Stupid question about tires
So y'all can call me uneducated, stupid or whatever you like, but the 5th wheel we are looking at comes with nitrogen in the tires. Are there nitrogen pumps available? Can you mix it with air or jus...
Forum Discussion
PartyOf Five wrote:
Our mechanic suggested nitrogen in the car tires if we did a rotation as winter approached. Apparentky it doesn't contract and expand as much in the cold and so is better in extreme temps.
That was already a few years ago- the fad seems to have died down.
The only component of air that expands or contracts significantly differently than nitrogen alone is water vapor. Dry air won't behave much differently at all than pure nitrogen (and air is mostly nitrogen anyhow)--all the component gasses are very well well described by the ideal gas law.
Some gasses do interact with rubber a little differently; in particular, carbon dioxide more easily permeates through the rubber itself than most other gasses, though it's not a huge difference and completely irrelevant if your tire isn't perfectly sealed to the rim, or the valve stem leaks microscopically, etc.
In some extreme applications, like airliners and race cars, nitrogen is used to reduce fire risks. For ordinary vehicles and trailers, it's pretty much valueless (but not harmful or worrisome in any way).
