Nitrogen inflated tires...

bum76 · 05-11-2008, 10:08 PM

I am thinking of getting my new tires at Costco . whatever tires I choose to buy come inflated with nitrogen and free nitrogen fill-ups for life , along with free balancing and rotations for life of the tires. Right now I am leaning toward the BF Goodrich all terrain ta/ko tire for $226 each including balancing valves , stems etc along with the life long rotations and such..anyone get nitrogen inflated tires ?

filmmaker7 · 05-11-2008, 10:15 PM

My truck came with them from the dealer. The tires ride better, wear better and for some reason, you get a SLIGHT bump in fuel economy. I would say do it for the ride alone. Plus, they'll never lose pressure like regular tires will over time.

**HudsonValleyTitan** · 05-11-2008, 10:43 PM

The don't expand and contract with temperature like air and you won't lose air over time like you do with air. Other than that, you'll notice nothing different using Nitrogen.

reynolcm · 05-11-2008, 11:47 PM

I was thinking of filling mine with helium. It will lighten the truck a bit so I'll get better gas mileage. Of course, then if I get in an accident the truck will ignite - but hey small price to a for better mileage.

kartman · 05-12-2008, 12:45 AM

Ive filled my tires with shop air, co2 and N2 and mixes of all three, never noticed any difference.

miketan · 05-12-2008, 02:10 AM

A week ago, I was talking to the asst. manager at America's Tire Co. and he told me that nitrogen is basically a gimmick to get you spend more cash for tire fill ups. He said nitrogen may make a difference on a race tire at a race, but for normal everyday driving on relatively cheap passenger car/truck tires, it doesn't make a noticeable difference. He said that on a truck tire like what the Titan uses, you still lose air pressure even with nitrogen. I'm not sure if he was underselling the nitrogen fill ups or what. However, I've read basically the same conclusion in many articles on the web that the expense and hassle of nitrogen tire fill ups is not worth it.

54warrior · 05-12-2008, 05:46 AM

Waste of $$$ in my opinion. There's several threads on here about it and there's those who swear by it and those who think it's benefits are marginal, at best, in the grand scheme of things (self included).

BobNYC · 05-12-2008, 05:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reynolcm

I was thinking of filling mine with helium. It will lighten the truck a bit so I'll get better gas mileage. Of course, then if I get in an accident the truck will ignite - but hey small price to a for better mileage.

Helium is non-flammable...hydrogen is what you want to avoid. Otherwise, you truck could go down like the Hindenberg.

VikingWarrior2004 · 05-12-2008, 06:49 AM

Bum76, just wondering what size BFG AT your getting for so cheap, $226??? With all that free stuff included? May have to go shopping at costco myself!

dank78 · 05-12-2008, 07:25 AM

Near 80% of the "regular air" we already put in the tires is Nitrogen. I think the effects are in a lot of peoples' heads.

Pops · 05-12-2008, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobNYC

Helium is non-flammable...hydrogen is what you want to avoid. Otherwise, you truck could go down like the Hindenberg.

Wow, they could be filled with Helium, couldn't they??? Anyone ever tried it to test with?? If you get a puncture, at least you could make clown voices.

TriKKy · 05-12-2008, 08:10 AM

So here is a question I've always had about this:

If Nitrogen doesn't expand and contract as much as regular air, then what pressure should you fill your tires with?

Arguably, it should be higher than the manufacturer's recommendations because those recommendations are based on the fact that once the air in the tire heats up the pressure in the tire will increase to "optimal." If that's the case the best thing to do would be to fill tires with air to manufacturer's specs and then heat them up and measure the pressure when hot. Then shove the Nitrogen in up to the heated "optimal" pressure.

reynolcm · 05-12-2008, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobNYC

Helium is non-flammable...hydrogen is what you want to avoid. Otherwise, you truck could go down like the Hindenberg.

Sweet. I'm doing it. Forget that nitrogen crap. And if I ever need to blow up a balloon I can just do it from my spare tire.

Pops · 05-12-2008, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reynolcm

Sweet. I'm doing it. Forget that nitrogen crap. And if I ever need to blow up a balloon I can just do it from my spare tire.

If you really do it, please post the results. I'm assuming it won't make much difference because 35psi of Helium isn't going to be enough weight difference than 35psi of air to make the tires maybe a pound or two lighter which wouldn't be noticeable but it'd sure be nice to know from experience rather than guessing.

todd92 · 05-12-2008, 08:48 AM

Must be a lot of people that didn't pay attention during high school chemistry. N2 does not expand or contract any different than air. It does not leak out more slowly. Boyle's Law PV=nRT. The only logic behind using N2 is it is dry, it has no water vapor. This might prevent corrosion and when dropping below freezing keeps the water vapor from condensing, which would appear as a pressure drop. Most air compressors have a drier, to keep the water out of air tools, so this really makes using N2 pointless.