Anyone out there ever filled their FD tires with nitrogen? See the article below:

http://www.WAFF.com/Global/story.asp?s=2399797

 

How the hell does it not leak? (BTW, Costco has it)

 

http://www.racegoodyear.com/about/fast_facts.html

The race teams use it because the pressure changes are more predictable as the tires heat.

I imaging that the airlines use it because they want to get any and all moisture out of the tire fill.

The article sounds like BS. (or at least incorrectly stated) The only other reason I could think of is that by eliminating the O2 in the mix, you can decrease oxidation on the tire rubber, prolonging life and decreasing slow leakdown in the tire. But that is jusr a SWAG.

-bill

 

Now youll probly get someone trying to fill his tires with NAWS!

 

interesting post .. makes sense to me .. but how does it save you money? 30 bucks?!?! thats 6 good meals at mcdonalds .. air is free .. plus if you punish your tires .. and change them often then there is no point in using nitrogen .. unless you drive an economy car then i guess in the long run it does save you money

 

i don't see it saving you money no matter what. it costs a lot less than 30$ to bend your *** down and check/fill your tires with compressed air every month.

 

I agree... what a waste of 30 bucks.

 

Good idea for serious auto-x guys but likely a waste of time/$$ for anyone but race teams.

 

^^I agree, the atmosphere is mostly nitrogen anyway.

 

wrankin has it all absolutely correct, the article has it mostly wrong. The idea behind nitrogen isn't what it has, it's what it doesn't have; namely water vapor. You could just as well fill your tires with some other "pure" gas but nitrogen is cheap compared to others. If you were to use a good water trap (the ones you find at the hardware store are not "good") on your air compressor you'll find that a tire filled with clean, dry air will be just as good as the nitrogen filled tire as all gases obey the ideal gas law and expand at the same rate.

The oxidation effects inside the tire are not to be overlooked, especially on a tire that is so highly loaded (like an aircraft tire).

 

I want to see someone fill their tire with helium for wieght savings

 

My tires are inflated with nitrogen right now, I haven't raced on them yet to compare, but I can't feel a noticeable difference on the street. I'll try to check back in a month or two, ideally I'll try to do back-to-back practice days with regular air vs. nitrogen. Costco let the air bleed out of my tires and refilled them with Nitrogen, I'd guess that probably 10% of the original air is in there still. For what it's worth, my brother had the tires in his '97 Chevy pickup filled with nitrogen, he said it made a difference in handling. His tires are much taller than mine.

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from Costco literature:


What is Nitrogen?
An inert, dry gas. It's non-combustible, non-flammable, and non-corrosive. In other words, it's as safe as air when used in a tire application.

Where is Nitrogen found?
The air usually used for inflating tires is 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, 1% other gases.

Why use Nitrogen?
Nitrogen helps to stabilize a tire's inflation pressure, helping maximize handling , efficiency and tire life.

What's wrong with "plain old air" ?
Air contains oxygen which has smaller molecules than Nitrogen. Oxygen escapes from a tire 3-4 times faster than Nitrogen. Air also contains moisture, which will expand and contract with ambient temperature changes, and when the tire heats up from normal operation. Together, moisture and Oxygen have the potential to corrode your rims and rim hardware. The Nitrogen used to inflate your tires is absolutely dry, and helps eliminate fluctuating tire inflation pressures.

How does Nitrogen in my tires help maximize my vehicle's handling, fuel efficiency and tire life?

Vehicle Handling:
By maintaining proper inflatino pressure in your tires, your vehicle will handle the way it was designed to. When tires are over- or under-inflated the part of the tire that makes contact with the road changes size. You want to keep the entire available contact patch of the tire on the road.

Fuel Efficiency:
When tires are inflated properly you have less rolling resistance, which will maximize mileage.

Tire Life:
When your tires are properly inflated they make even contact with the road. Your tires will prematurely wear on the shoulders if they are under-inflated and they will prematurely wear in the middle if they are over-inflated.

What about the tires I bought from Costco last year? Can I get them inflated with Nitrogen?
Absolutely.. Just bring your vehicle to your Costco Tire Center. Ask to have your tires inflated with Nitrogen. It's as simple as that. In fact, we'll inflate any Costco member's tires with Nitrogen, no matter where the tires were purchased.

Costco Nitrogen tire inflation equipment manufactured by Branick Industries , Inc. and distributed by Westesco.
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-s-

 

Whoa, cool. I'll be sure to drop by Costco to inflate mine with Nitrogen. You know, stuff to ad to the mod list.=P

 

And so every time you need to fill up your tires, you have to make a trip to Costco? The original article (as well as the Costco literature) is a complete spin on the benefits of nitrogen, with a big load of crap thrown in. Absolutely useless except for tires subjected to major stress loads for the majority of their life. Just check your tire pressures regularly.