Topping Up Your Tire Pressure

[piscesman]

I continually am reminded to check and recheck tire pressure...even to install a wireless "tire pressure monitoring system", but I have a more basic question. WHERE do you top up your tire pressure? It has been my experience that the air hoses at gas stations have too short a hose, or the regulators are set too low for RV tires, or they are inaccessible...not to mention machines that steal your money or just don't work! Sure...I can go to my local truck tire dealer and get the job done....but what about on the road?

[revrnd]

I have a small 110V air compressor that I carry in the back of the truck. Not the greatest, but probably better than the ones that plug into your cigarette lighter.

[EdJunior]

Most truck stops and places like Flying J/Pilot, TA, etc. will have good places to fill RV tires. I try to find a Flying J while I'm on the road.

[kvtaylor]

We also carry a small compressor from Sears that goes to 150 lbs to air up our tires on the motorhome. Yes it takes up part of one compartment but I would rather have one than trying to drive on a low tires to a fillingstation.

[Herk7769]

Times Two on the small pancake tank compressor. I carry 50 feet of compressor hose in a bucket with numerous attachments in the center.

I also have an air driven grinder (like a pencil Dremel) that I use to trim the dog's toe nails. Bella's has toenails like a Velociraptor. The "Pedicure" wheels last exactly one toe.

[cardinal4fun]

I carry a 110v compressor with me, as the trailer tires need 110psi. I do not understand checking the tires after they have been driven. All say check when cold.

[3 Happy Campers]

I have a compressor in my garage & about 100’ of hose.
Unless full timing it, I don’t see the need to carry one with me.
If I ever found I couldn’t go 3-4 weeks without topping off, then I’d have the tire(s) looked at by a shop.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by cardinal4fun

I carry a 110v compressor with me, as the trailer tires need 110psi. I do not understand checking the tires after they have been driven. All say check when cold.

Yep, cold and first thing in the morning. The sun side of the trailer starts warming up first.

Also, the radials I have on them always look "low" so I have to check. Every time you check you lose a bit.

As to when I top off, always before I depart the house (it is on my "Predeparture Checklist" like checking the lug nut torques). Weekend trips, I just do a walk around. Out for a week to 10 days, I top off before we depart for home. Snowbirding, every month, and predeparture north.

[rockwood06]

Just to day at work we had a safety meeting about "Tire Safety" I would like to post this info but I will have to find out how from our QC/Safety Manager. The info is very good and I would think it would help everyone that does not know.
One thing I just read was that you should not adjust your tire pressure when hot, now this something I heard but didn't know for sure....Tire pressure increases by about 2-4 psi, depending on tire type. If your tires have a max psi rating of 50 psi they should be set at that pressure when cold, this means no heat build up from rotation. At a 50 psi set point after heat has buit up the reading will change and could read at 54 psi, this is normal, one thing they say NOT to do is to lower the pressure to 45 psi and allow it to come up by heat from friction, the reason for this is because they have found that a tire that is under inflated generates more heat and causes tire damage. There other interesting factors with our training.

[3 Happy Campers]

What does this report say about Nitro filled tires.
My understanding is,
a) they don't heat up the same amount as air filled tires.
b) do not leak as fast as air because a nitrogen atom is bigger than air & will not bleed through the tire material.
c) no air, no condensation, no rust.

Of course I have yet to find where to add nitro except my dealer which happens to be in the opposite direction of where I always camp.

[rockwood06]

Originally Posted by 3 Happy Campers

What does this report say about Nitro filled tires.
My understanding is,
a) they don't heat up the same amount as air filled tires.
b) do not leak as fast as air because a nitrogen atom is bigger than air & will not bleed through the tire material.
c) no air, no condensation, no rust.

Of course I have yet to find where to add nitro except my dealer which happens to be in the opposite direction of where I always camp.

At this time there is nothing about Nitrogen filled tires, but from what I under stand they do run cooler, but you should run the tires with the proper inflation rating that it calls for on the tire info on the side wall.

[crocus]

"What does this report say about Nitro filled tires"

I always chuckle at the nitrogen gimmick, as air is 78% nitrogen.

[EdJunior]

There are many schools of thought and belief on Nitrogen filled tires. I couldn't even begin to guess who to believe. My tires came filled with Nitrogen, but I haven't bothered to refill with the same. I've seen about two places to fill with Nitrogen, and it's just not worth the trouble.

