Hello all . I never had a car or truck that had nitrogen filled tires. Now I understand my new highland ridge has them. Thats got to be a pain to maintain? I always check pressure before we take off. So what do I need to do go to the tire shop to check pressure? Can I buy a bottle at the welding supply shop?

do a google see if its worth the pain.

Good ol' breathing air from your Harbor Freight compressor is already 3/4 of the way there.The rest is marketing hype....

or search this Forum for `nitrogen'.

Just add regular compressed air as needed. I think the air we breathe has 78% nitrogen!

Family-of-five wrote: So what do I need to do go to the tire shop to check pressure? No, just check them at home like always.If they are low, it doesn't matter if you refill with air.

New camper coming has nitrogen filled tires | Good Sam Community

Thermoguy
Explorer II
Jul 19, 2020
Huntindog -

That comment seems a little directed at me.... Why do you think you are "paying for it"? Do you think your trailer would have cost less if they didn't have nitrogen filled tires? I think it would have been the same cost.

If you have ever priced tires at Costco, they are typically a little less than the local Discount Tire or similar tire shop. And you get the benefit of Nitrogen, standard. By the way, their installation price is typically lower than other shops as well. So, the idea that you are "paying for it" is absurd.

As you have pointed out and have others, air from any compressor is mostly nitrogen, so why are you concerned about your tires filled with nitrogen. You can always let the air out and fill them with air from any gas station air pump.

Some day you will see the benefit - and since it is free, it definitely out weighs the argument that you are "paying for it".
dodge_guy
Explorer II
Jul 19, 2020
If you use helium it will make the tires and RV lighter therefore increasing mileage and performance!
dave54
Nomad
Jul 18, 2020
I use my own custom mix of gases. About 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and the rest a various mixed gases.

I can get it pretty cheap and seems to work fine.
Huntindog
Explorer
Jul 18, 2020
Thermoguy wrote:
philh wrote:
Thermoguy wrote:
also had one that had a constant leak no one could fix. Now, new tires from Costco - different tire but filled with nitrogen at no cost.

Why didn't you replace air with N2 in the leaking tire?

Good question - didn't think of it. When I had a Goodyear shop and Discount tire try to fix the leak, neither of them recommended anything other than they couldn't find the leak. This post is actually the first time that I read that Nitrogen had a different size molecule that could have maybe helped.

As far as tires expanding and such, I can say from experience, that on a hot day the nitrogen filled tire pressure does not get as high while driving at highway speeds as the non nitrogen filled tires.

I think we have kind of beaten up this topic - but glad to see I'm not the only one that thinks there is a benefit - especially if it is free or low cost...

Just for the heck of it, I checked.
My new Grand Design Momentum 398M I have on order is coming with nitrogen in the tires....

It doesn't give me a warn fuzzy feeling at all.

With all of the decisions we made on getting the right coach with the right options..... Nitrogen in the tires didn't cross our minds at all.....
And unlike some here.... I am well aware that I AM paying for it!
Grit_dog
Navigator
Jul 18, 2020
80-140psi
60 psi change is about as false of a claim as I’ve heard in oh, a long time.

You would have to fill your tires at like -50 deg on the top of Mt Everest and end up about 5000ft below sea level with 300 degree tires!
Thermoguy
Explorer II
Jul 18, 2020
philh wrote:
Thermoguy wrote:
also had one that had a constant leak no one could fix. Now, new tires from Costco - different tire but filled with nitrogen at no cost.

Why didn't you replace air with N2 in the leaking tire?

Good question - didn't think of it. When I had a Goodyear shop and Discount tire try to fix the leak, neither of them recommended anything other than they couldn't find the leak. This post is actually the first time that I read that Nitrogen had a different size molecule that could have maybe helped.

As far as tires expanding and such, I can say from experience, that on a hot day the nitrogen filled tire pressure does not get as high while driving at highway speeds as the non nitrogen filled tires.

I think we have kind of beaten up this topic - but glad to see I'm not the only one that thinks there is a benefit - especially if it is free or low cost...
ajriding
Explorer II
Jul 18, 2020
Nitrogen as mentioned before, is used because it will not expand like ambient air when heated. On a trailer that experiences a lot of sidewall flex this will keep the tire psi from increasing, which makes the ride harsher. Trailers typically have terrible suspension, very little travel, so the tire is a big part of the suspension system.
On RV's that are carrying a lot of weight a tire can heat up a lot and I have seen psi regularly go from 80 to 140. With Nitrogen this jump would be much less. I have seen tires blow up due to the increased psi, and a 140 psi tire blowing up will do some damage for sure.
As tires age, even before their 6 year due date, they tolerate changes in psi less and less.

I am not advocating using N, but this is a real benefit.

Racing uses it and they use nitrogen in their air shocks for the same reason. Shocks get very hot when used, so the N will keep psi more stable.

For campers it is a bit overkill, but if I had a choice I would take N every time, so leave it in there as long as possible
GrandpaKip
Explorer II
Jul 18, 2020
wanderingbob wrote:
The real problem with putting nitrogen in tires or anything is it unbalances the rest of the environment . Some times when I take a breath the ratio of oxy to nitrogen is out of balance and I think I have caught Covid 19 or the plague or sumptin . Please mark your vehicle that is got nitrogen and I will social distance . Seventy years ago I could run several miles and not get out of breath, now I get out of breath pushing the button on my lift chair . And it is all yus guys stealing nitrogen outta my air .

I think you might be on to something here. I’ve noticed the same thing.
tomman58
Explorer
Jul 18, 2020
Huntindog wrote:
Thermoguy wrote:
Huntindog wrote:
An often mentioned benefit is that nitrogen molocules are larger than oxygen.... So it does not leak thru the pores of the tire as fast.... probably true but..... Regular air is about 68% nitrogen, so according to this theory every time air is added to the tire the nitrogen % should increase.... IOW, even those that do not initailly have their tires filled with nitrogen soon end up with close to the same percntage as those that do! In short; their is very little benefit to having this done. Especially if one takes into account that the nitrogen filled tires are never 100% filled with nitrogen! That would require suctioning out all of the air before adding the nitrogen.... Which is impossible.

Just Curious - how often are you adding air to your tires? I can go years and never add air. If you are adding air regularly, you might have a different issue you should look into.
Once a year. In the spring when the temps are cooler here in Phoenix. As the temps go up into the summer, the pressure rise that goes along with the temp rise offsets the natural pressure loss that ALL tires experience.

The main difference I have seen is that since I switched to LTs in 2006, is that I get to add air several times to my tires as they now last long enough for me to do so.... When I ran STs, my tires generally lost pressure suddenly and were unable to be topped off. This always happened before their second birthday. So my ST tires never got a very high percentage of nitrogen in them.

Do you think that may have been the reason they failed?:B

I have always needed air every say 3 months. Maybe only 5 or 8 pounds but still. It might have something to do with weight and temperature swings. The air needed thing has occurred on all my trailers and tires except this one with nitrogen, but after 2 years I add a couple of pounds when going out.
CapriRacer
Explorer II
Jul 18, 2020
Thermoguy wrote:
....Nitrogen doesn't expand and contract as much as typical air from a compressor due to moisture ......

Sorry, but ALL gases behave pretty close to the Ideal Gas Law: PV = nRT. That is, they build up pressure when they heat up. That includes nitrogen and water vapor!

The only exception is when you have liquid water in the tire - and even then, it eventually disappears (migrates outside the tire due to the Law of Partial Pressure of Gases.)

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