[matjow]

Why would anyone PAY to have their tires filled with Nitrogen? The air we all take into our lungs for FREE is already nearly 80% Nitrogen!

View attachment 9507

Composition of Air:

Nitrogen N2 78.084%
Oxygen O2 20.947%
Argon Ar 0.934%
Carbon Dioxide CO2 0.033%
Neon Ne 18.2 parts per million
Helium He 5.2 parts per million
Krypton Kr 1.1 parts per million
Sulfur dioxide SO2 1.0 parts per million
Methane CH4 2.0 parts per million
Hydrogen H2 0.5 parts per million
Nitrous Oxide N2O 0.5 parts per million
Xenon Xe 0.09 parts per million
Ozone O3 0.07 parts per million
Nitrogen dioxide NO2 0.02 parts per million
Iodine I2 0.01 parts per million
Carbon monoxide CO trace
Ammonia NH3 trace

 

[cw_racefan]

I've always wondered that too. Seems to be the big thing now. The only real advantage I have heard (not sure if it's true or not) is that tire pressures vary less with temp when using notrogen. The rest kinda seems like snake oil to me.

 

[hdflstf]

It looks like we need to run through the partial pressures of each of the gasses that make up the air we breath:lol :lol

Actually I think it has to do with the water content (hunidity) of the air as the water vapor reacts more to heat that the air does.

 

[JimGnitecki]

This has all been covered in earlier posts last year. There are advantages to 100% Nitrogen in the tires, but they are too subtle for many (most?) owners. I like it, and plan to take up Owen (Op) on his offer to do all 4 tires for $35. (see his separate posting)

Jim G

 

[41chevcoe]

Why would anyone PAY to have their tires filled with Nitrogen? The air we all take into our lungs for FREE is already nearly 80% Notrogen!

View attachment 9507

Composition of Air:

Nitrogen N2 78.084%
Oxygen O2 20.947%
Argon Ar 0.934%
Carbon Dioxide CO2 0.033%
Neon Ne 18.2 parts per million
Helium He 5.2 parts per million
Krypton Kr 1.1 parts per million
Sulfur dioxide SO2 1.0 parts per million
Methane CH4 2.0 parts per million
Hydrogen H2 0.5 parts per million
Nitrous Oxide N2O 0.5 parts per million
Xenon Xe 0.09 parts per million
Ozone O3 0.07 parts per million
Nitrogen dioxide NO2 0.02 parts per million
Iodine I2 0.01 parts per million
Carbon monoxide CO trace
Ammonia NH3 trace

I notice you didn't allow any % or parts per million for pollution, we have 3 large pulp mills here.:eek

 

[SSRENITY]

Greetings from Santiago, Chile!

This has all been covered in earlier posts last year. There are advantages to 100% Nitrogen in the tires, but they are too subtle for many (most?) owners. I like it, and plan to take up Owen (Op) on his offer to do all 4 tires for $35. (see his separate posting)

Jim G

I've become so ssrfanatical that I have to check in even from Chile!

Anyway...I believe Costco uses nitrogen now...they might do it free if you are a costco member.

 

[crazyrtr53]

Was told

This has all been covered in earlier posts last year. There are advantages to 100% Nitrogen in the tires, but they are too subtle for many (most?) owners. I like it, and plan to take up Owen (Op) on his offer to do all 4 tires for $35. (see his separate posting)

Jim G

Hey Jim G

Was told there was no way to get 100 % nitrogen in a car tire, that the tire would break of the wheel before all air was taken out. So with free air at 80 % nitrogen you might get 90 % nitrogen with 100 % cash out of your pocket. Don't think that extra 10 % is going to save much tread life. What do you think???:skep :skep :skep

 

[JimGnitecki]

crazyrtr53: I know I got my tires filled with Nitrogen in Atlanta in March and didn't need to add ANY air to ANY tire until late summer.

Jim G

 

[BigAlkin]

This has all been covered in earlier posts last year. There are advantages to 100% Nitrogen in the tires, but they are too subtle for many (most?) owners. I like it, and plan to take up Owen (Op) on his offer to do all 4 tires for $35. (see his separate posting)

Jim G

That's what they use in airplanes 100%. I know they are exposed to extreme temp changes, and that is the main reason to use nitrogen.

 

[Donnysan]

Hey Jim G

Was told there was no way to get 100 % nitrogen in a car tire, that the tire would break of the wheel before all air was taken out. So with free air at 80 % nitrogen you might get 90 % nitrogen with 100 % cash out of your pocket. Don't think that extra 10 % is going to save much tread life. What do you think???:skep :skep :skep

I had tires filled with nitrogen at Butler Tire in Atlanta, the same chain of tire stores that Jim had his SSR tires done. They don't suck all the air out then fill it up with nitrogen. They have a special valve that allows air to escape from the tire while nitrogen is pumped in. Once the sensor detects exiting gas to be 99% nitrogen, it shuts off and then the tire is inflated to the desired pressure.

