Nitrogen Tires

[Stewie007]

Just out of curiosity... How many people here fill their tires with Nitrogen instead of compressed air?

[Vapor]

Why should I?

[Stewie007]

It doesn't permeate through your tires as quickly, and will remain more steadily at pressure (doesn't change temperature as much as compressed air will).

[mtb856]

hmmm, that would have to be a no. I use a bike pump to fill my car tires :woot:

[Stewie007]

I started reading about this today, when my dad told me that Ingersoll Rand (the people he works for now) makes nitrogen pumps for filling tires. This thing takes air, and separates everything except the oxygen from it.

[Vapor]

Hmmmm, well my car doesn't get driven in the winter, and, well....it doesn't get driven much, tbh. Not worth the effort if it doesn't provide an outstanding benefit (mind you, a block from the end of my couldesack there's a Mobil with an airpump).

[Cossey]

only usefull on race cars where the tire temps get well above normal road car temps and the consistancy of is of far greater importance

[Stewie007]

Actually, you're wrong. Sure its useful on race car tires. But your tires hold pressure better because nitrogen doesn't permeate as quickly through the rubber as compressied air.

Tire pressure is important for ALL driving. Many people don't check their tire pressure either.

[J-Mag]

This kinda reminds me of the crazy bastards running up from Mexico with black SUVs smuggling people and drugs.

They fill their tires with silicone so that they can drive over spike traps and road hazards while going the wrong way on freeways...

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/1595623/detail.html

[Stewie007]

Need I mention that tire pressure fluctuates more with compressed air than nitrogen according to air temp.

[Plague_oc]

nitrogen tires would have to be refilled more frequently though correct?

[Stewie007]

No.... Less frequently.

[Vapor]

I don't understand why...nitrogen permeates though STEEL a lot better than, well, just about everything. Why not rubber? Anyway, I'm not doubting you--just very curious about this.

[Stewie007]

I'm not a chemist... I just know the facts.

[NWEng]

Wow. Seems we just had this discussion over at Suzuki forums.

[einCe]

This kinda reminds me of the crazy bastards running up from Mexico with black SUVs smuggling people and drugs.
yeah those crazy mexicans :rolleyes: hey wait thats near me

[Cossey]

Actually, you're wrong. Sure its useful on race car tires. But your tires hold pressure better because nitrogen doesn't permeate as quickly through the rubber as compressied air.

Tire pressure is important for ALL driving. Many people don't check their tire pressure either.
you would gain more by checking your tyres regularly and topping them up a necessary.

the two benefits are decreased diffusion through the rubber which can be countered by regular checking (normal low speed (ie sub 60mph) driving with the majority of cars every 2-4 weeks is sufficient) and the other is less pressure changes with increases/decreases of temperature which are sufficiently low on raod cars (esp in the usa with low freeway speeds compared to europe) that there is no real benefit.

[NWEng]

I wouldn't say that there was no real benefit. Anytime you can decrease the need for user maintenance without sacrificing reliability is beneficial.

Costco is using nitrogen to fill the tires in its tire shop in select locations. Look for the green vavle stem covers, which is what they use to denote the use of nitrogen rather than air.

[Bloody_Sorcerer]

the dissipation rate out of the tires part is wrong... N2 is a smaller molecule than O2 (we'll just call air a mixture of N2 and O2 and ignore the other trace elements), so, thanks to graham's law, smaller molecules will diffuse quicker than larger molecules and pure N2 is smaller than a mixture of N2 (same size as N2 (duh)) and O2, which is marginally larger than N2, so it diffuses at a slower rate.
other than that, N2 is still preferable, because it prevents oxidation on steel-lined tires and keeps moisture out, which is usually a good thing
also, might wanna edit the poll from "now" to "no" ;)

[Stewie007]

I did check my facts, and you can too. Just google it. Nitrogen migrates/permeates more slowly than compressed air.

So no, you are incorrect about that. It DOES NOT permeate more quickly than air.

[VisiV]

this poll was lacking..... ummm.... where in the heck is the plain old no..... I know why I should.... Doesn't wear the tires down.

