I want to put Nitrogen in my tires....

[mikedog_66]

I would like to put nitrogen in my tires, but it seems you have to make an appointment with the dealer and make a big fuss out of it by bringing it in.

Since I rather not have my car sitting in the service bay with the possibility of something happening to it, is there a place where you can fill up your tires with nitrogen by yourself somewhere?

[clashley1976]

Originally Posted by mikedog_66

I would like to put nitrogen in my tires, but it seems you have to make an appointment with the dealer and make a big fuss out of it by bringing it in.

Since I rather not have my car sitting in the service bay with the possibility of something happening to it, is there a place where you can fill up your tires with nitrogen by yourself somewhere?

You'd need to find a shop that can do it. Where I live, the only places that fill with nitrogen are car dealers (none of the tire shops like Goodyear or Firestone offer it). I don't think you're likely to find any place that can do it conveniently.

Quite frankly, I don't think it is worth the trouble. Good ol' regular air is about 78% nitrogen anyway, so you've already got a bunch of it in your tires right now. Pure nitrogen will still leach through rubber, so you will still need to air up the tires periodically, and the hassle of getting that done at a dealer (instead of in your own garage with an air compressor) just doesn't seem worth it to me.

[SynergyScott]

The Costco's have a self service Nitrogen line outside the tire shop. You could do it there for free yourself

[Snoman]

I've been running nitrogen for almost 2 years and love it. The molecules are too large to magically seep out of rubber, it physically cannot happen. Unless the laws of physics work differently for some people, you have a hole in your tires if you are losing pressure. Nitrogen will expand and compress with the ambient air temperature however, as with any gas. I fill mine up when the weather turns cold and let it out myself at home when it gets warm. The other 360+ days a year I don't chase tire pressure like the air heads. The biggest problem I had was finding a dealer willing to confirm they have a working machine and if it was working, agree to give me some. Beck & Masten GMC refuses to give me Nitrogen, Gillman Nissan laughed at me and the Cosco set up looked shady. Fortunately, a local Ford loves working on my Dusk so they always have it available for me.

[polizzio]

Our atmosphere is 78% nitrogen. And as for those giant nitrogen molecules......LOL

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth

[Norm Peterson]

Originally Posted by Snoman

I've been running nitrogen for almost 2 years and love it. The molecules are too large to magically seep out of rubber, it physically cannot happen. Unless the laws of physics work differently for some people, you have a hole in your tires if you are losing pressure. Nitrogen will expand and compress with the ambient air temperature however, as with any gas. I fill mine up when the weather turns cold and let it out myself at home when it gets warm. The other 360+ days a year I don't chase tire pressure like the air heads. The biggest problem I had was finding a dealer willing to confirm they have a working machine and if it was working, agree to give me some. Beck & Masten GMC refuses to give me Nitrogen, Gillman Nissan laughed at me and the Cosco set up looked shady. Fortunately, a local Ford loves working on my Dusk so they always have it available for me.

Nitrogen molecules still seep out, just more slowly than the molecules of oxygen and other gases naturally found in the atmosphere.

The ONLY reasonable benefit to a N2 fill is that it is typically 'dry' N2, where "regular air" fills can contain appreciable amounts of moisture that can cause greater inflation pressure variations from cold to hot tire operating temperatures.

If you're trying to increase the N2 percentage in a tire that is already inflated with "regular air", you'd have to evacuate as much of that as you can first before connecting to the N2 supply. Either that or repeatedly inflate with N2 and deflate to slowly increase the N2 %.

Know also that N2 filling stations aren't giving you 100% pure N2; it's likely somewhere between 95% and 98% pure. And as noted previously but stated differently, regular air is already 78% pure N2 . . .

It is a good money-maker for the N2 fill station - or perhaps a loss-leader in the case of Costco (kind of like the free coffee in dealership waiting rooms).


That's the Cliff's Notes version of this topic as discussed more than once on an engineering forum by people not easily swayed by such tactics as advertising claims and sales pitches.


Norm

[Racin J]

This ^^^ and thank you Norm

[The Dutchman]

Can I fill my tires with Helium?

[polizzio]

Originally Posted by The Dutchman

Can I fill my tires with Helium?

SURE

[mikedog_66]

Originally Posted by SynergyScott

The Costco's have a self service Nitrogen line outside the tire shop. You could do it there for free yourself

I didn't know they had a DIY fill station there. I will definitely check it out....thanks!