David993S

Nitrogen is usefull for racing applications, but completely unnecessary for street use.

Essexmetal

We always used nitrogen for all our race tires. The two reasons, it was readily available at the track from having the nitrogen bottles there for running the air jacks and wheel guns and the **** box aircompressors would pump too much water. Steam does tend to effect tire pressures.

The only time on you might get close to getting value on the street if you are pumping too much water into the tire which can crap on the TPS and if you have a dual valve stems to assist in purging the as much air out as possible.
Rick

Garth S

DRY compressed air is every bit as good for street tires as is DRY nitrogen IMHO.
The production method for compressed nitrogen almost assures that it is dry - whereas not all air compressors in "Joes Garage" are routinely drained down, nor do they have driers installed. Find a garage wuth a properly fitted and maintained compressor ...
It is the phase transition of moisture to steam that causes operating pressure variations .... if one has an application that is sensitive enough to detect this.
Tubeless tires only retain gas pressure over time due to the fact that they actually have a "tube" .... the interior wall, bead to bead, is covered with a thin skim ( 1 - 1.5mm thick) of Butyl rubber ....
Loss of pressure in a tire is due to the relative diffusion rate of a particular gas through the thin butyl layer ... the rest of the tire does little to stop pressure loss.
Oxygen has a permeability rate ~ 4X that of nitrogen through Butyl .... small deal really, as both rates are extremely low to begin with - which is why tire builders put up with the PITA butyl in the first place .... and even less significant knowing that O2:N2 ratio is 22:78 ..... ie - O2 may diffuse 4X faster, but it is only 1/5 of the total initially if using air ...... most of us stick a pressure gauge on every month or so , and if ambient temps are stable, detect little if any static pressure change.

No HTwo O

Well stated, this is the main reason I like using nitrogen fill. The air is very dry. Great for 4-6 months winter hibernation, and less pressure variations during the driving season.

x50type

Thanks guys for all your input.
General consensus appears to be NO to NitroFill - especially if it's $75 to $90.

NP993

I will fill the tires in your street car with helium for $75. Please paypal in advance to:

theresasuckerborneveryminute@youhavetobekiddingme.com

atr911

I happen to sell tires for a living and there is much misconception regarding nitrogen.

First, as mentioned, the advantage of nitro fill is due to it's lack of moisture content. As you drive, the compression and expansion of the rubber tire as you drive Increases temps in the tire and in the presence of moisture, increases tire pressure taking it out of the optimal pressure. I tested it at the track and only increased pressure by 3-5 psi as opposed to 15-20 psi with normal air. It works.

Note that bottled nitrogen for welding and whatnot is tested to 99%. The machines in many shops the take nitro out of the atmosphere will vary on purity based on the age of their filter.

We charge $3.99 per tire to inflate with nitro.

Normal air will NOT damage tpms sensors but I would recommend you service them (replace gaskets and valve core) every year or two because the aluminum has been corroding and seizing the valve core in place requiring you to buy a new sensor ($$$) eventually.

Oh, and when filling with nitro, go a psi or two higher than normal. The pressure recommended on your door pillar should be set cold and they always assume a slight increase at operating temperature.

Canadian tire $3.99 nitrogen FTW.

firesm

Ah, Adam - did you mean BTW, because FTW and BTW have two very different meanings...

Falcondrivr

You get a 15-20 psi rise on normal air at the track????? I get a consistent 6psi rise when I get my tires up to track temp on regular old air. But I've only been to the track a couple dozen times.

atr911

FTW = for the win. It's an online gaming thing I think. Sorry.

atr911

Yep. 315/30R19 R6 rear heats up to about 230 degrees. In fairness, I start with low 20 pressure and it gets to 36-38 at operating temp. I'm not the quickest guy out there but I do okay and if I run street tires I'll go through set in a day. They just overheat and melt away. It makes for a fun but slippery and expensive day.

2Many Cars

Maybe I'm missing something here but this suggests that the 22% O2 and other gasses in "air" produce a 12-15 PSI difference? That just doesn't sound right. Maybe if you've got a load of moisture in your tire and get it above boiling but dry nitrogen to dry air (which is 78% nitrogen) can't make that big a difference IMHO. Moisture is the main variable here I think. Even then I imagine street tires seldom reach H2O boiling point temps so modest amounts of moisture from "dirty" compressors probably doesn't matter to the street driver. I'm sticking with air. By the way, I've used regular air for years in one of my other my TPMS equipped cars without any issues so I can second that Nitrogen is not necessary, at least from my experience, for TPMS equipped cars.

NP993

"You're doing it wrong."

curve lover

Yes, it was very expensive to fill these these tires up ... & slow.
After an hour of constant inflation, they emptied in seconds. Not sealing right?


Kudos to CP.

Ed Burdell

OK, my experience with it:

My local tire dealer (with whom I'm on a first name basis by now, I've been there so often) filled my tires for $5 a tire. Over the entire year, I had maybe 1-2 psi drop - using air, I had to top off the tire pressures every month. In short, it was cheap to do and removed the fear of forgetting to check the pressure and driving off on underinflated tires. I will certainly use nitrogren again when the time comes.