and wondered why. Well, we gave Mort Koch at Tire Trends a call, and asked why they fill their orders with nitrogen as opposed to air, and were somewhat surprised at the response we got, not because it wasn’t what we expected, but rather because it seemed to be one of those rare occurrences where there’s no downside to doing it. First off, Mort explained that nitrogen is less volatile than air, meaning it doesn’t contract and expand like air does when faced with temperature variations. That means no more remembering to fill up the tires in the winter, and no more letting air out in the summer. Also a major plus, because nitrogen is devoid of water, it won’t corrode your wheels like air. If you’ve ever seen a wheel that’s been stuck inside a tire for any amount of time, be it steel or aluminum, you’ve seen what air can do to a brand new wheel. Filling with nitrogen means that no matter how long your wheels sit there, wrapped in rubber, their insides will still look brand new when you pop the old tires off. Lastly, because nitrogen molecules are considerably larger than air, they don’t leak through the tire like air. That’s right, rubber is porous, and every minute of every day, hundreds of air molecules are escaping from your tires and there’s nothing you can do to stop them. That’s why any car left for long periods of time eventually gets flat tires. Sounds pretty good, eh? So, next question, where can you get nitrogen? Well, that depends on where you are. Sure, Tire Trends fills all their wheel/tire combos with nitrogen so you can just go ahead and order some new wheels and tires, or you can call around to your local tire shops and see if they fill their customers’ tires with nitrogen; if so, we’re sure they’ll help you out.
04-08-2007, 04:17 PM
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I am an aircraft mechanic, and we use nitrogen in all the tires because of altitude pressure changes and heat expansion. Also, corrosion is a HUGE issue with planes and helicopters. That is true about air corroding the inner wheel.
04-08-2007, 10:09 PM
#6
you still have to maintain them though, just alot less, it is thicker so it SLOWS down the natural seepage through the tire structure. but alot more beneficial, on non race cars its even more beneficial, as it lets the tire run cooler also. which in turn helps it wear better.
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04-08-2007, 10:33 PM
#9
Originally Posted by svtwhat?
you still have to maintain them though, just alot less, it is thicker so it SLOWS down the natural seepage through the tire structure. but alot more beneficial, on non race cars its even more beneficial, as it lets the tire run cooler also. which in turn helps it wear better.
04-08-2007, 10:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Yahelou
well, why dont the dealers and shops use nitrogen then?? all i see is benefits and no disadvantages. I guess maybe because they need ppl to wear their tires and keep on buyin new ones. so hard is to find a place that fills tires with nitrogen??
04-08-2007, 11:12 PM
#12
My daily driver has its tires filled with nitro, I bought rims for it at Super Autobacs in Los Angeles a couple months ago and they did it for free.
They pretty much told me the same thing when they were trying to make me pay for it and I said "no" since I figured they were full of ****, then they turned around and gave it to me for free. I think they were charging $25 or so for it, the ricers seem to have a huge hard on for it so it's a pretty big seller there.
I'm pretty happy I got it now after reading this, we'll see if it makes a difference.
They pretty much told me the same thing when they were trying to make me pay for it and I said "no" since I figured they were full of ****, then they turned around and gave it to me for free. I think they were charging $25 or so for it, the ricers seem to have a huge hard on for it so it's a pretty big seller there.
I'm pretty happy I got it now after reading this, we'll see if it makes a difference.
Last edited by 4150; 04-09-2007 at 02:49 AM.
04-08-2007, 11:56 PM
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Ok i understand the benefits, but when the tire is mounted there is already a bunch of air in there so how do you get it out, or are you just mixing it which would seem to negate the fact that nitrogen doesnt contain water since there is air already there to cause corrosion.
04-09-2007, 04:51 AM
#14
I almost always fill my tires with a mixture of about 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen. The other 1% is various other gases such as Ar, CO2, ect. This system has worked well for over 100 years...don't see any reason to change it now.
Galen
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04-09-2007, 08:01 AM
#15
Originally Posted by TARaptor
Ok i understand the benefits, but when the tire is mounted there is already a bunch of air in there so how do you get it out, or are you just mixing it which would seem to negate the fact that nitrogen doesnt contain water since there is air already there to cause corrosion.
04-09-2007, 10:32 AM
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Originally Posted by Galen
I almost always fill my tires with a mixture of about 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen. The other 1% is various other gases such as Ar, CO2, ect. This system has worked well for over 100 years...don't see any reason to change it now.
Galen
Galen
Most people dont realize this... 
04-10-2007, 02:21 AM
#19
Originally Posted by Galen
I almost always fill my tires with a mixture of about 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen. The other 1% is various other gases such as Ar, CO2, ect. This system has worked well for over 100 years...don't see any reason to change it now.
Galen
Galen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_atmosphere
04-10-2007, 07:10 AM
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Originally Posted by 2MuchRiceMakesMeSick
I let the air in and out of my tires too much to use nitrogen