Nitrogen
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 302
Likes: 1
From: Iowa
Nitrogen
Is anyone running nitrogen in thier tires? Pros - Cons, etc...????
A friend who runs a tire shop wants to put nitrogen in my tires. It's supposed to be less affected by temperature, less likely to leak, and since it does not contain any moisture it's supposed to be much better for the pressure sensors. I neglected to ask about cost.....
My only concern is if it does leak, I'm obligated to return there for a fill rather than my home compressor.
A friend who runs a tire shop wants to put nitrogen in my tires. It's supposed to be less affected by temperature, less likely to leak, and since it does not contain any moisture it's supposed to be much better for the pressure sensors. I neglected to ask about cost.....
My only concern is if it does leak, I'm obligated to return there for a fill rather than my home compressor.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 7,218
Likes: 1
From: Cresskill NJ
I think it may have been argued that the nitrogen is inert, while regular air would have more of an aging effect over time in the tires, but I'm sure this is pretty negligible. I would say if you have the ability to get nitrogen cheaply and easily enough it can't hurt, but there is no reason to go out of your way to get it, at least on a street car. 
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 124,167
Likes: 278
From: .... NJ
Cruise-In VII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '05 thru '19
The air you breathe and put in your tires is 78% nitrogen, just get a dryer on your compressor; it is the water vapor in the air you don't want in your tires. 
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 121
Likes: 4
From: Atlanta Georgia
Just put new Michelins on wife's Ram pickup at Costco. They put nitrogen in as standard. Nitrogen is inert and therefore the oxygen isn't there to oxidize the wheels. This means less deterioration over time to aluminum and mag wheels. Also, since the nitrogen molicule is larger you won't get the gradual leakdown you experience with straight air and most important, you won't experience the tire pressure fluctions caused by ambient outside temperatures.
In short, there are some nice trade-offs to using nitrogen if you don't mind the hassle of a refill at a place that has it. You can also bleed some off and use it for laughing gas if your local friendly dentist runs out.
In short, there are some nice trade-offs to using nitrogen if you don't mind the hassle of a refill at a place that has it. You can also bleed some off and use it for laughing gas if your local friendly dentist runs out.
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Instructor
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 127
Likes: 0
Safe to say that 100% of vette (and every other car) owners are running nitrogen in their tires.
The only difference is the percentage
If you wanna pay to eliminate that extra 20% of non nitrogen in good old "air".....by all means knock yourself out. Hope noone would actually pay extra for it though.
The only difference is the percentage
If you wanna pay to eliminate that extra 20% of non nitrogen in good old "air".....by all means knock yourself out. Hope noone would actually pay extra for it though.
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 121
Likes: 4
From: Atlanta Georgia
I stand corrected. From an engineer: "The rate of effusion (or diffusion) of a gas through a porous membrane depends on the molar mass and to some degree on the molecular diameter. N2 and O2 are almost the same size and N2 is lighter than O2 (28 g/mol vs 32 g/mol) so if either gas were to effuse out of the tire, nitrogen would do it more quickly. Luckily, tires are designed not to be porous membranes."
Conclusion: I was sold snake oil. Save the money and stay with air, dry if possible.
Conclusion: I was sold snake oil. Save the money and stay with air, dry if possible.
Advanced
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 75
Likes: 0
Originally Posted by 01QuickSilver
Is anyone running nitrogen in thier tires? Pros - Cons, etc...????
A friend who runs a tire shop wants to put nitrogen in my tires. It's supposed to be less affected by temperature, less likely to leak, and since it does not contain any moisture it's supposed to be much better for the pressure sensors. I neglected to ask about cost.....
My only concern is if it does leak, I'm obligated to return there for a fill rather than my home compressor.
A friend who runs a tire shop wants to put nitrogen in my tires. It's supposed to be less affected by temperature, less likely to leak, and since it does not contain any moisture it's supposed to be much better for the pressure sensors. I neglected to ask about cost.....
My only concern is if it does leak, I'm obligated to return there for a fill rather than my home compressor.
Isn't the atmosphere around us approximately 80% nitrogen?
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 43,084
Likes: 33
From: Raleigh / Rolesville NC
Originally Posted by 99 Torch Red
sn't the atmosphere around us approximately 80% nitrogen?
Yes Nitrogen is used in many race car tires. Nitrogen is less seseptable to heating up with hard use. Example tires filled with normal air may start off cold at 30 PSI and then when driven hard as in a road race the air preseure HOT may go up 8-9 psi to 38-39.
with Nitrogen in the tires starting off 30 psi cold the tires would only go up 4-5 psi HOT.
For street use it is not really nessary.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 302
Likes: 1
From: Iowa
Here are a couple sites with more info for the skeptics out there....
http://www.tirelast.com/id15.html
http://www.n2tires.com/
Seems like a good thing to me, and cost is very reasonable @$2 per tire. In regards to moisture & oxidation (aging) within the tires, remember: Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there!!
And just because we "never used that before" doesn't mean it's not a good idea... I'm getting nitrogen!
http://www.tirelast.com/id15.html
http://www.n2tires.com/
Seems like a good thing to me, and cost is very reasonable @$2 per tire. In regards to moisture & oxidation (aging) within the tires, remember: Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there!!
And just because we "never used that before" doesn't mean it's not a good idea... I'm getting nitrogen!
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 43,084
Likes: 33
From: Raleigh / Rolesville NC
Too really put N2 in to tires the first time. Do it three times, Let all the air out, then fill with N2, then let all the N2 out and refill with N2, and repeat once more.
That should give you just about a tire full of Nitorgen
That should give you just about a tire full of Nitorgen
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 139
Likes: 0
Originally Posted by AU N EGL
Too really put N2 in to tires the first time. Do it three times, Let all the air out, then fill with N2, then let all the N2 out and refill with N2, and repeat once more.
That should give you just about a tire full of Nitorgen
That should give you just about a tire full of Nitorgen