Nitrogen Question
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,791
Likes: 44
From: Loudon/Lake Mary Tennessee/Florida
Nitrogen Question
My wife's new Buick Enclave came with a window sticker indicating it has nitrogen in the tires. Our temperature here in Arkansas fluctuates and I am often adding air or removing it from my vette tires to keep the air pressure right.
Her car reminded me that maybe I should get nitrogen in my tires. It was my understanding that nitrogen filled tires will maintain pressure regardless of the temperature and this would be nice for me.
She got a low tire pressure warning on her car and took it in. They added nitrogen and she brought up what I had told her about tire pressure with nitrogen in them not fluctuating. The guy at the dealership says that pressure will still change some with very cold weather.
So, what is the real story?
Her car reminded me that maybe I should get nitrogen in my tires. It was my understanding that nitrogen filled tires will maintain pressure regardless of the temperature and this would be nice for me.
She got a low tire pressure warning on her car and took it in. They added nitrogen and she brought up what I had told her about tire pressure with nitrogen in them not fluctuating. The guy at the dealership says that pressure will still change some with very cold weather.
So, what is the real story?
Racer
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 310
Likes: 0
From: Cheatham County TN
Wounded Warrior Escort '11
Have a look at this link on Nitrogen filled tires. I think it will answer all your questions and concerns.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...ns.html?cat=15
http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...ns.html?cat=15
Racer
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 276
Likes: 1
From: Indianapolis IN
Oh boy, I LOVE nitrogen questions. I was once a service advisor and was heavily involved in the process and marketing when we added nitrogen service in the shop.
Some people swear by it, and won't let you put anything else in their tires. Personally, I think they drank the koolaid.
In theory, since nitrogen molecules are bigger than oxygen or other molecules that make up the air, and thus harder to get out through teeny tiny little seams in the tires and around the bead, filling a tire with them should keep pressure up longer.
Note, the key word above is longer. It still seeps out, maybe just not as quickly. I never bought into the nitrogen thing for several reasons:
1) It costs about $25 or so to have all the bad air sucked out and have nitrogen put back in. Maybe I'm just a cheapskate, but for the price of 25 McChiken sandwiches, I always thought it was more marketing than actual value.
2) You still have to put the stuff back in from time to time. And, you can't do it down at the local Gas & Grunt. You have to go somewhere where they actually have nitrogen.
3) You should be checking your tires for tread depth, wear patterns and pressure regularly anyway. TPM's probably contribute to more tire wear than they save, because when people have TPM's they tend to forget about their tires and how they are wearing and think that as long as the light is off, all's good on the corners.
4) Air is about 78% or so nitrogen anyway. I don't know what that has to do with anything, but to pay to get that up to about the 90% level, which is what you actually get, just wasn't anything I could get excited about.
From my experience on the service drive, I think people do it because it makes them "feel" better. Kind of like changing their oil more often than the manufacturer recommends. Do it if you want. I'll pass.
Some people swear by it, and won't let you put anything else in their tires. Personally, I think they drank the koolaid.
In theory, since nitrogen molecules are bigger than oxygen or other molecules that make up the air, and thus harder to get out through teeny tiny little seams in the tires and around the bead, filling a tire with them should keep pressure up longer.
Note, the key word above is longer. It still seeps out, maybe just not as quickly. I never bought into the nitrogen thing for several reasons:
1) It costs about $25 or so to have all the bad air sucked out and have nitrogen put back in. Maybe I'm just a cheapskate, but for the price of 25 McChiken sandwiches, I always thought it was more marketing than actual value.
2) You still have to put the stuff back in from time to time. And, you can't do it down at the local Gas & Grunt. You have to go somewhere where they actually have nitrogen.
3) You should be checking your tires for tread depth, wear patterns and pressure regularly anyway. TPM's probably contribute to more tire wear than they save, because when people have TPM's they tend to forget about their tires and how they are wearing and think that as long as the light is off, all's good on the corners.
4) Air is about 78% or so nitrogen anyway. I don't know what that has to do with anything, but to pay to get that up to about the 90% level, which is what you actually get, just wasn't anything I could get excited about.
From my experience on the service drive, I think people do it because it makes them "feel" better. Kind of like changing their oil more often than the manufacturer recommends. Do it if you want. I'll pass.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,791
Likes: 44
From: Loudon/Lake Mary Tennessee/Florida
Thanks for the replies guys. If it would make a difference in tire pressure changes with temperature I'd get it but it seems that there is no real advantage.
