[Hairscrambler]

Hey all, I was wondering if anyone out there has filled their tires with nitrogen on their Suburban/Yukon XL ?? I work for a new Acura dealer and they have some mighty big claims about the benefits. Their claims are as follows- The nitrogen filled tires maintain air pressure better with much less fluxuation resulting in TPMS lights going off, Nitrogen keeps the tires 20% cooler, Nitrogen filled tires use less fuel, they extend the life of the tires, they improve ride and performance, reduces tire failure by as much as 80%, and increase gas mileage by as much as 2-3 miles per gallon. I'm wondering how much of this is fact or fiction ? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks all.

 

[blackburb]

IMHO, nitrogen filled tires make money for the dealer and nothing more. YMMV

 

[ridick_bowen]

The facts are true. More constant air. better tire wear.

 

[McClintoc]

IMHO, nitrogen filled tires make money for the dealer and nothing more. YMMV

This, times infinity.

Think about it: the atmosphere is over 70% nitrogen and temperature and pressure vary greatly around the world. What makes you think it's any different inside your tires? Nitrogen is CHEMICALLY inert but that doesn't mean it's immune to the laws of physics. Temperature and pressure are PHYSICAL properties, regardless of the gas or compound. Again, nitrogen is only immune to chemical reactions, not physical reactions, like temp and pressure.

Just like Shell putting nitrogen in their gas. That's a bigger waste of money than nitrogen in your tires.

 

[Hairscrambler]

Found this info from Jay Leno

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUZGXmWMKXM

 

[blackburb]

"It's free, it's everywhere"? How is it free? How do you get your air at home from 80% nitrogen to 100% nitrogen? I've mounted and dismounted many, many tires over the years and I never found water inside one - ever. I call bullsh*t. FWIW, I like Jay Leno. I appreciate his love of cars/trucks/bikes. I read his column in PoP Mech. But that sounds like a paid endorsement or more of the rich Hollywood socialist tree-hugging propaganda. Do what you want with your money, I'll keep using N80.

 

[Pikey]

I have nitrogen in my Michelins on my yukon xl. It came free when I bought the tires. I notice a major difference over the old tires. BUT, these tires are new, not old bald tires that were on it before. So, I am betting that the ride quality comes from the new tires not the nitrogen

 

[donl]

I have nitrogen in my Michelins on my yukon xl. It came free when I bought the tires. I notice a major difference over the old tires. BUT, these tires are new, not old bald tires that were on it before. So, I am betting that the ride quality comes from the new tires not the nitrogen

How in the hell would nitrogen make for a better ride than air? I will be waiting for an answer.

 

[Pikey]

They claim that because nitrogen is a larger molecule the ride quality is better. I doubt that with my 6,300 lb truck sitting on them.

 

[McClintoc]

Gas pressure is gas pressure. It's not different simply because of the molecule that comprises the gas. 35 psi = 35 psi, period.

 

[tbplus10]

One of the most influential factors of Nitrogen is the amount of moisture contained in it, unless their purging the tires with hot dry nitrogen at temps of 95deg or better for a minimum of 4 hours then charging the tires with dry nitrogen there is no benefit to be gained.
Even if properly purged the benefits arent even close to what that dealership claims.
Ask any aircraft mechanic about tire pressure and tire temps and theyll tell you unless your dealing with extremely rapidtemp changes, like a tire thats been in below 0 temps fpr a while suddenly hitting a runway you wont see benefits or pressure fluxuations enough to justify paying for nitrogen.

 

[Hairscrambler]

Here's some more info I dug up...

https://www.google.com/#sclient=psy...08,d.dmg&fp=8d786327089c7a38&biw=1024&bih=653

 

[Pikey]

I miss quoted the video that I had watched. I have seen so much nitrogen propaganda over the years that it all bleeds together. It is funny to me that in the video they day 95% pure nitrogen. Doesn't something have to 100% to be "pure"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOpLePrqkMI

 

[tbplus10]

Purity % for Nitrogen is slightly different due to its makeup.
Out of the 9 vehicles in my driveway 3 have nitrogen filled tires, all the vehicles get driven about the same mileage per year, 8-10k, maybe its due to the tpms but I find were having to service the nitrogen filled tires more often, I check all the tires once a month with a manual gauge.

