Who has switched to nitrogen for tires?

[Silicon Desert]

The big problem I have noticed about this nitrogen thing is that some tire shops (like the local Big O here in Reno) will AUTOMATICALLY add the cost of filing nitrogen in the new tires at a cost of $8 per tire in their quote without even saying anything. A HUG hidden cost if you don't ask about it and tell them to take it out. A bit dishonest I think. The do it no matter what kind of tire or car you have when buying new tires.

 

[DopeGhoti]

If someone did that do me, I'd demand they remove the N2 and replace it with ambient air mix. To which they would either have to acquiesce, or let me go on my way, realizing that they (more than likely) do not have a way to vaccuum out the Nitrogen from my tires, and just send me on my way with the free removed.

 

[edigest]

I only put nitrogen in my jet's tires.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Kind of like the old undercoating. Just additional dealer markup. For street tires the Nitrogen thing is mostly a gimmick.

 

[StealthP3D]

I don't use Nitrogen fills, too much trouble/expense. But it does have a number of advantages, the biggest being that it is DRY nitrogen. Moisture is quite common in air compressors and I've seen air hoses dispense everything from obvious water vapor to straight H2O. So, if you fill up at a service station, use a pocket knife, key or other implement to let a little air out first so you can check for excessive moisture.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Most all air compressors have in line water seperators.

 

[focher]

Required markup/purchase on my moms BMW X3. Dealer already added. Rip off. It was $75 per tire. Non-negotiable. .

Bet they would have negotiated as you walked towards the door.

Well, it was a BMW salesperson so maybe not.

 

[DopeGhoti]

Bet they would have negotiated as you walked towards the door.

"Tell you what.. I'm going to leave your $300 worth of nitrogen right here; I have a 12V air pump right here, so I'll leave your air and just get some of this free air. How's that?"

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Most all air compressors have in line water seperators.

Wouldn’t count on that at a gas station. I’ve seen some pretty bad things when using those in the past! Lots of moisture...always worth emptying the line and then making sure the new compressed air seems dry...

I answered yes to Nitrogen in the poll. But I just use the stuff in the air.

Personally I don’t worry about the moisture since I don’t live in a super damp place, and I just use a bicycle pump to fill my tires and don’t bother with portable or normal air compressors - don’t have the patience to plug them in. As someone else mentioned, if indeed the smaller oxygen molecules are sneaking out more rapidly, then my nitrogen content is going to increase in % when I refill, at least up to a point.

I do have some vague perception that tire pressures do have to be adjusted (more air added) more frequently at first after refilling, then it settles out (except for obvious temp change effects), so there may be something to these sneaky oxygen molecules weaseling their way through the tires.

 

[StealthP3D]

Most all air compressors have in line water seperators.

"Most all"?

Well, which is it, "most" or "all". Because it can't be both. That is some serious weasel language there. And if my first-hand experience is any indication, it's definitely not "all". I will also point out that most in-line water separators need regular maintenance or they will be sending liquid water right into the fill hose.

This has happened to me in at least two different service stations that had free "air". One was in Spokane WA, not exactly a wet place. When you depress the valve to release a burst of air you might see anything from dry air to a fine mist of water vapor to actual liquid drops of water shooting out. I didn't bother to find out whether they had separators that hadn't been maintained because it didn't really matter. I wasn't going to put that in my tires. But if you don't check first, you will never know what you put in there. Chances are, you have filled up with "air" that had liquid water in there without even being aware of it. Water in your tires is a serious problem that is not limited to corrosion of the wheel and/or valve stem. As it heats up it creates extra pressure (vapor pressure) which is why dry nitrogen is so useful, particularly in humid areas.

I would probably use dry nitrogen if I lived in a more humid area. But I do check the quality of the "air" if forced to use a supply of unknown quality.

 

[SSedan]

I don't use Nitrogen fills, too much trouble/expense. But it does have a number of advantages, the biggest being that it is DRY nitrogen. Moisture is quite common in air compressors and I've seen air hoses dispense everything from obvious water vapor to straight H2O. So, if you fill up at a service station, use a pocket knife, key or other implement to let a little air out first so you can check for excessive moisture.