Racer
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 310
Likes: 0
From: Cheatham County TN
Wounded Warrior Escort '11
Snowman0920 has the right answers and hopefully you read the one site I sent you as you need to make your own decision.
I retired from the industrial gas industry and I might be a "little" biased in my answer.
I retired from the industrial gas industry and I might be a "little" biased in my answer.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 82,175
Likes: 1,319
From: McKinney TX
St. Jude Donor '21-'22-'23-'24
Right. It still has to obey the laws of physics. When the outside temperature goes down, the pressure in the tire goes down. No way to get around that.
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Pro
Joined: Feb 2000
Posts: 724
Likes: 0
From: Dawson Springs Kentucky
Issue is with the moisture in air. More moisture in the air, the more the pressure will change with temp. If you are familar with compressors you know how much moisture/condensation can be forced into a tire when it is inflated. Nit is extremely dry compared to air, so the pressure will change less with the temp. Simply deflating the tire and filling with nit helps, but to be really effective you need to purge (inflate/deflate) the tire a couple of times to dilute the remaining air. It is not an issue of nit staying in the tire longer, just keeping the pressure more constant. On a side note, recommended tire pressure is with the tire cold, taking into account the fact the pressure will increase about 4 lbs when warm to normal driving pressure. You will need to inflate the tire a few pounds over cold recommended pressure since the nit will not vary like the air. If you think this is bunk, ask why race teams use nit instead of air when a 1/2 lb change is critical? Is it worth it for normal driving, would say no way.
Last edited by Icebear; Jan 12, 2011 at 07:57 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 8,022
Likes: 8
From: Stafford VA, home of our wolf den. No house break ins to date.
Before i retired from my tire guru job with the Govt... we got pushed into doing plenty of testing and cost analysis runs for nitrogen conversion of the Govt fleet.........
know what the answer was?
Its good stuff for professional car racing, and even serious amature track folks... but for all around use................. naaaaaaaaaah. you just can't monitor it the way it should be done.
know what the answer was?
Its good stuff for professional car racing, and even serious amature track folks... but for all around use................. naaaaaaaaaah. you just can't monitor it the way it should be done.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 2,223
Likes: 12
From: "No matter where you go... there you are"...."You cannot drive a dollar bill". ...and remember... "D
Oh boy, I LOVE nitrogen questions. I was once a service advisor and was heavily involved in the process and marketing when we added nitrogen service in the shop.
Some people swear by it, and won't let you put anything else in their tires. Personally, I think they drank the koolaid.
In theory, since nitrogen molecules are bigger than oxygen or other molecules that make up the air, and thus harder to get out through teeny tiny little seams in the tires and around the bead, filling a tire with them should keep pressure up longer.
Note, the key word above is longer. It still seeps out, maybe just not as quickly. I never bought into the nitrogen thing for several reasons:
1) It costs about $25 or so to have all the bad air sucked out and have nitrogen put back in. Maybe I'm just a cheapskate, but for the price of 25 McChiken sandwiches, I always thought it was more marketing than actual value.
2) You still have to put the stuff back in from time to time. And, you can't do it down at the local Gas & Grunt. You have to go somewhere where they actually have nitrogen.
3) You should be checking your tires for tread depth, wear patterns and pressure regularly anyway. TPM's probably contribute to more tire wear than they save, because when people have TPM's they tend to forget about their tires and how they are wearing and think that as long as the light is off, all's good on the corners.
4) Air is about 78% or so nitrogen anyway. I don't know what that has to do with anything, but to pay to get that up to about the 90% level, which is what you actually get, just wasn't anything I could get excited about.
From my experience on the service drive, I think people do it because it makes them "feel" better. Kind of like changing their oil more often than the manufacturer recommends. Do it if you want. I'll pass.
Some people swear by it, and won't let you put anything else in their tires. Personally, I think they drank the koolaid.
In theory, since nitrogen molecules are bigger than oxygen or other molecules that make up the air, and thus harder to get out through teeny tiny little seams in the tires and around the bead, filling a tire with them should keep pressure up longer.
Note, the key word above is longer. It still seeps out, maybe just not as quickly. I never bought into the nitrogen thing for several reasons:
1) It costs about $25 or so to have all the bad air sucked out and have nitrogen put back in. Maybe I'm just a cheapskate, but for the price of 25 McChiken sandwiches, I always thought it was more marketing than actual value.
2) You still have to put the stuff back in from time to time. And, you can't do it down at the local Gas & Grunt. You have to go somewhere where they actually have nitrogen.
