toyota_mdt_tech

I dont use pure nitrogen, I have a special custom blend I use. Its about 78% Nitrogen, 21% oxygen and the remaining 1% is misc like argon, helium, carbon dioxide

bonus

LOL, common guys, like Madhat says, Certain applications.
I am thinking Myth Busters should do an episode on this. A 20% advantage may be the diff.

dwm

In order to get even close to 100% nitrogen in your tires, you have to put a vacuum pump on the tire, pull a vacuum on it, IE suck all the air out, and then backfill it with nitrogen. If this process is used you could get close to having 100% nitrogen in your tires.

I am not sure, but I think the bead will break on your tire if you try and pull a reasonable vacuum on it.

What have you gained though, the partial pressure of nitrogen goes from roughly 78% nitrogen to close to 100% nitrogen. A gain of 22% nitrogen? (and only if you pull a vacuum and backfill ...)

I am not buying any gains in anything ...

07 ThunderRoad

It's not so much the nitrogen that helps reduce the pressure changes in the tire when driving. It's the dry nitrogen that reduce the pressure changes in the tire. I found out the hard way that when you have a lot of moisture in the tire, the pressure will increase by as much as 10 psi. Dryer air will increase the tire pressure about 5 psi. because it still has moisture in it. I had to deflate the tire and refill with dry nitrogen 4 times to remove most of the moisture from the tire. Did all the tires the same and only see a 3 psi increase when driving. We need to be careful when we get air at the gas station or truck stop. A lot of the air compressors are not well maintained.

Chryco Psycho

I have always questioned the validity of filling tires with nitrogen , everyone who has done it asked them about the air that was already in the tire when you added the nitrogen !! As they stood there thinking that over !! you would have to use a vacuum to get rid of the air in there first .

74dart

I find it hard to believe that normal air leeches out of a tire because the molecules are smaller. I check the pressure in my truck tires on a very regular basis and since I had them changed two years ago, I I haven't had to top them off. If there is any leakage it is minimal at best and you should be checking the tire pressure on a regular basis anyway. When we first bought my Wifes Charger, the tire pressure light would come on first thing in the morning when it was cold. The pressure threshold on her car is 27-37 LBS. After driving for about 10 miles the light would go back off. One morning when it was cold I pumped the tires up to 32 lbs, and that corrected the problem. I personally do not like the tire pressure monitoring systems. The tires I bought say that they should be pumped to 44 lbs cold, but I can't because the sensors trip at 37. Which figure should you use the pressure on the tire or the one on the car? The sensors should detect a low pressure and not a high pressure situation.

csramsey640

I have used nitrogen in both racing tires and street tires for many years. Here is my input from it.

1. Moisture content. In dirt racing even a 1/2 lb makes a difference in handling. Since pure nitrogen, as mentioned above has less moisture content, it has less moisture to expand and thus create unneeded pressure.

2. It takes a few fills of a tire before you see a difference. As mentioned its impossible to pull all "air" from the tire, so what I have found is that it takes usually 2 fills and releases before most is out. Otherwise it doesnt matter much.

3. An air dryer on a regular air line, does a much better job than nothing. A commercial air compressor, ran daily, creates a lot of moisture due to the air being heated from compressing (same reason an a/c system needs a dryer. black iron air supply lines sweat more than pvc types.

4. If you run 100% nitrogen, and need to add some, if all you can find is air, youve defeated the purpose.

I use nitrogen because I buy it in Bulk, otherwise unless your living in extreme environments, I do not feel the average person would see a benefit over maintaining proper inflation. I wear my tires out before I have a rubber breakdown issue, and Nitrogen has never helped me with that. In extreme temps, it wouldnt take much for a tire to expand with the increased heat. A hotter tire wears out quicker than a cold one because the tire softens.

Hintonc393

To do anything in a tire the content of nitrogen must be 95-98% on a light truck tire you must drain and refill a tire several times to get even close to that. I feel that if your tires are wearing out due to age the UV light from the sun will kill them way before the oxidation from the O2 will. Its has its good points and bad points but I have seen more consistent pressure over the life of a tire with nitrogen. If there is a difference in the ride, it must be so small you would never notice it.