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My Costco puts nitrogen in the tires they sell at no charge. They put green valve caps on the car so you know they have it.
They rotate free(I once spent $400 in the store while getting the "free" rotation) and tell you just to add air when needed and they will replenish the nitrogen when they rotate.
I have had a couple of cars with the nitrogen in them and could not really see all the claims that are made for it.
For free, I dont have any problems with it, but would not pay anything extra for it. Maybe in a race car it would make a difference.
Nitrogen does expand and contract with temp, as does all gas. It does not seal leaks, the atmosphere is 78% nitrogen. The only advantage is that it does not have moisture in it IF it is indeed 100% nitrogen. You're just believing whoever charges you for it. I've been running 78% nitrogen and about 21% oxygen for 45 years now and it's worked fine. I have a device that extracts it from the atmosphere, compresses it and and then I force it into my tires. I've never had one rot from the inside yet because of the tiny amount of moisture. If you feel like spending your money to put nitrogen in your tires and then having to find someplace to top it off or replace it when you have a flat, have at it. I can think of a lot more important things to spend my money on. It's your car and your money, so if it makes you feel better, go for it.
Last edited by 65GGvert; Jan 11, 2007 at 01:01 AM.
Reason: spelling
I heard, years ago, that museums use nitrogen in their cars tires because air has moisture in it and nitrogen doesn't. The moisture in the air tends to rot the tires from the inside. Go figure.
Actually, this one is correct. For museums, this makes sense. A lot of racers use it as well.
Two of my Corvette's tires have nitrogen in them, the other two have nothing but plain old air from a 12v portable tire filler/compressor.
I have a nitrogen tank for servicing my aircraft's struts, it was handy, so I filled up the tires. Figured why the heck not just purge two and give them a pure N2 fill up.
I challenge anyone to tell me which two are air and which two are filled with nitrogen. I sure can't, the tire pressure sensors can't, and without really nice test equipment, no one else can either.
Used to work for Air Products and Nitrogen is more dense than air meaning it will take less time for it to leak out of the pores in the tire. As far a weight savings, better gas milage or any other charging money for it is crap. they have tire dealers here that fill your tires with it for free when you buy tires form them. It's a marketing ploy, but if you are a ricer you get pretty green valve caps.
Stick with air, but watch filling tires at a gas station when the temp is below 34 degrees as there is a lot of moisture in the system. Use the small stump on your gauge to let the air out of the hose for a few moments prior to filling and watche the moisture come out.
Actually it's about 78% nitrogen. Anyone who pays 60 bucks to have their tires filled with pure nitrogen, please call me. I've got a bridge in Arizona for sale.
Oh yea, as far as Nitrogen in the tires goes, there can be benefits to using it, some only loosely associated with the BS she was given, but in no case worth the money they charged. I would demand a refund just for telling such a wopper...
Didn't read through the whole thread so please forgive me if what I say has already been said.
The reason for using nitrogen is that it contains little to no moisture unlike regular air out of a air pump. When there is moisture in the air as the tires heat up they expand more than they would if there was no moisture in the air increasing the psi more than you might like. Using nitrogen avoids this.
Can't speak to the cost issue because I do not know what is reasonable.
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