nitrogen in tires

[maxwell11]

we bought a used 2013 Toyota Sienna van, 39K miles, a few months ago and it has the green valve stem caps, so I assume it has nitrogen in the tires. Still has the original equipment Michelin tires on the vehicle.

do any of you guys run nitrogen in your truck tires, if so where do you get the tires filled, if you need to top off a few #'s from time to time?

what happens if I place a few #'s of air from my home air compressor,
say from 30 to 32 #'s in these tires?

Thanks for any input.

Have not checked tire pressure in the tires, but need too.
tires do not appear to have lost any air since we have owned the vehicle, but who knows as I had no way to add more nitrogen, if needed.

[campgrammie]

In all the years never heard of nitrogen in tires. Must have been under a rock. He did say the pike was under construction and was tore up. He probable hit something. But I will also pass on the china tires for him to have some interesting reading. No matter how old they get we still look out for them. thanks

[TXiceman]

I tell folks that if they feel better paying to have nitrogen put in their tires, by all means pay for the nitrogen. Personally, I'll use good old plain air.

No way using nitrogen in a tire would cause a blow out unless it was under or over inflated of the tire hit something.

Ken

[RAS43]

campgrammie wrote:
I am getting that you can just add air to tires that have nitrogen in them correct? My son just bought a trailer and his tires have nitrogen in them. Its only a 2 year old camper and this was his second time using it and he got a blown tire on the pike.Luckily he kept it under control and not much happened only a crack in the bumper and the need for a new tire. We have been camping for years and never had a problem like this. And we never heard of tires with nitrogen so its all new to us. Any imput on what could have happened? Could it been because they had nitrogen in them?

Yes, you can just add air to the tires as air is 77% nitrogen. As mentioned by others, filling with nitrogen is a marketing thing by some tire dealers.
And no, the nitrogen did not cause the blowout. It was probably low on air, damaged, overloaded, or a cheap tire- search "China tires" and be ready for a lot of reading.

[dadwolf2]

I've got a home compressor that pumps nitrogen for you. Special offer :W OH, that's right...not suppose to sell things over the forum. :S

[campgrammie]

I am getting that you can just add air to tires that have nitrogen in them correct? My son just bought a trailer and his tires have nitrogen in them. Its only a 2 year old camper and this was his second time using it and he got a blown tire on the pike.Luckily he kept it under control and not much happened only a crack in the bumper and the need for a new tire. We have been camping for years and never had a problem like this. And we never heard of tires with nitrogen so its all new to us. Any imput on what could have happened? Could it been because they had nitrogen in them?

[TXiceman]

It is another marketing answer to a non-existent problem.

Ken

[bobsallyh]

Race cars and airplanes, yes indeed. On my fiver and pickup running the super slabs and back roads in the USA, ain't gonna happen!

[wandering1]

A good way to waste money.

[Drew_K]

Total waste and pure marketing BS except for specialized applications. Plus, you can't even get 100% nitrogen into a tire unless you have TWO valves on the wheel. One is used to evacuate the old air in the tire and the other is used to add the 100% nitrogen.

[maxwell11]

my 10 year old grandson and I checked the tire pressure today in the van,
he balanced the tire pressure to 35 psi per the door label.

some tires we added a few lbs, others we let out a few lbs.

learning exercise for him: van drove great, smooth as silk, will no longer worry with type air in the tires.

[wintersun]

Great idea - the nitrogen will keep the tires steel belts from rusting and put money into the tire dealer's pocket at the same time. Brilliant!

[Water-Bug]

If you ever have to pull a McGiever and use your tires to scuba dive, you'll be SOL with 100% nitrogen. 🙂

[mtofell1]

I read a pretty in depth study about the whole nitrogen vs. common air thing. I think it was on Road/Track or something similar. They determined the main benefit in passenger cars and light trucks was that it leaked out more slowly..... about 3% was what they calculated from the testing. So, as the others say, basically a total waste of time.

[chasmatt45]

Nitrogen in tires is all fluff. ALL gases conform to the combined gas laws of physics which means they all react to changes in temperature and volume in the same manner. If you don't believe it, look it up. The lack of oxygen will slow corrosion on the wheels at the bead. The corrosion might be a problem after 10 or 12 years, but you will probably change tires before that and the beads will be cleaned when new tires are mounted.