stujelly

I search some of the other forums but didn't really see anything noteworthy.

Is anyone here running nitrogen in lieu of regular air in their tires for track use, or even every day use?

I am just curious about your success or failures with this. The research indicates the pressures don't rise as high maybe better air pressure management. Not sure if it is as big deal or not.

The idea of a small tank and regulator for my trailer does not scare me.

Just looking for input from others experience.

P.J.S.

I am
Small tank and regulator in my trailer
30 feet of hose

Tires don't grow as much when they heat up - maybe at a 50% rate compared to air

Pretty sweet having it on board compared to a compressed air tank

jrgordonsenior

I carry N in my trailer and use it when the weather's humid or just plain wet. If I'm filling at Willow Springs, the air is usually dry enough that it doesn't make much difference same as Bakersfield I would imagine....

LehmanZ06

If you are landing a plane...use nitrogen in the tires

NASCAR...nitrogen.

Running a non "PRO" series in a street legal car...IMO air is fine (73% nitrogen)...ok maybe a little moisture.

Big deal....again IMO

stujelly

When we ran this summer in the mid west I just noticed these huge increases in tire pressure.

I was looking for simple fix. Maybe I am just being too lazy.

Besides it sounds pretty cool too.

v12man

Air is fine - as long as it is dry - using tire driers definately makes a difference - especially if your tire shop mounts them with water based soap as a lubricant - like mine does.

http://www.intercomp-racing.com/prod...SYSTEM_737.cfm

My shop air at home has filters and a refridgerated drier, and a few purges and refills until the water inside the tire is reduced makes a measurable differrence to pressure changes when hot.

I am adjusting pressures at the track with CO2 - seems to work just fine.

Nordschleife

I was visiting friends in a remote part of Bohemia (close to where the Porsche family comes from) and the local garage (80% trucks & agricultural) not only uses N as standard, but also has a supply of green valve caps for converts. I was told a lot of long distance truck drivers live in the area

R+C

No HTwo O

Works great for winter hibernation.

stujelly

Ouch 1700 bucks. Man you are serious.

FFaust

N2 for me. I carry a small air pig, and fill it up at work (aviation).

Other than for seasonal temperature fluctuations, I hardly ever have to service the tires. Nitrogen (or dry air) causes less temp/press variations, so the operating range is less.

During the season, with reasonably even temps from day to day, I just warm the tires up gradually on the track. Pressures might be a bit low to start, but I figure that it's not a problem if I ease in to them.

v12man

Stujelly - I don't own one specific to tires... but I know someone who does...

The amount of water that badly set up tire shops and filling stations can inject into a tire is huge - setting up your own air supply at home properly makes a big difference - something like this is more than good enough:

http://autobodystore.net/Merchant2/m...egory_Code=FAR

The big trick is to get the water out once it is in - if you partially dismount the tire and leave it in the sun for a day or 2 to dry out, as long as there is a gap (has to be off the bead) for the moisure to escape, it will be dry inside in a few hours - then you can use dry air, and you will be fine.

andrew2008

Assuming there's no water in the tire, I don't think it matters much if
there's air or nitrogen in the tires. From the ideal gas law: PV = NRT.

I think people like nitrogen because a source of nitrogen is more likely
to be dry than a source of air.

CRex

There. It's got much more to do with moisture than anything else. In my neck of woods where RH is consistently at 80+ the difference can equate to over 3 psi's when hot.

v12man

If you have water in liquid form in the tire when cold, you can have hot pressure differences much more than 3psi when at track temperatures - easily 10Psi up over cold pressures is possible when the water swaps to a gaseous form, as it greatly expands volume (and thus pressure in a tire).

If you can feel water vapour blowing out of the valve when dropping pressures - should be obvious on your fingers, then it's time to do something about it.

DRPM

The N2 idea for use in tires is a good idea however we need to understand the reality of the physics.
Allow me to say that I have been involved in the field of gas compression and dehydration of gases for over the 30 years, so FWIW here are my 0.02$ for us GT petrolheads.
Common air is already 78% N2
Rubber tires are hydroscopic, meaning water vapor can migrate from the wet side to the dry side by virtue of the laws of water vapor pressure, irrespective of the inflated pressure inside the tire. Yes it may be difficult to comprehend the water vapor molecules outside moving through the rubber into the dry N2 inside your tires but it is a fact. Membrane gas dryers exist for this very reason.
So one has to accept that when filling a tire with N2, that it will require numerous fill and purge cycles of high quality N2 (most shop N2 generators are only 90-95% purity) to be performed to remove the O2 and increase the concentration of N2. Although over time, being the tire is not 100% hermetic, the N2 will loose it's purity due to the natural gas forces of equilibrium with the outside atmosphere.
Regarding temperature rise if you search for Charles/Boyle law this will explain the temp - pressure rise with gases. P1V1/T1=P2V2/T2
The presence and % of water vapor within the gas also has an effect on temp rise.
So if you use N2, remember you will need to purge and refresh the fill often to maintain the N2 purity and low gas temperature dewpoint within the tire to obtain the real benefits.