 

[Hairscrambler]

From what I gathered, if ya get the tires filled for 5-6 bucks a piece and keep an eye on it and get free fills it pays to do :neutral: Doesnt seem worth the hassle for the average consumer :rules:

 

[phoebeisis]

Wow
Where do I start.
Well the true stuff
1)Better pressure retention- YES- bigger molecule-takes longer to leak out-fair enough-but remember you are getting 78% N2 free-and since they say -correctly but exaggerated- that O2 leaks out faster
over time the N2 concentration increases as you keep refilling with 78% N2-
2)H2O yes true- but just how many rims rust out from internal H2O?? Yeah-ZERO

Now outright BS-actually he mis-spoke
1) 375,000,000 gallons used per day- probably correct- 1.5 gallons per car per day-OK
but he said that was 800,000,000 barrels per day!!
Absurd since we only use 19,000,000 barrels per day-
Which means-close to 800,000,000 barrels per year-at our OLD use rate of 21,000,000 barrels per day
AND plenty of the 19,000,000 barrels ISN'T for car or truck fuel-

2) The 4-10% improved fuel economy using N2- just an outright lie-pressure is pressure-keep correct pressure-get better FE

Now it is possible that N2 filled tires will degrade more slowly-important in planes military-NASCAR- where cost is no object-but for us-normal folks-tread wears out long before tires degrade.

In any case-great for folks selling N2 not so great for buyers.
Pointless for normal people.

 

[RayVoy]

Firstly, I agree with everything @phoebeisis is telling you. Now, what about Jay Leno? I never thought I'd say this about that man, but, wtf, why is he on Youtube stating the value of N2? He doesn't care what you put into your tires. He might care about the environment, but telling you to keep the tire pressure up would accomplish the same thing; no, he must be picking up a buck, or two.

He is right about the airlines, NASCAR and others using N2 in their tires. But why, they carry N2 for only one reason. The O2 would feed a fire.

As a couple of members stated, the air we live in is 78% N2. If the O2 leaks out, topping up the tire will add an additional amount of N2 (78% of the added air is N2).

I will continue to fill my tires with air, filtered air. For free.

 

[reggiecab2000]

i work at discount tire.... nitrogen does NOTHING! the only reason people sell it is to make money.

Here are the facts:
the molecules are bigger than air molecules, the ONLY reason this is significant is because air seeps out of our tires, due to science...
since the molecules are bigger in nitrogen they dont seep out AS fast..
Heres the deal, It is a regular maintenance deal to check your air pressure every month, you probably lose about 2 PSI every month, and people who dont maintain their vehicles, after about 6 months they wonder why their MPG has gone down, its simply because they havent replenished the air in their tires....
NITROGEN is the fix for the person who is too lazy to get their air pressure checked every month, thus people fill their tires with nitrogen and 6 months later theyre still getting the same MPG, which makes them believe nitrogen is the best thing ever.....
It not beneficial at all...
i dont care what kind of air is in my tires, I check them every month regardless. AND nitrogen costs money, vs AIR which is free....

I know what im talking about guys, I wouldnt post this info for no reason.

and by the way air does not fluctuate nearly enough on a daily basis to cause ANY kind of unsymmetrical tire wear, the tire wear people attribute to AIR is purely because they didnt check it for a long time and they started getting wear on the outside shoulders due to underinflation

 

[phoebeisis]

If you regularly check your tires-pump them back up to spec-you will slowly INCREASE the N2 % in your tires over time-since as they claim O2 preferentially leaks out
N2=78% O2+other gases=rest O2 preferentially leaks out-so at end of month
N2= 78.5%
Yes it won't be significant-but 100% N2 won't be either-since you aren't going to get 100% N2 anyway-aren't going to suck the tire dry anyway

I think leno just got some of his math mixed up-can't imagine he needs the $$-and he is somewhat "green"
but he also is somewhat under educated-not as if Hollywood types are particularly educated ( science or practical education)
I suspect a writer wrote that script-the barrels oil per day-obvious it should be per year
equally obvious the script used OLD consumption of 22,000,000 barrels per day
and COMPLETELY ignored the fact that less than 1/2 of the 19,000,000 barrels we now use
is for CAR light truck fuel
so script written by an ignoramus-
the 4-10% savings in fuel they attribute to using N2- just an outright lie
If they had said underinflated tires-OK
But N2 WON'T completely prevent tire under inflation-it would improve it-for a HUGE amount of $$
but folks aren't going to haul their vehicles in for top ups once a month.
Besides-lots of leaks-are slow leaks-actual holes-plenty big enough for N2 to flow thru
Save your money-buy tire gauge-check monthly
just as many have said
Jay Leno needs better script writer-or needs to have it proof read for correctness

 

[unsub]

The people filling their tires with nitrogen are the same people using oil treatments in their crankcase instead of good synthetic oil. Popular Mechanics has a article about this, can't remember what issue but I do remember the author stating the only benefit of using it would be if you were driving around on Mount Everest. Whatever that would mean. It's a scam, much like many automotive quick fixes for things that are not broken. There is even arguments on what percentage of nitrogen one should use in their tires. Ridiculous.