N2 or Not to N2 - That is a Question ?

[AnOldBiker]

I’d like to through this out for general thoughts.

I just bought the wife a new pickup and they made such a big deal out of nitrogen in the tires instead of air. I have heard they have been doing this for a while and it’s supposed to benefit the vehicle owner. Now from what I’ve read, it keeps the tires cooler and helps lengthens the life of the tire since there is no moisture in the pressured vessel as with filling atmospheric air as over the many decades. Also helps prevent rust or corrosion on the inner wheel material not covered by the tire. Formula One drivers really benefit from this during a race. And the places where they fill or cap your tires off charge between $5 to $20 per tires because it suppose to be that good per the auto industry. All good and well.

But from the material I’ve read, the extra life given to the tires for the normal consumer would be about 100 to 300 miles, if any.
The cooler temperatures in the moving tires really doesn’t benefit normal driving conditions, with or without a load.
Personal experience, the corrosion / rust found with the inner tires were limited on any of my of my wheels, if any.
I never heard of anyway it helps increase miles per gallons.
I usually check my tires at home when cold, and found ‘no’ moisture in the tires when they were changed out for new ones.
I see no real benefits and at this time plan on doing what I have been doing these decades.

Anyone’s thoughts on this is appreciated.
Pro’s ?
Con’s ?
Info I might have missed ?

Am I that far off and thinking to much like a very old timer ?

 

[JR]

Regular air has 78% N2, how much will that extra 22% gain you? And that's assuming they purge the air that's in your tires to begin with, which I'm guessing they don't. I drain my compressor regularly and have a nice quality separator and have never had any moisture or corrosion related problems, and it gets very humid here in the summer.

 

[mwilson]

But, But what about the really nifty green cap????

I don't bother with the Nitrogen either, I've got an 80 gallon compressor and I know how to use it.....

My life is complicated enough as it is without putting some space juice in the tires of 5 vehicles and then having to go find somewhere to get make up space juice.......Not readily available up here in my town, nearest space juice dispenser is at least 63 miles away. Not gonna' happen even if it added rubber to the tires while you drove..

Mike.

 

[JR]

I have an unlimited source at work via a 12" pipeline from Praxair and I still don't mess with it. Just ain't worth it.

 

[AnOldBiker]

From what I've read, when they put your tires on, they have a machine setup that fills the tires, de-pressure them until they almost suck in, then fill again. It happens a few times until the gauge says the % is high enough N2 to be considered pure N2. Then pressure them to spec pressure. And I really don't like the color green cap, need to get some old style CHROME caps.

But I'm wondering if anyone really keeps them full of N2 only ? And why ? Dealers and many tire shop make one big deal of this.

 

[mwilson]

It was kind of a neat idea, then once these shops make the investment in the equipment there is no going back. It has to become a profit center at that point so the service must be sold.

When every employee in the building tries to talk you into something then it is quite likely that they have been instructed to do so.

Don't find quite so much of that kind of stuff in the heavy truck field, thank the Lord.

 

[JR]

What did they quote you for 4 tires?
I can tell you that nitrogen IS significantly drier than atmospheric air, we have some very sensitive instrumentation at work that does not tolerate any moisture and we use nitrogen. But unless they are virtually giving it to you I don't see the value in it. At one time I had considered stripping down an old 2 wheeled air compressor and taking it into work and charging it to about 120psi and take it home to try in my tires, but it seemed like too much hassle to improve on something I've never had a problem with. The insides of the wheels of my 16 yr old truck look brand new and they've never had anything but good ol' air...
Another thing nitrogen is GREAT for is impact guns. Our plant air system is only good for 85psi but the nitrogen comes in the plant at 140 psi. So if we're out trying to rattle something apart that's giving us a fit, we break out the air-nitrogen adapter and let the big dog eat... At that point either the nuts gonna come loose or somethings gonna break... I've seen our 1" guns twist rusty inch and a half B7 studs in half like nobody's business. You better be hangin' on though.

 

[MMeier]

Just like all the flushes they try to sell, nothing but profit for the place selling it. Worked at one of those places for a few weeks earlier this year and I could not see the benefit of having a flush done by these machines .... PS, ATF,coolant, etc. Damn coolant flush machine had an eye on it so you could see what was coming out, never saw anything go by it, and we still had to top off manually !

 

[AnOldBiker]

Jr, where I use to work at, we used N2 also. But considering the comment of using it for air guns, it would assist as you said. But has anyone sampled the surrounding air for percentages ? You can over power the breathing air, cutting the O2 down and over coming the people. I hope it is only used outside and with lots of air movement.

 

[rscurtis]

The benefit as I understand it is that its pressure is more stable as the tire temperature changes and it does not leak as easily as O2 does. That in itself may enhance tire life. Like everything else, YMMV.

 

[RustyJC]

If you're a NASCAR racer where 0.5 PSIG will make a big difference in handling, or if you're flying an airplane with a high enough service ceiling that the sub-freezing air temperatures can freeze the moisture in the tires, then nitrogen is worth it. For the rest of us, it's just overpriced mouse milk.

JMHO - YMMV

Rusty

 

[SnoKing]

The benefit as I understand it is that its pressure is more stable as the tire temperature changes and it does not leak as easily as O2 does. That in itself may enhance tire life. Like everything else, YMMV.

Yep, good deal in race car tires! SNOKING

 

[JR]

Yes, out plant is all outdoors. The very few areas that are enclosed nitrogen is not permitted or used. Being were out in the wide open and often several stories off the ground, the little bit the guns are exhausting is not enough to cause any harm.