[Stewie007]

I meant No... but somehow typo'ed Now :p

[Brock Landers]

I've considered servcing my tires with Nitrogen for the heck of it. We service our jets tires with N2 because of less pressure flux with temp. That's more of an issue for aircraft though. They can take off where it's 120-130* F ambient and at 25000 feet it's a bit cooler. Last time I was up with the crew it was -15* C. That's too much for regular ol' air to deal with, especially if you're using the same jet for a few sorties in one day, just through-flighting it each time.

My apologies if this is pretty disjointed. I'm really tired right now and my thought train has departed for the evening.

[Rukee]

would you have to vaccuum the air out of the tire before refilling with nitrogen??
...and were the heck do you get compressed nitrogen?

[guess2098]

i ask costco about why switch to Nitrogen.
they told me

1. Nitrogen is very dry.
( they said compress air will get wet is no good to tires ???? no idea....)

2. Temp will not change like compress air, so the tire less longer.
( they said cuz when air gets cold/hot, the presure changed and causes the friction area of tire changed)

3. Nitrogen is not easy to leak
( don't need to bump air every 6-month??)

4. if you need to overclock, take some Nitrogen and make it to LN2.......................

[Stewie007]

1. Yes, Nitrogen is dry. Compressed air contains conciderable moisture. Let it blow out on your finger and it'll be moist.

2. Temp change is low, tires last longer, yes. This will allow your tire to stay properly inflated.

3. Nitrogen permeates 3 to 4 times more slowly through rubber than compressed air.

[charlie]

so where do you find compressed N and do you have to vacuum your tires before filling??

[Stewie007]

I got mine at the refrigeration shop, and evacuation is a good idea. Not a deep vac, though.

[guess2098]

i got it from costco

[Stewie007]

I do refrigeration work, so I do it myself.

But many shops do offer it. :)

[Cpt Twitchy]

Just for some Background I grew up around racing and it flows in my veins. I know a lot of racers and can tell you why we racers use nitrogen. We have never used Nitrogen because we are cheap and just set our tire pressures low and let them rise to the desired psi.

The main reason we use nitrogen is because it doesnt expand and contract like air does and gives us an extremely stable tire pressure.

For some that dont use nitrogen they use bleeder vlaves instead and you set it at which ever psi you want. Then the tires warm up and the tire pressure goes up ir releases pressure maintaining it at the choosen setting. The downside is when you slow down your tire pressure goes below the set amount but is help ful as it will help the tire warm up faster getting back to the desired pressure.

Lastly there is people taht take they cheap way like us. in our kart tires we set the right side from 9psi-11psi knowing it will go about to about 14psi (what we want)

As for street cars just check air pressure every week or 2 and you'll be fine.

[STEvil]

It doesn't permeate through your tires as quickly, and will remain more steadily at pressure (doesn't change temperature as much as compressed air will).

temperature of the gas within the tire will be determined by temperature of the rubber and rim.

More likely is that Nitrogen doesnt expand or contract as much as air due to temperature change (although I am not completely sure on this, only assuming).

[expansionvalve]

I do indeed fill my tires with nitrogen, oxygen free nitrogen to be exact, it is something I have been doing for many years from motorcycle to van/car.

I guess it's easy for fridge folk as we leak test refrigeration systems with it, tyres last a bit longer and run cooler.

[Stewie007]

temperature of the gas within the tire will be determined by temperature of the rubber and rim.

More likely is that Nitrogen doesnt expand or contract as much as air due to temperature change (although I am not completely sure on this, only assuming).

Well that's what I meant, I just said it wrong... :p

[jahjahbinks]

Well, air itself is 78% nitrogen.

[Stewie007]

Yes. So if everything else permeated through your tires walls except the nitrogen, you'd be 78% inflated.

[BugsBMD]

Just a anther thing about aircraft tires if you have a brake fire or something like that when landing and your tire blows the nitrogen would not fuel the fire like compressed air would.

[sky]

the set of tires/wheels i'm running now has been filled with nitrogen - for
above mentioned reasons. those are lightweight sports wheels and sports
tires and from what i can see so far (been running them since about last
june - that is june '04) they haven't really dropped in pressure. at least
nothing like the avg. tires / wheels i've been running before that were
filled with air. with air i had to add about .1 bar every 1 or 2 months.
with the nitrogen, i probably had to add about .2 over the whole year.

[Stewie007]

Just a anther thing about aircraft tires if you have a brake fire or something like that when landing and your tire blows the nitrogen would not fuel the fire like compressed air would.

