So I just put nitrogen in my tires.
A good buddy of mine at a place told me they would help me with gas mileage and wear on the tires.
I had also heard somewhere nitrogen was actually lighter.

Are there any dissadvantages to having nitrogen in your tires?
I don't know if it was the cooler weather making my car run faster or what but I felt like the tires were'nt holding traction quite as well.
Anyone know about this?

One more thing... since I have nitrogen in them now... does that mean I cannot air them up with an air compressor from
a convience store or something if they get low? Do I have to put nitrogen in them for now on or go get it vaccumed out if I want
to be able to put air in them after??

 

At the very best, those are possible indirect effects. Tires are ever so slightly permeable, and supposedly nitrogen diffuses through at a somewhat slower rate than oxygen does. A good laboratory experiment, perhaps, but not much of a real-world effect assuming that you do check your pressures more often than a couple of times a year.

The difference is so small that you couldn't possibly notice the difference.

The cost of putting it there?

Check your inflation pressures. The stiffnesses of an inflated tire do not depend on what gas it is inflated with.

You can air them up from a normal air compressor, just that the percentage of nitrogen will drop slightly. Not that that's a big deal - air is something like 78% nitrogen anyway, the nitrogen generators in use don't put out 100.% pure nitrogen, and there is always some residual air. Translation: your tires might now have as much as 95% N2 in them. Time to run a few numbers - let's say that you need to add about 10% air volume (I think that corresponds to a little less than 5 psi) to your 95% N2. When you're done, the N2 concentration drops to 93.3%. Not anything to worry about.

N2 does perhaps have application in heavy truck tires, which last longer than car tires and can be retreaded at least once. In this case, the concerns include what the diffused oxygen might do as it is escaping. But that's a non-issue with respect to car tires. You'll wear the tread out and discard them long before this means anything.

A N2 fill should be 'dry', so your cold to hot inflation pressure change could be slightly less with N2- but that's a moisture content issue, not an advantage enjoyed by nitrogen simply because it's nitrogen. In addition, it's only reasonable to expect that when the OE recommended cold inflation pressures were developed that the engineers would have taken this into account for filling with plain air from an unknown source.


Norm

 

It is only because your tires will stay properly inflated longer as the nitrogen moleculesare larger than oxygen molecules and will not leak out as fast. If you keep your tires inflated with air properly (checking pressure more frequently), you will get the same results.

Our air is 78% nitrogen already, so any difference in "weight" would be negligible.

The only disadvantage is finding a station with nitrogen to pump up if you are low.

There will not be a difference in traction or handling. Checkyour tire pressure. If the station put more pressure than you regularly have (35psi vs 30psi), there will be a difference in traction and handling. Simply reduce the pressure to what you normally have.

You can fill them up with regular air. Again, since our air already 78% nitrogen, the difference is minimal. The only other benefit to having nitrogen is that nitrogen is dry - no water vapor. This "moisture" can corrode wheels and TPMS.

Hope this helped!

 

Norm - you beat me to the punch!

 

Your gonna have different oppinions on this, I for one have used it and while I cant say I have see any MPG difference, I can say I could tell a difference in the ride. I had a set of 35's on my truck and when they were inflated with regular air they truck rode really really bad. I put the nitro in there and I oticed the difference right away. Bottom line is its not gonna hurt you to put nitro in your tires, the only down side is the cost but at 20 bux for the set ( thats what it runs around here) your not out to much. You can only benifit from it.

 

Well, you've put it in so now YOU tell US what you think after you get some miles on those N2 filled tires. Personally, it's a scam. There's nobang-for-the-buck in my opinion. I don't mind checking and adjusting my tire pressure occasionally to account for the temperature/pressure relationship impacts. Matter of fact, it simply gives me another excuse to play with the Stang (as if I NEED another excuse)...

 

Either the N2-filled tires were not inflated to the same "real" pressure as when they were air-filled or the placebo effect has got you fooled. No flame intended, just that N2 does not have any such "magic" property relative to normal air.

 

No flame taken. I admit to be ignorant on the issue.
The longer tire life line got me to try it because my tires were expensive *****.
I'll let you know my opinion on em later...
And thanks for the info!

 

Air is a gas nitrogen is a gas

When the air in your tire heats up, the air will accually inflate you tires. Dry nitrogen on the other hand the tire presure will remain the same psi hot or cold
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And that's the ONLY benefit I can see of using nitrogen; it not being as sensitive to pressure vs. temperature changes.