[TwigMonster]

A local dealer will fill 4 tires with Nitrogen for $39. Is this a good thing to do? Supposedly this saves fuel $$'s.

Any experience of comments?

[EVANLA_33]

My best freind has it in his & said it makes a huge difference in handling, tire wear & fuel milage. I'm going to get it done in the spring.

[Brent05redfire]

NItrogen filled tires is a big marketing scam. it has no bearing on mileage or wear and tear on your tires.
seriously, if you want to save your money, just check your tire pressure twice a month and drop a couple of quarters in the air pump at the gas station and refill them as needed. that is really the only benefit of nitrogen in the tires. nitrogen molecules are fatter than ogygen molecules and thus can't leak out of your tires as fast as regular ole air.
besides, you know that nitrogen makes up about 78% of the air we breathe. so, you are already pumping mostly nitrogen into your tires when you put air in them.

[CyberCon]

Originally Posted by Brent05redfire

NItrogen filled tires is a big marketing scam. it has no bearing on mileage or wear and tear on your tires.

+1 on that quote!
About as bad as selling bottled water versus tap water. haha.

[06hoss]

Really, +1 on that. Nitrogen molecules are a little larger than oxygen, but even if regular air was 100% oxygen (which it's not, like you said above) and you switched to 100% nitrogen that isn't going to make any difference when you get a leak since the hole/leak will still be bigger than a Nitrogen molecule.
Just fill em up with that expanding foam stuff, then it will never leak!

[ironmike666]

I agree with yall. how are you gonna tell if they didnt just put regular old air in them anyway??? Mine came with nitrogen supposedly, even had ugly ass green valve stem caps too. And a little sticker on the window saying nitrogen filled tires...woopdee frickin doo.

[stlwagon]

If it were free, I'd say go for it. Not something I'd be willing to pay for.

[Colt 45]

It's my understanding that the reason nascar teams use nitrogen is it doesn't heat up and expand like air,therefore affecting their stagger.Could be wrong,have been before,but I think this is right.I'm sure there are more knowledgeable about the subject who can correct me if I am wrong.

[Brent05redfire]

this is straight from HowStuffWorks "How NASCAR Race Cars Work"

Nitrogen Instead of Air
Most of the teams remove the air from the tires and replace it with nitrogen. Compressed nitrogen contains less moisture than compressed air. When the tire heats up, moisture in the tire vaporizes and expands, causing the pressure inside the tire to increase. Even small changes in tire pressure can noticeably affect the handling of the car. By using nitrogen instead of air, the teams have more control over how much the pressure will increase when the tires heat up.

NASCAR tires heat up a heckuva lot more than our radials.

[chp2150]

The only reason I use it is I have two 142 cubic foot bottles of the stuff in my lab and it's easier to run a hose to the car than fire up the little weenie air compressor I have. We use it instead of compressed air because it's super clean, no contaminates and it's convenient. By the way, I pay less than $25 bucks for 142 cu-ft of 2500 psi dry nitrogen. If you buy your tires at Costco, they fill them for free. Anything else is major ripoff. $40 bucks to fill your tires??? Shoot, swing on by and I'll do it for $20 and still make a major killing! Even if each tire takes 2 cu-ft I can fill 71 tires for $25!!!!

That's just as bad a food places charging $2 + for a lousy soft drink.

[Mick]

Had it done to my Expedition before the winter. And I will say this, not once has my low tire pressure light come on, and that includes some below zero temps. It was done for free, that helped a lot.

[chp2150]

Free is always good!

[Steve Smiley]

Like everyone has already said, save your money for a new tune!

[.boB]

It's a marketing scam. The profit margin is huge. There's no advantage at all. Standard air is 78% Nitrogen anyway.

If your buddy thinks his car handles better, it's either a false perception, or he was way out of spec to begin with.

I filled my tires with standard air last March, and the low pressure light hasn't come on once.

[sqidd]

I use Nitrogen i my racebike tires but that is because I can set the pres while the tires are on the warmers (180deg) and they won't change pres while I am out on the track. But on the racebikes I can tell the difference between 30 and 32psi in the front tire for example.

I run Nitrogen in my Mustang too but I always have a couple bottles of it in the shop because I use it to build shocks too.

I would have air i the car if I didn't already have Nitrogen