I don't know that many free public compressors have a water separator.
A compressor with a tank serves the same purpose to a point which is why I recommend the 12volt for emergency use only.
Compressing the air to 120psi forces a lot of the water out of suspension and get drained.from the bottom of the tank.

 

[Rottenapplr]

Air is like 78% nitrogen so I'm not sure what the point of that would be...

Heyyyy nice I sub to you on yt.

I wonder what other youtuber are on here

 

[Rottenapplr]

Nitrogen is ehhhh

I prefer farts

Seriously though the pros are so minuscule you won’t know the difference

 

[jerry33]

Nitrogen inflation for above ground vehicles is close to a scam. It doesn't do any of the things it's supposed to do and may actually be detrimental in hot weather as the tires will have to heat up more to achieve thermal equilibrium. It's kind of the tire equivalent of Tesla Shorts.

Nitrogen inflation does have it's place in underground vehicles and aircraft where the absence of oxygen means no additional oxygen is added to any fire that might break out. It also has a place in race cars when you are trying to tune the suspension to get that extra 1/100th of second decrease in lap times. The reason is that nitrogen is guaranteed to be dry.

 

[Kamban]

Costco does it as basic for new tires and during tire rotations.
I would not do it for any extra charge.

 

[SSedan]

Nitrogen inflation for above ground vehicles is close to a scam. It doesn't do any of the things it's supposed to do and may actually be detrimental in hot weather as the tires will have to heat up more to achieve thermal equilibrium. It's kind of the tire equivalent of Tesla Shorts.

Nitrogen inflation does have it's place in underground vehicles and aircraft where the absence of oxygen means no additional oxygen is added to any fire that might break out. It also has a place in race cars when you are trying to tune the suspension to get that extra 1/100th of second decrease in lap times. The reason is that nitrogen is guaranteed to be dry.

With aircraft you also have the tires going from a -40degree environment to whatever temp is on the ground in a few minutes. Given the temp extremes the absolute dryness of the nitrogen is critical, I suspect that vapor suspended in pressurized air at 90f on the ground could endup as ice chunks in a tire at altitude -40 or colder which would cause a heck of an imbalance on landing, that would be hell to diagnose once the ice melted.

Let us also acknowledge that if people think the "Tesla tax" is bad they don't want to know what the "aviation tax" is. Even if nitrogen didn't have legitimate benefit in aircraft it would be used because it cost more

 

[jerry33]

With aircraft you also have the tires going from a -40degree environment to whatever temp is on the ground in a few minutes. Given the temp extremes the absolute dryness of the nitrogen is critical, I suspect that vapor suspended in pressurized air at 90f on the ground could endup as ice chunks in a tire at altitude -40 or colder which would cause a heck of an imbalance on landing, that would be hell to diagnose once the ice melted.

I've actually had that happen with truck tires. Not from the water vapour in the air, which is minimal, but from them being stored outside, getting rained on, and then just being mounted. Gives one heck of a bounce. We're talking over 5 kg of ice. Air that's been run through an in-line dryer will still have a bit of water vapour, enough to throw off suspension tuning in a sensitive race car, but not enough to cause a balance problem. There might be enough water vapour in a really large aircraft tire to affect the balance.

 

[Msjulie]

Back in the old days when running the VW race car on a regular basis, we had "racing" rims that had 2 air valves. Deal was supposedly put the nitrogen in one while holding the other open so you'd get a clean fill.

Can't say we noticed enough value to do it more than 1 time; race tires get worn out too quick anyways..

 

[jerry33]

Back in the old days when running the VW race car on a regular basis, we had "racing" rims that had 2 air valves. Deal was supposedly put the nitrogen in one while holding the other open so you'd get a clean fill.

Can't say we noticed enough value to do it more than 1 time; race tires get worn out too quick anyways..

We're really talking F-1 level here for race cars. Also at some small local tracks where there is no electricity nitrogen is about the cheapest and safest bottled gas you can get.

 

[Phlier]

I'm an airline pilot. The company uses nitrogen to fill the tires on the 737's I fly, but I've been running straight air in my car tires for 35 years. It's worked fine for me.