Using nitrogen vs air in tires

[Old smart]

Originally Posted by Karl Roth

... The water vapor that goes along with your gas station air pump that causes most problems. ...

That is a problem, especially from the 25¢-a-shot gas/convenience stores whose air is seldom used. I've seen them disgorge a full shotglass of water. When I sold my "Cat" I kept one of my portable 150psi air tanks and a dial pressure gauge with a bleed valve. I have the tank filled for free at my local tire store whose compressor and accumulator are in service constantly, and I get good dry air. Plus, I always have air in the garage.

[lowndex]

Originally Posted by fuelpincher

The tread will be worn out long before the oxygen rots the tire. Most leaks are from a poor fitting tire bead and not permeability. Leave nitrogen fills to the race drivers...
Anyway, air is 78% nitrogen and it is free

First of all, nitrogen tire systems require 98.0% or higher nitrogen to be effective. For example, the Purigen system is in wide use at BigO Tires, Les Schwab and Goodyear dealers. You should expect to pay $5.00 - 10.00 / tire.

The real-world benefits you will experience are:
1.) negligible loss of pressure - which means the X lbs of pressure you install will last for months with nary a 1.0 lb. of lost pressure. According to the insurance companies and Highway Safety Institute, the number one cause of acciendents are low tires pressure!
2.) Longer tread life and better fuel mileage - due to consistent pressure, the fuel mileage is improved over standard O2 where people do not maintain their tire pressure. The longer tread life is very real from lower operating temperatures. The racing community uses nitrogen, which operates at much lower temperatures than O2.

[jonnysan]

Originally Posted by msjohnson1974

Just what we need Hinden-smarts with exploding tires...

Is the skinniest and lightest molecule on earth, trying to keep it contained in a tire inflated with it would be preposterously futile. The next skinniest is He at 6 times the size of H2. Keeping it in the tire would be almost as hard to do.
Stick to good old air or better yet, one of those experimental tires I saw about a year ago with rubber spoked wheels and solid rubber tires monolythically all in one unit and no air!! Expensive but I could see the future of tires going that way. I think Michelin was fooling around with the concept.

[msjohnson1974]

Originally Posted by jonnysan

Is the skinniest and lightest molecule on earth, trying to keep it contained in a tire inflated with it would be preposterously futile. The next skinniest is He at 6 times the size of H2. Keeping it in the tire would be almost as hard to do.
Stick to good old air or better yet, one of those experimental tires I saw about a year ago with rubber spoked wheels and solid rubber tires monolythically all in one unit and no air!! Expensive but I could see the future of tires going that way. I think Michelin was fooling around with the concept.

Geez, ruin my fun with science... and it was Michelin

[lowndex]

http://www.purigen98.com/ScienceHome.html

I recommend you read and learn why pure nitrogen is a real solution for better gas mileage, longer tread life and safer! Pure nitrogen is not just for racers. It's a real solution for the everyday car.

[lowndex]

Originally Posted by fuelpincher

The tread will be worn out long before the oxygen rots the tire. Most leaks are from a poor fitting tire bead and not permeability. Leave nitrogen fills to the race drivers...
Anyway, air is 78% nitrogen and it is free

Nitrogen solutions for car tire inflation must be 98 % pure or greater to provide very real benefits. With less than 2% psi lost over six months, the gas savings alone make the choice obvious.

http://www.purigen98.com/ScienceHome.html

[timhood]

The bottom line is that the benefits of nitrogen over oxygen are questionable, at best. Even if one concedes all of these benefits, you really need to get the nitrogen for free to make it worthwhile. If you pay up to $40 for it, you'll spend your tire life trying to recoup that. It's really not that hard to check tire pressure every now and then. And there's always the TPMS as well.

[knutliott]

The air you breathe - the same stuff that's pumped into tires - is roughly 78% nitrogen and 20% oxygen, so this isn't a question of nitrogen vs O2. And while tires inflated with regular old air do operate at slightly higher temperatures than tires inflated with nitrogen, it's not a significant difference at highway speeds.

Racers aren't driving at highway speeds, so it can actually make a difference for them.

[MichaelJ]

Originally Posted by lowndex

http://www.purigen98.com/ScienceHome.html

I recommend you read and learn why pure nitrogen is a real solution for better gas mileage, longer tread life and safer! Pure nitrogen is not just for racers. It's a real solution for the everyday car.

I'd feel a LOT more convinced if you would come up with a source that wasn't selling nitrogen inflation systems.

[SnakeFarm]

I Want Tweels!