See Crocus's comment above!

[Mr. Black]

Nitrogen is not a gimmick.

That being said it is not practicle for 99.5% of the driving public.

From a life long aircraft mechanic, it has it's places and is not smoke and mirrors.

Do I use it in my trailer tires? hell no.

[Mr. Black]

To answer the OPs question, I have an air compressor plumbed into my house from the back shop out ot the garage.

I might have to add less then 5 pounds of air to my 4 trailer tires all year. So, I might add air twice a year. Lucky? probably.

I have never had to add air on the road. If I did I carry an electric compressor that I don't keep much faith in lol.

[RhoZeta]

As a fellow aircraft mechanic, I am with Mr.Black on this. The #1 reason for nitrogen being used on aircraft tires is for inerting purposes in case of a brake fire or explosion, especially when inside an enclosed wheel well once the gear is retracted. The idea is that if the tire burst the nitrogen will not propogate the fire as regular air would and in fact will help to extinguish due to nitrogen being inert.

I do not know about light aircraft/bugsmashers and if they use nitrogen or not.

The aircraft I work/worked on are high performance aircraft and the tires will be changed far more often than anything seen in auto or trailer use

As for nitrogen leaking less or slower, I dunno.
The aircraft I currently work on, F-16 and F-35, I have to service the tires every single day on the preflight checks.

I used to work commercial aircraft and the tires were much larger and those required servicing often as well.
As for running cooler or being more temperature stable, not sure how that could be, insert a torch into a chamber full of any gas (other than flammable) and the temperature of the gas in said chamber will soon be the same exact temp as the flame coming off the tip of the torch. Some gasses are more resistant to temperature change but it will change. Heck, plain old air will be more than three times as resistant to temperature changes by just a 30% upswing in humidity and a slight drop in relative pressure.

I would not bother with nitrogen... Now, if I could get my hands on some Argon...THAT would be the way to go!!

As for the OP, I often use discount tire, NTB, tire kingdom, firestone, etc., etc. when I need air while out, they have high pressure and most of them have digital fillers, they just dial up the pressure and attach it to the valve stem and it pumps to that pressure and if that tire is higher it will automatically let air out so all tires are exactly the same (if you run them that way anyway)

[jimh]

i carry a small dc and a small 110 compressor with me. both are small and take awhile to fill the tire.

i have a tire pressure and temp monitoring system and find that there are times the pressure increased close to 10 lbs. as they heat up. (I have 16" and run 80# cold).

if u should install a pressure monitoring system and it is one that screws on the stems, you may want to be aware that they have a tendency to loosen (its usually only one and not always the same one). what i usually see is abt a 10# loss then they seal. i am usually able to take up abt 1/4 turn on the sensor when this happens. the manufacture recomends installing them with teflon tape. the ones that i've done this to haven't leaked again. i have been happy that i installed them though. when i damaged my trailer with a flat, that i wasn't aware or for abt 100 miles, i decided they were something that i needed.

[Herk7769]

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...today-883.html

This thread has lots on tires and nitrogen fills.

[jackhartjr]

Say what you want about nitrogen filled tires; We put nitrogen in ours when we changed from 6-ply, (Really Forest River, put some tires on them, not just the minimum you can get by with) to 10-ply tires.
They have 80 PSI in them. I check them before EVERY trip. We camp 3 to 5 times a year. In three years I lost exactly 1 PSI.
The benefits;
They run cooler, if I want to run 70MPH or so in FL I don't worry about them blowing out.
Nitrogen doesn't degrade in the tire as much as oxygen.
If you get a nail in the tire that you don't see, because there is no oxygen, (Oxygen means water which leads to rust) in the tire, the steel belt does not rust and destroy the tire. (Trucking companies that use nitrogen have nowhere near the destroyed tires as ones that use regular air.)
Let the flaming begin!

[crocus]

"They run cooler, if I want to run 70MPH or so in FL I don't worry about them blowing out"
======================================
I don't quite get the claims that the tires will "run cooler" when filled with nitrogen. The gas inside the tires does not create heat. It is the flexing of the tire and friction with the road that creates heat, and those are completely independant of whatever gas is in the tire.
If anything, nitrogen would be a slightly poorer conductor of heat as its density is slightly less than air.