My camper came with tires filled with Nitro air

I love this thread. It put a smile on my face.

But back to the original question, yes, you can put in regular air.

I would say that nitrogen is probably better than air only because they have removed the oxygen. It's the lack of oxygen that gives a small benefit to tire wear. No oxygen means no oxidizing on the inside of your tires. I can't comment on pressure differences, but some people claim that pure nitrogen suffers less pressure change with temperature. Maybe they are correct. That would be a benefit as well.

Don't forget that most RV tires age out before they wear out. So while the insides of your tires may be protected from oxygen, the outside of them will still be exposed to air and the sun.

Having said that, if your tires are low on pressure, I'd rather top it off with air than not top it off at all. If you can top it off with nitrogen, then go ahead. No harm in that, but don't delay because you don't have access to the nitrogen.

You will probably never notice the difference anyway. At the end of the day, if nitrogen causes you more stress (because you need to find nitrogen), it probably isn't worth doing at all.

Geocritter wrote:
Do you have the science to back up that statement?

I think the only thing he needs to back it up is a smiley face.

Walaby wrote:
You can only use Nitrogen in LT tires... Those of you who run ST tires need to stay away, because nitrogen filled tires will explode when you exceed 65MPH rating for more than 30 seconds.

And y'all thought it was just the inferior ST tires... it's all about the nitrogen.

Mike

Congratulations Mike, this has to be one of the worst bits of misinformation I've ever read on this forum! Do you have the science to back up that statement?

Steve

Muddydogs wrote:
What amazes me is most guys on this forum all worried about tire pressure and say to check it often but when the use of nitrogen comes up they claim its a waist of money and snake oil.

I'm a fleet manager with over 60 4x4's in my shop, all of them newer with some form of a TPMS system. I have to tell ya every fall as the temp drops each and every one of them trucks will flash a low pressure warning. Of course in years past this has occurred but it wasn't as noticeable as the dang low pressure warning lights that flash at start up on the newer rigs. What brought it home for me was when the wife and I purchased a newer rig with TPMS and as the temps dropped in the fall the wife would call multiple mornings on the way to work saying she had a low tire light, I would tell her its probably due to the 10 degree temp drop over night and I would check them when she got home.

To ease the wife's worry I took my personal rig to the tire shop and had them inflate the tires with nitrogen and as a test I had my work truck tires changed over to nitrogen, this was 3 years ago. Well guess what, no more pressure swings due to increases or decreases in the ambient temp. Sure I might get a pound or two swing but not the 5 to 10 pound swing I was seeing without the nitrogen.

So for guys worried about trailer tire life and the effects low air pressure can have on a trailer tire I would think that nitrogen would be a no brainer. I don't have to worry about heading out to the mountains in the fall when home temp is around 60 degrees and ending up 5+ pounds lower when I get in the 30 degree temps. I have not put air in the tires of the 2 trucks I drive in the last 2 years or the trailer since I purchased it a year and a half ago. I do check trailer tire pressure often just to see if they hold as well as my truck TPMS system tells me my truck is doing and I verify the truck TPMS system with an old fashioned gauge every once in a while.

Regular old fashioned air can be added to a tire filed with nitrogen but its best to get the tire up to pressure with nitrogen as it will stay that way unless there is a leak.

I've noticed that pressure drop with temperature on my RV. However, I've also noticed that the tires will heat up enough shortly after I start out that the pressure increases to where it should be.

Steve

What amazes me is most guys on this forum all worried about tire pressure and say to check it often but when the use of nitrogen comes up they claim its a waist of money and snake oil.

I'm a fleet manager with over 60 4x4's in my shop, all of them newer with some form of a TPMS system. I have to tell ya every fall as the temp drops each and every one of them trucks will flash a low pressure warning. Of course in years past this has occurred but it wasn't as noticeable as the dang low pressure warning lights that flash at start up on the newer rigs. What brought it home for me was when the wife and I purchased a newer rig with TPMS and as the temps dropped in the fall the wife would call multiple mornings on the way to work saying she had a low tire light, I would tell her its probably due to the 10 degree temp drop over night and I would check them when she got home.

To ease the wife's worry I took my personal rig to the tire shop and had them inflate the tires with nitrogen and as a test I had my work truck tires changed over to nitrogen, this was 3 years ago. Well guess what, no more pressure swings due to increases or decreases in the ambient temp. Sure I might get a pound or two swing but not the 5 to 10 pound swing I was seeing without the nitrogen.

So for guys worried about trailer tire life and the effects low air pressure can have on a trailer tire I would think that nitrogen would be a no brainer. I don't have to worry about heading out to the mountains in the fall when home temp is around 60 degrees and ending up 5+ pounds lower when I get in the 30 degree temps. I have not put air in the tires of the 2 trucks I drive in the last 2 years or the trailer since I purchased it a year and a half ago. I do check trailer tire pressure often just to see if they hold as well as my truck TPMS system tells me my truck is doing and I verify the truck TPMS system with an old fashioned gauge every once in a while.

Regular old fashioned air can be added to a tire filed with nitrogen but its best to get the tire up to pressure with nitrogen as it will stay that way unless there is a leak.

westend wrote:

Johno02 wrote:
OK, I would like to find out more actual facts about this, and I am absolutely NOT an expert, or even very knowledgable about tires or what s in them. However, when we went in to get the Nitrogen in our tires topped off, the pressure in all four had dropped from a normal 32 lbs. down to 24 lbs all around. So I was reasonably sure that I did not have a leak or anything wrong. At the tire dealer, the tire person said that it was probably due to the minor temperature change, which had dropped from the 90+ down into the 70+ range. Not a big overall change at all. He said that they had a good number of folks coming by for a topoff in the last week. I hadno reason to doubt what he said and it seemed reasonable, so we just thanked him, and went on out way. These tires have been on this car for over a year, and the original pressure was about 33 lbs in all four tires. I have not noticed any change more than 2-3 lbs so far, checking both at rest cold, at rest hot, and while driving at speeds up to 70mph. Does anyone have any actual facts, or other experience??

All tires and rims will lose air pressure while in use, nitrogen filled less so. Losing 8 lbs all around could be typical with a temperature drop and a year's duration of use.

If you don't want to be startled by an air pressure drop, my suggestion would be to check your tire pressures more frequently and add air when needed.

They all stayed the same pressure but 25% swing seems awfully big. I have never lost more than 5-8% max and that is with regular air.

pira114 wrote:
It's actually more about the moisture in the tire than anything. Moisture contributes more than anything else to the pressure changes. And will eventually rust your rim.

But I still don't see it as being necessary. The effects are negligible for average users.

And there is the winner. If you don't have a dryer on your air compressor and have TPMS sensors inside the tires the moisture will cause corrosion in the sensors at some point.

1968mooney wrote:

downtheroad wrote:
Do not use regular air. Nitrogen in your tires makes your trailer lighter. If you use regular air you will be over weight and be risking the safety of your family and everyone else on the road.

Believe you are confused. I use helium and my RV just floats down the highway.

You have to be careful with helium in tires! if you have a blow out you and the people around you will talk funny!

Aren't you going to be draining out your summer air to replace with winter air soon anyway? I would just use regular air until that happens.

Too funny.... on a side not when we bought this trailer the first thing we did was replace tires and rims. Went with metal valve stems and Duravis R 250s. In the first year I never lost a single pound of pressure.