Nitrogen in auto or truck tires

[JoeF]

Saw on mythbusters that there is no advantage to it to the regular auto. They also checked footballs because of old Ray Guy's ability to kick one for ever. Actually they found footballs lose distance due to them being lighter and would not have the mass to go extra distance.

 

[osprey]

<font color="green"> actually nitrogen is nothing more than really,really really dry air. </font>




Nitrogen represents about 78% of the atmosphere by volume and <font color="red"> WILL KILL YOU FAST!! </font> Never use nitrogen in an enclosed space,only in a well ventilated area. We use lots of nitrogen where I work to keep vessels with flammable liquids air free so you cannot have an ignition source.Nitrogen will displace oxygen, so do not think nitrogen is the same as hot air because it is not !!! I make this statement so<font color="red"> NO ONE </font> here will think nitrogen is safe to breathe ,because it is not,it can kill you quickly. <font color="blue"> </font>

 

[Bird]

Osprey, when you say it can kill you quickly, the connotation is that it's toxic, and isn't it true that the nitrogen won't hurt you, just as natural gas won't hurt you, but if enough of either displaces the oxygen, then the lack of oxygen is what actually kills you? Is that not right?

 

[HGM]

Bird, thats the way I understand it...

One more thought that slipped my mind earlier......

If you have a vehicle with tire pressure monitors in the tires, the nitrogen might be a good idea for you.. This is the only real advantage I can see(for an automobile tire).. The pressure fluctuation will cause the low tire pressure light on the dash to illuminate on a cold day.. Nitrogen would help eliminate this concern..

 

[rambler]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Saw on mythbusters that there is no advantage to it to the regular auto. They also checked footballs because of old Ray Guy's ability to kick one for ever. Actually they found footballs lose distance due to them being lighter and would not have the mass to go extra distance. )</font>

I kinda think that was helium, trying to get the football lighter..... Last week was very interesting, on flatus, but that is whole, whole different gas..........

The nitrogen is more stable than 'regular' air, but would appear to be a gadget idea for an auto tire, not really of any value for street driving.

--->Paul

 

[osprey]

You are right it is the lack of oxygen that will kill you as the nitrogen displaces the oxygen, just do not use nitrogen in a confined space,make sure you have good ventilation. Nitrogen is an odorless gas that can quickly overcome you in poorly ventilated enviroment.

 

[kljunior]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">(

If you have a vehicle with tire pressure monitors in the tires, the nitrogen might be a good idea for you.. This is the only real advantage I can see(for an automobile tire).. The pressure fluctuation will cause the low tire pressure light on the dash to illuminate on a cold day.. Nitrogen would help eliminate this concern.. )</font>

I know that on the gm cars, a pressure difference of at least 11 or 12 pounds between one tire and the other three is required to sense a low pressure condition. Also, it would only alarm if one tire is low, not two or more. This would allow you to have different pressures front and rear such as when carrying heavy loads.
It is actually a wheel speed monitor and doesn't monitor tire pressure at all. When one tire is low by aprrox. 25%, the computer recognizes it through the fact that the wheel is turning faster to keep up with the others.
The use of nitrogen would have zero effect on this system.

 

[RoyJackson]

I prefer using helium in my tires. It's dry, like nitrogen, cheaper by far and actually increases my fuel economy by reducing the friction onf the tires against the road (helium being lighter then air).

 

[Bedlam]

Thanks for all the posts. I think its probably a gimick. I had just never heard of it before.I agree, straight air for me.I have better things to spend my money on. I have tires that have rim leaks, so I have to constantly fill them anyways.
The shop says free refills, but what if you were miles away?
Thanks for all the info.
AL

 

[tracdoc]

kljunior:</font><font color="blue" class="small">( <font color="purple"> Race cars use nitrogen in the tires because it does not change pressure as much with temperature fluxuations. We are talking about a 1/4 or 1/2 pound making a big difference in a race cars handling. It means nothing to the average street driven car or truck. </font>)</font>

GATC35: </font><font color="blue" class="small">( <font color="brown"> I use nitrogen in commercial airliners everyday. The reason you use nitrogen vs compressed air is because the nitrogen has no moisture. </font> )</font>

In a nutshell, those are the chief reasons for using dry N2 gas to inflate tires. We use it in our racecar to keep TPs consistent, regardless of tire/track temps. All gases expand as they are heated. When tires are filled with dry N2, the expansion is consistent on all four. With air-filled tires, the amount of water vapor in each tire is unknown, inconsistent, and uncontrolled. So, the rate of gas/water vapor expansion (i.e., tire pressure rise) can be radically different in one tire leading to reduced traction and bad track performance (or worse /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif)