Nitrogen Tire Top Off Kit

I have an interesting part time job that requires me to spray small sample panels with metallic and pearlescent paints... these are very "finicky" about a clean & dry source of air... so after some thought I started buying highly compressed cylinders (2500 psi) and with a regulator using this as my source. It was natural to use this air source for filling & topping off tires.
At one cylinder exchange they were out of "air" and asked if I wanted nitrogen instead... same price! I've never looked back!

Very low humidity atmosphere will work for me. I have an onboard 175 lb compressor and a portable tank with a "spitter". Then a drier.

mailman-ret wrote:

"OP" will now fasten his seat belt and await the next storm:S.

No point, it seems.

Already the consensus here is almost unanimous and involves the same information from about a dozen people.

IF.....you insist on ignoring all of that....why waste any further time and energy trying to get you to see the simple truth ??

Another case of: Don't confuse me with facts; my mind is already made up.

crcr, COSTCO sounds like a good idea, but closest location for me is 134 miles from me in one of the burbs of St Louis. I will pursue the area bulk gas companies and see if they might have a suggestion.

Thank You.

mailman-ret wrote:
... crcr, thanks for the idea of the Harbor Freight aluminum air tank. I will just have to see what our local tank dealers would charge to fill them if they will. Until I have a chance to see how successful I am at returning to the road this year, I won't even consider leasing a tank...

I buy all our tires at Costco. They inflate all tires with nitrogen, and they let me top up my tires and/or fill my aluminum tank with nitrogen for free.

There is no question nitrogen in tires is better than plain air but I would not bother with nitrogen unless you can get it for free like in Costco. Next best thing is to install coalescing filter on you compressor and manually drain water every once in a while.

Coalescing filter

Thanks for this information. I will look into this and see how this could work for me.

There is no question nitrogen in tires is better than plain air but I would not bother with nitrogen unless you can get it for free like in Costco. Next best thing is to install coalescing filter on you compressor and manually drain water every once in a while.

Coalescing filter

"OP" here, now that I have all of my wounds bandaged, and the dust has settled for a while I shall step back on the firing line. DW and I have been pulling campers since 2001, with a hiatus due on my part due to some major health issues, which are being managed and we are returning to the road this summer. We decided to do it with a new TT, and the nitrogen issue was not an influence in our decision. Many more people/firms/occupations than have been mentioned in response to my posting are heavily invested in nitrogen use. One instance I can mention is the long haul industry. If you have ever noticed the 18 wheelers (10 wheelers with super singles) are largely using Nitrogen in their tires. Our son has driven big rigs now for 16 years, 5 yrs now in fuel tankers. Two of their tankers in their fleet are wearing the singles due to cooler operation, and greater tread performance. His boss plans to add more singles even though they have been known to be interesting on snow and ice.

With our TT, we have made three trips to correct issues at the dealers and dial in the Hensley for comfort of ride. The later will occur again as we determined that the spring bars were too light for the new TT. Each time, I traveled around 70 as a norm, and when we made any stops, I first placed my hand on each wheel and grounded tire and all 4 were cooler than I had found on the other TTs. Outside temp was noted as 88-91 degrees between the three trips.

crcr, thanks for the idea of the Harbor Freight aluminum air tank. I will just have to see what our local tank dealers would charge to fill them if they will. Until I have a chance to see how successful I am at returning to the road this year, I won't even consider leasing a tank.

"OP" will now fasten his seat belt and await the next storm:S.

This post contains some good information, but some not so much. Let me explain as derived from my racing experience.

First - Nitrogen and virtually ALL other gasses expand at the same rate as temperature changes (Boyle's law). While some state that Nitrogen leaks more slowly that air, on a race car it's probably less than 1/2 hour from final inflation to the next pit stop. Not enough time to even be a consideration.

Second - Nitrogen in the cylinder is virtually dry.

Third - when a tire dealer fills your tire with Nitrogen, it already contains air and moisture from humidity. The air and humidity is not removed when they fill the tire.

Fourth - Racing tires can run up to 235 degrees during race. This causes the moisture if any to boil and turn to steam. Steam increases in volume by 1700 times it's volume of water. This increase causes a undetermined increase in pressure in the racing tire, and that's a no no for racing.

That is the reason that racing tires are filled with Nitrogen, but wait, there is more to the story. To eliminate the moisture in the racing tire, the air/moisture must be evacuated. This is NEVER done by your common tire dealer.

Here is what Goodyear publishes for their racing tire installation procedure



In humid areas such as Daytona they may purge 3 times, maybe only once in Las Vegas.

mailman-ret wrote:
I am in search of a nitrogen topping off kit that could be carried in one's vehicle that could successfully store the unused portion until needed without leaking.

Have you found one yet?