inflating tires on rv with nitrogen, good idea?

Unless your RV can accelerate to 150 mph in a mile and a half with a dragging brake and then you can fold the wheels up into an enclosed compartment, using nitrogen is a waste of money.

Airplanes use it, which is where my example above comes from. When I was at Boeing, I did a lot of research into in-flight tire bursts and all of them involved dragging brakes on take-off. The heat stored in the brakes then heated up the bay where the retracted gear was stowed and the tires blew.

One incident I looked at, the tire bead had failed in tension, suggesting a pressure inside the tire reached about 12,000 psi in a spontaneous combustion explosion. All the incidents were with air inflation, so Boeing made a strong recommendation to switch to nitrogen, whic is now standard.

Nitrogen is a total waste of money on 70 mph road vehicles.

Sport45 wrote:
I think I'll fill mine with propane. It's a larger molecule than Nitrogen, readily available, and in a pinch I can use my spare to fuel the grill. :)

Propane will work until it gets to -44 degrees F then it will turn into a liquid and your tire will be flat until it warms up.

My uncle who lived out in nowhere used propane in all of his tires.

You can also use Butane but the tire will go flat at +30 degrees F.

I think I'll fill mine with propane. It's a larger molecule than Nitrogen, readily available, and in a pinch I can use my spare to fuel the grill. :)

EASY.RIDER wrote:
I'm interested in hearing comments on using nitrogen in tires on my rv, supposed to run cooler and maintain air pressure better. Any comments would be appreciated.

Tom

Considering you've been on these forums since 2009, that makes me a bit suspicious that you are just having a little fun... lol!

Whoops, let me try again.

2112 wrote:
I can't believe this generated 4 pages!

As the discussion continues, it gets warmer, which makes it expand...


When I bought my 2008 F350, I noticed it had green caps on the tires. I then noticed the "fee" for nitrogen filled tires on the sales contract (I don't remember exactly, but I think it was around $200!?)... I pointed this out, and just looked at the very nice saleslady. She kind of grimaced, and removed the nitrogen fee. When I picked up the truck I noticed the caps on the truck were black... I almost went back and asked if they had actually let the "nitrogen" out of all the tires and then refilled them with "normal" air.

Just to add fuel to the fire:

Water - in the form of vapor - can permeate through the tire from the outside. At some point in time, the pure nitrogen is no longer pure. It is contaminated with water vapor and oxygen.

Shearwater wrote:

Sport 45 wrote:
Are we supposed to think air inside the tire is more corrosive than the air outside the tire?

Yes, sort of. AT 30 lbs of tire pressure, compared to 15 lbs of atmospheric pressure, the oxygen concentration is 3X higher. IF the tire is degraded by oxygen, the rate of degradation would be 3X greater.

I agree, sort of. The concentration of oxygen in compressed air is the same. It's the partial pressure that's higher.

Shearwater wrote:
In real life this is not much of a factor for the tire's lifespan - treadwear and exposure to sunlight are much more significant.

Agree whole-heartedly. It's the outside environment that determines how long a tire will last. That includes load weight, speed, temperature, braking, scrubbing on turns, UV, heat, ozone, exposure to chemicals, etc., etc.

mgirardo wrote:

Sport45 wrote:
Are we supposed to think air inside the tire is more corrosive than the air outside the tire?

The problem with air in the tire is how it got there. If you use compressed air to fill the tire, the air has moisture in it. Nitrogen is dry, so no moisture gets in the tire when filling with Nitrogen.

-Michael

And there's no moisture in the air outside the tires???

I believe the environment the tire is exposed to on the outside is much worse that anything that's being pumped into them. (Unless the station is taking air off the bottom of the tank and never draining their compressor.)

I agree that the nitrogen whether it is generated by pressure swing adsorption or a cryogenic process is bone-dry. I personally don't worry about the bit of moisture that might condense out of the air in my tires if they were filled in a hot, humid place and then driven to a very cold place. It will evaporate back into the air when the tire warms up.

Foggy wrote:
Anyone use mountain air instead of city air? It's usually much cleaner with less pollutants. You may need to use a little more because it is thinner.

Negats!

Salt Air.

Fill as close as possible to your preference of Oceans.

Your tires will be as "salty" as you are from breathing same...;)

However you both may rust sooner!

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