Inflating tyres with.... Nitrogen?

[Witchfinder]

Has anyone heard of this? http://www.msaalloys.co.uk/nitrogen.htm

Apparently, having your tyres inflated with Nitrogen costs about 8 squid, and has a whole load of benefits. Anyone know where you can get your tyres "done"?

[robmawer]

Anyone know where you can get your tyres "done"?

MSA Rochdale do it. Which also happens to be the link you just posted...

Rob.

[maffwilson]

Just for the record - composition of air on Earth:

Nitrogen 78.084%

Oxygen 20.947%

Argon 0.934%

Carbon Dioxide 0.033%

other things for the rest to 100%

IMHO spend the money on a decent pressure gauge and check your tyres at least once a fortnight, which you should do whether filled with air, Nitrogen, Helium, whatever of course.

[rich1068]

I have heard of this before. Some 'top' brands of car are supposed to come from the factory with this in their tyres.

[naan]

Just for the record - composition of air on Earth:

Nitrogen 78.084%

Oxygen 20.947%

Argon 0.934%

Carbon Dioxide 0.033%

other things for the rest to 100%

IMHO spend the money on a decent pressure gauge and check your tyres at least once a fortnight' date=' which you should do whether filled with air, Nitrogen, Helium, whatever of course.[/quote']

With air being 80% nitrogen, what can be the extra benefits of having extra 20% nitrogen in your tyres ?

[TaviaRS]

I use it in mine.

Placebo? Possibly. However, I've notice on track that they are far more stable in their pressure with the Nitrogen fill.

Yes, I have a decent pressure gauge or 2, 1 in the car and one at home. Read identically. Yes, I do check them at least once per week. They very very rarely vary. I set the tyres to the pressures that give me the handling I want, by my gauges (so whether they are right or wrong in callibration terms it doesn't matter).

[rich1068]

I use it in mine.

Quel surprise. :really:

[roo]

nitrogen when used in tyres is more stable than oxygen and it escapes slower, so you go longer withut having to refill the tyres with air.

[DGW]

But as my foot and electric tyre pumps don't 'do' nitrogen refills, that means finding a tyre dealer with nitrogen each time I check my tyres and need to top up. What's the charge for topping up with, say, 4 psi of nitrogen per tyre? I can see the advantages for Jon with his high speed track driving, but there's little obvious advantage in it for me. I think I will save the money involved and continue using LongLife oil instead.

[TaviaRS]

Denis, refills are free.

I've never had to have mine topped up in the last 2 years, which is good. Biggest drop I've had has been 1PSI.

Oh, and I use long life oil as well

[DGW]

I've never had to have mine topped up in the last 2 years, which is good. Biggest drop I've had has been 1PSI.

I'm genuinely impressed by that, Jon.

And you know that I knew that you use LongLife oil, and of course change it twice as often as many of us who also use it.

[SilveRS]

Have to agree with Maffwilson on this one.

While there may be a small benefit to having nitrogen in your tyres, good sense tells us if you

[Witchfinder]

IMHO spend the money on a decent pressure gauge and check your tyres at least once a fortnight, which you should do whether filled with air, Nitrogen, Helium, whatever of course.

Good point, but I think the idea is to remove any potential source of oxidisation (mainly applicable to steel rims but also affects rubber), and the fact that the tyres will apparently "run cooler" - I can only assume this is something to do with the specific heat capacity.

[SilveRS]

and the fact that the tyres will apparently "run cooler"

Not sure that is a good thing Rob. Bike tyres rely heavily on heat to be at their best performance and they become stick, I'd have though car tyres were not too dissimilar abait harder compound.

[piv34uk]

:thumb:

nitrogen in tyres well let me see........nitrogen is standard fill where i work, it elimanates water and oil found in most air compressors so is less likley to corrode from within those expensive alloys. As said earlier it runs cooler than air and because it is a larger molecule it doesn`t permeate the rubber as quickly as air....less need to check pressures....as for refilling it only becomes a problem if you refill with half again of air...make sense i think so........??? we at www.merityre.co.uk do not charge for checking or adjustment of pressures and we only charge

[Welliesorter]

There's a garage near me that claims to be able to fill tyres with some substance that makes them puncture-proof. I think it costs about

[TaviaRS]

Phil,

Strangely enough I use the Woking branch, have done for the last 3 years. Think I'm one of their best customers at the rate I go through tyres. Buy them on line then they fit them, as I get them for the same price on line than they do wholesale :confused:

[No Waiting]

....whether filled with air, Nitrogen, Helium, whatever of course.

Helium - now there's an idea :shhh:... Should make the car lighter and therefore improve the fuel consumption, and in turn pay for the cost of having them filled in the first place...

...not sure about how the car would then hold the road - might need to get some bigger spoilers!

More research needed me think :read:

:ices_rofl:

[DGW]

There has to be a drawback to doing this or everyone would do it. Any thoughts?

If the tyre needs a permanent repair, you may have difficulty finding a tyre dealer who will do one. Also in the event that a tyre needs replacing, the inside of the wheel is going to need cleaning first. Is that straightforward or does it involve using chemicals?

[norb72]

Kwikfit.

[daveclayton]

helium?? hmm what would actually happen if you did that? why cant you fill your tyres with water too?

[Nick P]

Costco use Nitrogen inflation. They put green dust caps on too, which suit a Skoda quite well.

[daveyonthemove]

I use it in my tyres, and although i don't attend any track days, or drive it at excessive speeds, i do go away alot and my car is left unattended for months at a time.

In the past i have always had 1 or 2 tyres under pressure or flat on my return to the country, but with Nitrogen i've not had this issue EVER. I've always been able to get in the car and drive it with no pressure issues.

For me this could be the difference between arriving in the country at 2am and getting in the car and going straight home, or sitting around waiting for a couple of hours for assistance. For that reason alone, IMO its worth every penny!

helium?? hmm what would actually happen if you did that?

Remember the Hindenburg?

If you had a blow out and your alloy sparked off the road, it would likely explode.

Nitrogen is INERT so its safer than normal air and helium.

why cant you fill your tyres with water too?

Because 1 litre of water weighs 1kg, so it would make your wheels alot heavier, and steering and stopping would be harder than it already is.

[ScoobyChris]

Remember the Hindenburg?

If you had a blow out and your alloy sparked off the road, it would likely explode.

Nitrogen is INERT so its safer than normal air and helium.

Think you might be confusing hydrogen with helium (which is inert) The problem will most likely be that the helium is small enough to escape through the rubber of the tyre and so it won't stay inflated very long. It's expensive too!

Because 1 litre of water weighs 1kg, so it would make your wheels alot heavier, and steering and stopping would be harder than it already is.

Absolutely - it also doesn't compress very well

Chris

[tom1362]

Getting very poular on Rally cars over here. A few lads had some nice set-ups at the Donegal Hill Climb last Saturday. It does have a big advantage in terms of temperature and losing pressure in the tyre during stages and travelling in between stages at normal road speed as it has a much more consistant rate of expansion and contraction. The difference is very evident if you compared two cars comming into service after a three stage stint and running a soft compound tyre