Next time I'm landing a jet I'll remember that :)

[l3ored]

I started reading about this today, when my dad told me that Ingersoll Rand (the people he works for now) makes nitrogen pumps for filling tires. This thing takes air, and separates everything except the oxygen from it.
whippets anyone?

[Stewie007]

I just noticed that I said oxygen when I meant nitrogen... :p

[gkiing]

hahaha evacuate your tires.. rofl

I've put CO2 in mine quite a few times with no problems. For the typical car filling your tires with n2 or any other inert gas will have no effect whatsoever.

[Stewie007]

Its not for effect, its for retaining pressure, duh.

[gkiing]

Its not for effect, its for retaining pressure, duh.

A properly installed tire doesn't leak significantly, Duh.

[Stewie007]

A properly installed tire doesn't leak significantly, Duh.

You lose tire pressure by permeation through the tire walls. It has nothing to do with installation.

You should do some reading before you try to start a flame war. :nono:

[Soulburner]

You lose tire pressure by permeation through the tire walls. It has nothing to do with installation.

You should do some reading before you try to start a flame war. :nono:
Read his post again. Key word being "significantly".

[dogmaxx]

yer but what if you get to much heat on the the thing think tires are black and black obsorbes heat from the sun and if you heat up nitrogen well then .......BANG!!

[gkiing]

You lose tire pressure by permeation through the tire walls. It has nothing to do with installation.

You should do some reading before you try to start a flame war. :nono:

:nono:

I'm not taking the bait.

But ON topic, I'll try the nitrogen.

[Cpt Twitchy]

Anybody pay attention to my first post in this thread http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1095304&postcount=31

As for on the street I don't think its the wisest idea to use nitrogen unless you check your tire pressure regularly which I doubt most of you do on a regular basis.

[max_Jaker]

yeah you guys are confusing this thread really all nitrogen does for the tires in any real world application is keep the pressure from changing due to temp...
forget the o2 leaks more battle... my car sits all winter long....and when its warm again i might have to add 2 pounds at most...its all about te tire/rim quality and making sure things like your valve stem are ok..

to use nitrogen in your street car would be a waste of time/money unless you race for money on the street, in that case you have some other problems that you should deal with first....way before adding nitrogen to the tires...a.k.a. go to a damn track...

heck i even run normal air in my drag car and just check pressure before every run because i run rather low air pressures when on the track....

[Soulburner]

max by looking at the specs in your sig you should be going a heck of a lot faster than your time and trap show...what gives? Poor flowing heads? Can't be low traction or your trap would be higher.

[Stewie007]

:nono:

I'm not taking the bait.

But ON topic, I'll try the nitrogen.

It wasn't bait, it was a suggestion.

[max_Jaker]

Soul .
the cars elapsed times thats mostly due to the poor intake im using
my heads flow over 200cfm intake side but the intake itself only flows around 160, its a horrible mismatch so once i get a new intake its all set for proper times.

and for launch its a 2.1 sixty foot time once i get slicks that will drop to a 1.8-1.6 and drastically improve e.t.

i also plan on adding forged pistons and some lightweight rods and then installing a 150 shot of nitrous :) that will be soon i hope.

with too many other hobbys and too many bills slowly it all comes together..

[Soulburner]

Sounds good. I'm set for a some decent 60 footers soon too I hope, i'm ordering a set of 315 drag radials this week and then it's off to tune for the new converter.

[max_Jaker]

cool what level stall you using ?

[Soulburner]

Yank SS3600 2.5 STR

[Rippthrough]

max by looking at the specs in your sig you should be going a heck of a lot faster than your time and trap show...what gives? Poor flowing heads? Can't be low traction or your trap would be higher.


They never flow all that weel unless you scrap them and machine a set from scratch.

[C_B]

[x] No ...

[veryhumid]

I wish there was a place near me to get them filled. It's definitely worth it, especially in a place like new england where the temperature changes a lot. It keeps your braking, fuel economy and handling more consistent.

[Slayer2k3]

I wish there was a place near me to get them filled. It's definitely worth it, especially in a place like new england where the temperature changes a lot. It keeps your braking, fuel economy and handling more consistent.


Sullivan Tire, Tire Warehouse, and a fe other little New England tire companies do it.

Where is New London exactly? North er south NH?