3) You should be checking your tires for tread depth, wear patterns and pressure regularly anyway. TPM's probably contribute to more tire wear than they save, because when people have TPM's they tend to forget about their tires and how they are wearing and think that as long as the light is off, all's good on the corners.
4) Air is about 78% or so nitrogen anyway. I don't know what that has to do with anything, but to pay to get that up to about the 90% level, which is what you actually get, just wasn't anything I could get excited about.
From my experience on the service drive, I think people do it because it makes them "feel" better. Kind of like changing their oil more often than the manufacturer recommends. Do it if you want. I'll pass.
....Now having just said that, I use the Nitrogen in my Z ...........
....Why?....well it originally cost me 15.00 to do the procedure at my local...and close by Costco... plus where I live the local gas stations charge for air....(I also have my own air compressor jsut in case)
...but to put it simply...it is just plain quick and easy...plus they do the work.....
Advanced
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 60
Likes: 0
Oh boy, I LOVE nitrogen questions. I was once a service advisor and was heavily involved in the process and marketing when we added nitrogen service in the shop.
Some people swear by it, and won't let you put anything else in their tires. Personally, I think they drank the koolaid.
In theory, since nitrogen molecules are bigger than oxygen or other molecules that make up the air, and thus harder to get out through teeny tiny little seams in the tires and around the bead, filling a tire with them should keep pressure up longer.
Note, the key word above is longer. It still seeps out, maybe just not as quickly. I never bought into the nitrogen thing for several reasons:
1) It costs about $25 or so to have all the bad air sucked out and have nitrogen put back in. Maybe I'm just a cheapskate, but for the price of 25 McChiken sandwiches, I always thought it was more marketing than actual value.
2) You still have to put the stuff back in from time to time. And, you can't do it down at the local Gas & Grunt. You have to go somewhere where they actually have nitrogen.
3) You should be checking your tires for tread depth, wear patterns and pressure regularly anyway. TPM's probably contribute to more tire wear than they save, because when people have TPM's they tend to forget about their tires and how they are wearing and think that as long as the light is off, all's good on the corners.
4) Air is about 78% or so nitrogen anyway. I don't know what that has to do with anything, but to pay to get that up to about the 90% level, which is what you actually get, just wasn't anything I could get excited about.
From my experience on the service drive, I think people do it because it makes them "feel" better. Kind of like changing their oil more often than the manufacturer recommends. Do it if you want. I'll pass.
Some people swear by it, and won't let you put anything else in their tires. Personally, I think they drank the koolaid.
In theory, since nitrogen molecules are bigger than oxygen or other molecules that make up the air, and thus harder to get out through teeny tiny little seams in the tires and around the bead, filling a tire with them should keep pressure up longer.
Note, the key word above is longer. It still seeps out, maybe just not as quickly. I never bought into the nitrogen thing for several reasons:
1) It costs about $25 or so to have all the bad air sucked out and have nitrogen put back in. Maybe I'm just a cheapskate, but for the price of 25 McChiken sandwiches, I always thought it was more marketing than actual value.
2) You still have to put the stuff back in from time to time. And, you can't do it down at the local Gas & Grunt. You have to go somewhere where they actually have nitrogen.
3) You should be checking your tires for tread depth, wear patterns and pressure regularly anyway. TPM's probably contribute to more tire wear than they save, because when people have TPM's they tend to forget about their tires and how they are wearing and think that as long as the light is off, all's good on the corners.
4) Air is about 78% or so nitrogen anyway. I don't know what that has to do with anything, but to pay to get that up to about the 90% level, which is what you actually get, just wasn't anything I could get excited about.
From my experience on the service drive, I think people do it because it makes them "feel" better. Kind of like changing their oil more often than the manufacturer recommends. Do it if you want. I'll pass.
Racer
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 276
Likes: 1
From: Indianapolis IN
See this link for more details: http://www.getnitrogen.org/pdf/graham.pdf
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 846
Likes: 3
From: Las Vegas NV
Had issues with it, got my tires at Costco they use nitrogen with there built gauge...it was 4 lbs different then my TPS sensors..the weather got cold and I kept getting a low pressure warning. Finally I went back and had them add 4 lbs problem solved. I really need to start watching and pull out the trusty MAC tire gauge and check it once an awhile 
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 892
Likes: 1
From: westport ct & port st lucie fl.
Yes, I do have a small compressor at home. Takes too long to put 3-4 lbs in each tire with it.
Yea, I know, big spender.
