94' Camry XLE Tire Question...........

[CumminsPuller]

Went and bought a used 94 Camry XLE yesterday. Picked it up on the west side of Houston. The owner had some new Bridgestone tires put on at Costco about 8,000 miles prior to me buying the car. As I was looking at the car I noticed the valve stem caps were all green. When I asked about that, they said the tires were filled with nitrogen. Something that is being done now days according to the Costco Auto Department. But they could not remember the reasoning behind it. Anyone heard of this practice? And the purpose of it?



Jason

 

[Hohn]

It's more of a marketing gimmick than anything else. The tire service industry is trying to gin up more money by charging people for something they don't need.



See, they use nitrogen to inflate race tires because under race conditions, you need the most stable tire pressure possible. Race teams also sweat differences as little a 1/2 psi.



Now, Joe Sixpack would never notice a difference of 1/2psi in his car tires, and the added psi stability is pretty irrelevant to a car that putts around town or down the freeway.





It's clever marketing, really. Most NASCAR fans are aware of the nitrogen inflation, and it lets them play NASCAR to have THEIR tires inflated the same way as their heroes do

 

[CumminsPuller]

Good way to put it Hohn... ... ... ... Thanks



Jason

 

[HParfitt]

Truckers use it also. The nitorgen has no contaminants that might attack the integrity of the rubber. Since truck tires are often recaped stating with a known high quality carcass is a plus. Nitrogen is also a larger molecule than some of the molecules that make up air so it's leakdown is less. It has it's advantages but weather it's worth the cost and inconvenience is debatable. Especially on a 94 Camry. No knock on the Camry my wife has a 96 and it's great. It would be no problem to switch to standard compressed air since air is like 78% nitrogen anyway.