I also had tire pressure and tempertature sensors in each wheel, and I can attest that not only do they not heat up as much with nitrogen, they maintain more uniform pressures as the tires get hotter.

 

[SSR-Club.com]

QUESTION: If I put only Helium in my tires would it decrease the total weight of my SSR?

Would my exhaust noise increase in pitch?

Could I float a load?

Guess I need some rest...... lol

 

[PocoToro]

QUESTION: If I put only Helium in my tires would it decrease the total weight of my SSR?

Would my exhaust noise increase in pitch?

Could I float a load?

Guess I need some rest...... lol

:glol :glol :glol :glol

 

[Subdriver]

It looks like we need to run through the partial pressures of each of the gasses that make up the air we breath:lol :lol

Actually I think it has to do with the water content (hunidity) of the air as the water vapor reacts more to heat that the air does.

This is the real reason many racers used to favor nitrogen. For track use, we want to have a specific pressure in the tire on the track, obviously the pressure at which the tire performs best. Say that pressure is 40 psi. If I use air, which has a fairly high moisture content, I set the pressure in the paddock, then go out on the track where the tire heats up from ambient to about 200-220F. As it heats up, the moisture expands rapidly and the pressure in the tire goes way up. With Nitrogen and a very low humidity, I can set my tire pressure in the paddock to what I want on the track and it will remain essentially constant.

That said, nitrogen isn't cheap and it is a pain to find, store, take to the track, etc. For this reason, at my level of racing, I don't know anyone that actually uses nitrogen. We just learn what to set our cold tire pressure at by trial and error (e.g. during the practice sessions). In general, I see an increase of about 10 psi from paddock to track.

Same principle applies on the street, but to a lessor extent since we don't get our tires as hot on the street as I do on the track. But, the tire companies, and car manufacturers obviously understand this point and thus give us the proper cold tire pressure to obtain what they want on the road when the tire is hotter.

I personally wouldn't pay money for putting nitrogen in a street tire.

 

[LOP]

missing the full point

I think most are missing the full point of using nitrogen in place of air in our tires. It is for the life of the wheels also. Air , which contains moisture and contaminants over nitrogen, over time will corrode our aluminum wheels thus causing leaks and in the very long term possibly rendering the wheels useless.
I do not plan on going to aftermarket wheels by choice and would like to preserve the life of mine.

I offer the service because no one in our area does, if you do not want it, that's fine, if you do, you know how to contact me.

 

[oharrell2]

I think most are missing the full point of using nitrogen in place of air in our tires. It is for the life of the wheels also. Air , which contains moisture and contaminants over nitrogen, over time will corrode our aluminum wheels thus causing leaks and in the very long term possibly rendering the wheels useless.
I do not plan on going to aftermarket wheels by choice and would like to preserve the life of mine.

I offer the service because no one in our area does, if you do not want it, that's fine, if you do, you know how to contact me.

Why would the inside of the wheel be anymore susceptible to corrosion than the outside? I don't believe the inside of the wheel is bare aluminum. Someone correct if wrong.

 

[LOP]

Why would the inside of the wheel be anymore susceptible to corrosion than the outside? I don't believe the inside of the wheel is bare aluminum. Someone correct if wrong.

due to the fact that moisture and contaminants are trapped. constant temperature fluctuations perpetuate the abuse. It is a known issue on aluminum wheels.

 

[Bad_Bob]

Hello:

So what you are saying is that if we run Nitrogen, then we should run a lower initial pressure since the tire manufacturers allow for the increase in actual running pressure caused by the moisture in normal air. What about air in Saudi Ariabia or Phoenix, it's a lot drier; should we allow for that?

I'm confused

 

[JimGnitecki]

Op is correct about corrosion prevention. Check past postings on this topic for all the details.

Bad_Bob: You have it backwards. Since Nitrogen does not increase pressure as much with heat, you can set the pressure higher theoretically to begin with. However, the SSR seems to performa best at 30 psi. More air pressure causes tread wear isssues as near as I can tell.

Jim G

 

[hpdjv]

Many reasons for the racing community which don't apply to street use. There are really only 2 major differences to consider if worth the expense for street use. They are: 1) Maintain proper air pressures for a longer period of time - this is due to nitrogen molecules physically being larger than oxygen molecules therefore less "leakage" over the same period of time. Since we don't check our tires weekly less chance or driving around under inflated. 2) Less moisture content in nitrogen so less internal rim corrosion which can be a problem for anyone who owns a vehicle for a long period of time and it doesn't sit in a climate controlled area all the time.

Is it worth the expense and greater diffiulty to use nitrogen? Like everything else it's up to the individual. Some pay big $$$ for a few tenths of a second in performance gains while others think it's a waste of money.

If I pay $30-$50K for a truck would I spend $35 for nitrogen? Probabally just to keep the tires from getting underinflated.