anyone using nitrogen for tire fill?

[shift_enter]

so I know my tire pressure needs to be read/set when its cold, and nitrogen fill for tires doesn’t have water in it and therefore will expand less when warm and maybe impact handling?!? anything else I might be missing??

anyone use nitrogen fill?? what have you found??

 

[RCinNC]

The attached file is a 2008 study conducted by the NHTSA that relates to tire inflation, and the results of their tests for using nitrogen to inflate tires. If you go to page 32, to the summary of the report, it will describe their conclusions. It should provide answers to your questions, and can back up their conclusions with about as much scientific testing as you could want.

 

[Sierra1]

My biggest issue with it is availability. Even Discount/America's Tire doesn't support nitrogen. Air is everywhere, and as long as you check your pressures frequently, doesn't have much of a downside.

 

[tntmo]

Don't forget about the weight savings when you use nitrogen, your wallet will be lighter!

 

[Longdog Cymru]

so I know my tire pressure needs to be read/set when its cold, and nitrogen fill for tires doesn’t have water in it and therefore will expand less when warm and maybe impact handling?!? anything else I might be missing??

anyone use nitrogen fill?? what have you found??

If your name is Marc Marquez or indeed any of the MotoGP/WSBK riders, then go ahead and fill your tyres with nitrogen, otherwise save your money to put gas in your tank because you will never be able to tell the difference when you are riding a bike on the road or dirt, although your wallet will feel lighter!

 

[WJBertrand]

Yes! I’m a big fan, but can only afford the 80% nitrogen fill.


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[Fennellg]

Biggest ripoff in the car industry.

 

[Eville Rich]

I use 78 percent nitrogen. Worked for me in all sorts of vehicles.

 

[Sierra1]

I use 78 percent nitrogen. . . .

A.K.A. . . . air. Mr. Bertrand is living in some rarified air.

 

[Eville Rich]

A.K.A. . . . air. Mr. Bertrand is living in some rarified air.

AKA some added nitrous oxide to bump that percentage a hair. mmhm

 

[WJBertrand]

A.K.A. . . . air. Mr. Bertrand is living in some rarified air.

Rounded number…


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[Eville Rich]

Rounded number…


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N2O as an adder sounds more exciting. Always ready to party!

 

[shift_enter]

My biggest issue with it is availability. Even Discount/America's Tire doesn't support nitrogen. Air is everywhere, and as long as you check your pressures frequently, doesn't have much of a downside.

Costco has nitrogen now so ot made me consider it. I do have a mini electric pump in one of my saddle bags at all times… I think because of the lack of both considerable advantage for using nitrogen and availability of it im gonna stick with air, I check my pressures everyday on a long trip and weekly when commuting so I’ll be fine with air.

 

[shift_enter]

Don't forget about the weight savings when you use nitrogen, your wallet will be lighter!

Biggest ripoff in the car industry.

its free for me being a costco member so it was worth considering, I have come to the conclusion that it’s not worth it in a motorcycle

 

[shift_enter]

The attached file is a 2008 study conducted by the NHTSA that relates to tire inflation, and the results of their tests for using nitrogen to inflate tires. If you go to page 32, to the summary of the report, it will describe their conclusions. It should provide answers to your questions, and can back up their conclusions with about as much scientific testing as you could want.

this is the type of thing I was looking for, thank you

 

[Fennellg]

I wondered if it made any difference. The problem is at every dealership I worked at they just put air in and charged People. I would then conclude that the lack of availability expense and bother is probably more of a pain then getting a cheap slime inflator with a gage and deal with it. Certainly faster and more efficient.

 

[WJBertrand]

The attached file is a 2008 study conducted by the NHTSA that relates to tire inflation, and the results of their tests for using nitrogen to inflate tires. If you go to page 32, to the summary of the report, it will describe their conclusions. It should provide answers to your questions, and can back up their conclusions with about as much scientific testing as you could want.

The summary confirms what I’ve believed and said for a long time. The loss of pressure upon initial filling of the tire with air is mostly due to oxygen permeation and consumption (some of the internal materials of the tire and perhaps the wheel can oxidize). By the time you’ve readjusted your pressure a few times the nitrogen in the tire can be as high as 91% according to that paper. In effect you are getting a nitrogen fill for free and with no extra effort.

I believe I have noticed this after fitting a new tire. The pressure seems to require more frequent topping up initially and then seems to stabilize somewhat. I think this is an effect of the tire kinda stretching out and the initial loss of O2.

Unless you evacuate a tire (probably not possible as the bead would likely not hold) or gas wash it (i.e. fill it and empty it several times with nitrogen) there’s already air in the tire so just simply inflating it with N2 will not result in a 100% N2 fill anyway.


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[Sierra1]

. . . . The loss of pressure upon initial filling . . . .

I always assumed that was because the air going into the tire is warm/hot because it came out of a compressor. It initially shows "X" on the gauge, but then later shows less than "X" because the air has cooled.

In the Navy, in dive school, if you ran out of air in your tank in the middle of training they refilled your tank as fast as possible. This caused the tanks exterior surface to be painfully hot when you put them back on. When you got back in the water (as fast as you could) the pressure would drop by at least 500psi.

 

[WJBertrand]

I always assumed that was because the air going into the tire is warm/hot because it came out of a compressor. It initially shows "X" on the gauge, but then later shows less than "X" because the air has cooled.

In the Navy, in dive school, if you ran out of air in your tank in the middle of training they refilled your tank as fast as possible. This caused the tanks exterior surface to be painfully hot when you put them back on. When you got back in the water (as fast as you could) the pressure would drop by at least 500psi.

I think this is true if you are compressing the air as you are inflating the tire, such as using a small tire inflator with no storage tank. This would not be a factor for a compressor with a large storage tank. I leave my compressor tank always pressurized. With a 16 gallon capacity. I can fill two tires before it clicks on. The air in the storage tank is room temperature. If anything it probably cools a little decompressing from 80-90 to 30-40 PSI in the tire. So it depends….

 

[RCinNC]

I posted that because someone had actually done a study of the issue, so I figured that would be helpful to the OP. From a personal standpoint, I would never bother with putting nitrogen in my tires. Whatever benefits there are, both real and imagined, aren't worth the extra effort and expense to me. It's on par with a 400 pound motorcycle rider obsessing about the weight of his exhaust because he's worried the weight is affecting the bike's performance.