Using Nitrogen in Your Tires

jholmes · Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 80 Location: Eagan, MN

I have noticed several signs popping up around town at service centers, promoting the use of nitrogen in your tires instead of regular compressed air. What is this good for, if anything, and is it worth the extra cost?

This seem like a gimmick to me! Rolling Eyes

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The theory in using Nitrogen in your tires lies with gas mileage. Advocates claim that when using nitrogen, the lesser the chance your tires will be under inflated, and therefore you will save gas. A vehicle with under inflated tires with consume more gas (higher MPG) than a vehicle with properly inflated tires. This is true!

Nitrogen molecules are larger than oxygen, so permeation rate through the tire material is less than regular compressed air. This is true, however, leak rates around valve stems and rims (if there are such leaks) would be the same, even with use of nitrogen. Additionally, ambient air contains about 78% nitrogen, so by using pure 100% nitrogen your not gaining that much nitrogen.

Advocates claim that race car drivers, truckers, and airplanes use nitrogen, so it's certainly better. Well, race cars drive under extreme conditions, in races were a fraction of a second determine the winner. Nitrogen's inert properties would be a benefit in this circumstance, where prize money is involved. I don't think your commute to work every day parallels this type of operation.

Truckers have 18 WHEELS!!! Maintaining adequate tire pressure on these rigs is a full time job if you use regular air. So a trucking company can save money in labor hours by filling tires with nitrogen, instead of air, and they are probably paying much less for the nitrogen than Average Joe Sucker...I mean Consumer. This makes nitrogen worth it for truckers and trucking companies, truckers are on the road driving, paying the bill, instead of at the service station, checking tire pressure.

The aircraft argument is the worst of them all! I'm an airline pilot, so one could say I have first-hand knowledge of this subject. Airplane tires are required to be filled with nitrogen because of safety reasons. Nitrogen is an inert gas, and doesn't support combustion. Compressed air contains about 20% Oxygen, which supports combustion. If an aircraft tire inflated with compressed air was to blow up as a result of...let's say, a brake fire...that compressed O2 in the air would "fan the flames" and make the situation worse. Nitrogen, on the other hand, wouldn't "fan the flames." Consequently, many commercial aircraft are equipped with fire detection in the wheel wells, just in the case of a brake/wheel fire. Additionally, compressed air could contain water vapor, which isn't good in aircraft tires that go up tens-of-thousands of feet to very low temperatures.

So basically, nitrogen in passenger vehicles is a sales gimmick! Don't buy/by it! Just make sure your tires are properly inflated, by checking them every month! Wink

mathewl · Joined: 14 May 2011 Posts: 19 Location: Putney

Air is 78 percent nitrogen, just under 21 percent oxygen, and the rest is water vapor, CO2 and small concentrations of noble gases such as neon and argon. We can ignore the other gases.

First is that nitrogen is less likely to migrate through tire rubber than is oxygen, which means that your tire pressures will remain more stable over the long term. Racers figured out pretty quickly that tires filled with nitrogen rather than air also exhibit less pressure change with temperature swings. That means more consistent inflation pressures during a race as the tires heat up.so i think nitrogen is better than air in tyres..

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