Nitrogen For Your Tires!

A well-liked joke in the 1960s at full service gas stations was’filler up with Ethel and change the air in my tires.’ Today with the cost of gas approaching $3.00 per gallon, why not replace the air in your tires. Not with air but with nitrogen. Filling your tires with nitrogen rather than air will improve gas mileage, help maintain correct tire pressure, keep tires 25% cooler, improve handling and performance and prolongs the life of your tires. NASCAR drivers use nitrogen in their tires for safety reasons, you can too.

Why should you stop putting air in your tires! Compressed air you find at tire shops, gas stations and the compressor you use at home have a high concentrations of water vapor. Compressing air concentrates the water in it and unless truly efficient air dryers are used probabilities are there’s water vapors in your tires. Water vapor absorbs and holds heat. This wet air and heat can increase the pressure in your tires, causing road blow outs, and is one of the reason you should test your tire pressure when they are cold.

This article isn’t about the nitrogen. It’s truly about reducing oxygen and water vapor in your tires. The air in our tires is made of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and about one percent water vapor and other gases. When pure dry nitrogen is used to replace the air in your tires it improves fuel potency, handling and it will extend the life of steel edges or custom wheels and tires. By reducing oxygen and water vapor in your tires from 22% to less than 7%, your tires will maintain pressure 3 to 4 times longer. Plus it will keep you safer on the highway.

How does oxygen and water damage my edges and tires? Oxygen, particularly at high temperatures and pressures, corrodes aluminum, steel wheels and rubber. This process is known as oxidization. When oxidation occurs small particles of rust and aluminum oxidation in your steel or aluminum wheels can block valve stems, forcing them to leak. The oxidization could cause the surfaces of your wheel flange and tire beads not to seal properly causing another leak point.

Oxygen can also age the thin layer of rubber called the inner liner or radial ply. As the inner liner ages, more and more air migrates through the rubber, causing further pressure losses. As oxygen migrates through rubber it can come in communication with steel belts and the steel bead forcing them to rust.

While both nitrogen and oxygen can migrate through rubber, nitrogen does it much slower. It would take six months to lose 2 pounds of nitrogen, compared to less than a month with wet compressed air. Dry nitrogen does not cause rust and corrosion on steel rims or aluminum custom wheels, and it does not degrade rubber like wet compressed air.

Where can I get nitrogen for my tires? Nitrogen is becoming very popular with long haul trucking. Some van stops have nitrogen available for these big rigs either free or by paying a tiny fee. They use the same type pay stations that you see at gas stations except they are marked’Nitrogen’. These nitrogen stations are then hooked up to massive nitrogen cylinders near by.

you may also get your own small inexpensive Nitrogen Tanks and have them filled at welding supply stores in your neighborhood. Another source for small nitrogen tanks is Paint Ball supply stores either local or on the web. EBay is an excellent source. These little nitrogen tanks can be filled at welding supply stores and then simply plumbed to fill your tires. Use caution when handling these tiny nitrogen tanks as they can be filled to as much as 3k psi. Also ensure the nitrogen tank you get has a regulator attached and it is set for roughly fifty psi.

Filling your own new tires with nitrogen is a simple process. Raise one tire until it just clears the ground, take away the tire valve stem and allow the air in your tires to flee. Once all the air escapes install a new valve stem. Then simply fill your tires with nitrogen from your small nitrogen tank. Repeat the process with the other three tires. Don’t forget your spare! Your tires should now have about 95% dry nitrogen and you have noticeably reduced all of the dangers and oxidation issues mentioned above.

if you have got a tire store and want to provide nitrogen for your clients buy an Ingersoll Rand Nitrogen Tire Inflation System.
Ingersoll Rand Air Compressor Nitrogen For Your Tires!
.