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Old 08-15-2015, 01:18 PM   #1
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Nitrogen Tire Question

After recently putting new tires on my other vehicles, Costco filled the tires with Nitrogen. I have heard good things about filling your tires using Nitrogen, i.e., runs 20% cooler, better gas mileage ??, etc. When I had the motorhome oil changed the other day, the repair facility highly recommended using the Nitrogen. I called around and it appears it is about $10 per tire to convert over to Nitrogen. I am interested in your thoughts as we drive down to AZ at least a couple times a year to visit our daughter. Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks.....
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Old 08-16-2015, 05:16 PM   #2
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If you fill up your tires with regular ole compressed air, you are putting 80% nitrogen in your tires.

Save your money.
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Old 08-16-2015, 05:21 PM   #3
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That topic has been covered many times already but a waste of money in my books. There are no real advantages that you would notice on a trailer or motor home.
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Old 08-16-2015, 05:24 PM   #4
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Total BS for anything but airplanes and Nascar.
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Old 08-17-2015, 03:14 PM   #5
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Total BS for anything but airplanes and Nascar.
And roadracing.
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Old 08-17-2015, 03:17 PM   #6
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I could see the use for it.. BUT when you do need to put air in the tire, more than likely you are going to have to fill them with air at a truck stop making the Nitrogen useless.
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Old 08-17-2015, 03:28 PM   #7
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Total BS for anything but airplanes and Nascar.
Totally agree. It's inert, stable, & consistent. All important for maintaining tire pressures in racing. For every day driving it is a waste of money IMO.
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Old 08-17-2015, 03:35 PM   #8
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These people sell tires and even they pretty much say it is a waste.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...jsp?techid=191

PS At the local truck dealership this morning, new trucks had Nitrogen filled tires on the door stickers for 99.00. I would tell them to keep the nitrogen. . .
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Old 08-17-2015, 03:48 PM   #9
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Save your money. Not worth it. Later RJD
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Old 08-17-2015, 11:02 PM   #10
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Based on my Boeing studies, if your RV can accelerate to 150 mph in 2 miles with a dragging brake, and then you can put the wheels into a closed box, you need nitrogen. Otherwise plain old air is just fine.
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Old 08-17-2015, 11:54 PM   #11
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Winston cup series, Oakwood Homes 500 Charlotte 1987 I was treated to a walk through the pits and a ride around the track. While in the pits I asked one of the crew why they had all the compressed air tanks set out. The reply was they used them for air tools since they could not have compressors with potential spark on the line. I asked if he realized that nitrogen tanks were much cheaper than compressed air and he did not reply but within a year or so the nitrogen filled tires became a given on the circuit. If you are distilling air you mostly get nitrogen, nearly 80% then about 20% oxygen with the error of rounding being all the expensive stuff, helium, argon etc. Nitrogen has little value other than sunk cost recovery but it does not allow oxidation, is dry so there is no moisture to condense or expand exorbitantly when it exceeds its boiling point.
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Old 08-18-2015, 01:41 AM   #12
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...if your RV can accelerate to 150 mph in 2 miles with a dragging brake, and then you can put the wheels into a closed box...
Hmmm... future episode of Mythbusters?
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Old 08-18-2015, 06:31 AM   #13
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Compressed air has just the right amount of Nitrogen for your tires, no need to OD them with the pricey stuff.

And we really need a "Popcorn Eating" Smiley....these conversations always get interesting!!!
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Old 08-18-2015, 06:00 PM   #14
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They do run cooler and promote tire life. Less chance of pressure fluctuations. All they do is remove the oxygen from the air. I wouldn't pay for it, but if it's free,why not. It's about 10 degrees cooler running temperature.
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Old 08-18-2015, 06:04 PM   #15
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Would like to see some actual data vs opinions proving the temperature difference on a trailer with one tire running regular air vs the other running 100% nitrogen.
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Old 08-18-2015, 06:07 PM   #16
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Total BS for anything but airplanes and Nascar.
Coot, thats just about the same thing, isn't it. LOL
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Old 08-18-2015, 06:12 PM   #17
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Came with the factory tires. Not sure what the other advantages are, but I have not had to add air to my tires since delivery. (2 years with 2 cold storage winters).
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Old 08-18-2015, 06:18 PM   #18
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Came with the factory tires. Not sure what the other advantages are, but I have not had to add air to my tires since delivery. (2 years with 2 cold storage winters).
Had our race car trailer stored in Anchorage, AK for 4 yrs and behind our house here in Concord for 7 yrs and even tho' the tread literally fell off 2 tires, they still had 40# of air in them which is what we ran at that time.
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Old 08-18-2015, 06:19 PM   #19
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From a GM bulletin....

GM's Position on the Use of Nitrogen Gas in Tires

General Motors does not oppose the use of purified nitrogen as an inflation gas for tires. We expect the theoretical benefits to be reduced in practical use due to the lack of an existing infrastructure to continuously facilitate inflating tires with nearly pure nitrogen. Even occasional inflation with compressed atmospheric air will negate many of the theoretical benefits. Given those theoretical benefits, practical limitations, and the robust design of GM original equipment TPC tires, the realized benefits to our customer of inflating their tires with purified nitrogen are expected to be minimal.


The Promise of Nitrogen: Under Controlled Conditions
Recently, nitrogen gas (for use in inflating tires) has become available to the general consumer through some retailers. The use of nitrogen gas to inflate tires is a technology used in automobile racing. The following benefits under controlled conditions are attributed to nitrogen gas and its unique properties:

• A reduction in the expected loss of Tire Pressure over time.

• A reduction in the variance of Tire Pressures with temperature changes due to reduction of water vapor concentration.

• A reduction of long term rubber degradation due to a decrease in oxygen concentrations.


Important: These are obtainable performance improvements when relatively pure nitrogen gas is used to inflate tires under controlled conditions.

The Promise of Nitrogen: Real World Use
Nitrogen inflation can provide some benefit by reducing gas migration (pressure loss) at the molecular level through the tire structure. NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) has stated that the inflation pressure loss of tires can be up to 5% a month. Nitrogen molecules are larger than oxygen molecules and, therefore, are less prone to "seeping" through the tire casing. The actual obtainable benefits of nitrogen vary, based on the physical construction and the materials used in the manufacturing of the tire being inflated.

Another potential benefit of nitrogen is the reduced oxidation of tire components. Research has demonstrated that oxygen consumed in the oxidation process of the tire primarily comes from the inflation media. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that oxidation of tire components can be reduced if the tire is inflated with pure nitrogen. However, only very small amounts of oxygen are required to begin the normal oxidation process. Even slight contamination of the tire inflation gas with compressed atmospheric air during normal inflation pressure maintenance, may negate the benefits of using nitrogen.
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Old 08-18-2015, 10:34 PM   #20
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15moab, I worked at GM for 30 years, I have read the same TSB. I was trying to relay the same information across. I forgot about that it also help reduce oxidation with rubber component. I guess some people have a hard time finding it to be beneficial. To bad really. Being In the automotive industry for as long as I have. You see things that works. I can verify people who use nitrogen in tires, requires less air pressure adjustments.
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