A racing tire place I used to trade with has been telling me to do this since 1975 or so , here's an article to better flesh out the WHYS of it . -Nate Cool running: test seeks benefits from inflating tires with nitrogen instead of air By Craig Wilkins Applying lessons learned from stock car racing, Denny Thomsen, a heavy equipment mechanic at Baxter, fills tires with nitrogen to improve fleet vehicle performance. Racing his own Super Stock Chevy Impala and following NASCAR avidly have taught Denny Thomsen a thing or two about tires. One is the potential benefit from inflating tires with pure nitrogen instead of atmospheric air. Racers, including dirt-tracker Thomsen, use nitrogen because the heavy gas allows tires to run cooler at extended high speeds. Thomsen, a heavy equipment mechanic at Baxter, initiated an experiment to determine how using nitrogen could extend tire life, improve fuel economy and increase safety for District 3's truck fleet. Nitrogen doesn't seep through tire walls as easily as air, Thomsen said, keeping tire pressure even. He said constant tire pressure is needed because, for example, snowplows are heavily loaded in winter. Even tire pressure prevents "hot spots" inside the tire, reduces the effects from outside temperature extremes and reduces tire wear. Thomsen said there is another benefit—cutting costs. After fuel, tires are the second most costly part of vehicle operation. Other tests have shown, Thomsen said, that tires inflated with nitrogen increase tire life and decrease fuel use by four percent. Fuel savings result from decreased rolling resistance when tires are properly inflated. With support from the district and Maintenance Operations Research, the Baxter shop started its field trial in January. I like what I do, and from my perspective, we can always find better ways to use our resources and our time better. Thomsen said that he and Jim Anderson, shop supervisor at Baxter, plan to have about 75 percent of the vehicles in the Baxter area's fleet converted to nitrogen-filled tires by 2009. A Brainerd native, Thomsen has served as a heavy equipment mechanic with District 3 since 1972. So far, he said, the test is going well. "Feedback has been good from rechecks of tire pressure, but this project is in its infant stage. I hope the results prove the benefits that we think are there," Thomsen said.
Good thread , Nate. Goodyear in 1839 invented the vulcanization process which uses sulfur and trace metallic salts to form polymer bonds in rubber which made it practical for tire/tube use. Much more elastic and wear resistant than natural rubber. One problem is ozone in the air will attack these bonds and lead to what we call "weather cracks". Nitrogen will not let this happen on the inside and seems to help on the outside also, perhaps from minute permeation through the casing. Add this good trait to the others you listed.
Nate, i don't recall all the details but it seems that the nitrogen fad was for tubeless tires. Any pros/cons for us tubed tire guys?
I dunno ~ I'm a poorboy and this costs money so I've never actually tried it although the few guys who've tried it then talked to me about it , rave about it .
It's good stuff For many years our shop's race car chevy of course...(circle track) tires we ran air from a dinky 2 gallon air compressor........a small compressor like that produces alot of moisture and if u fill up the tire with it all that water gets in there too.........we had to predict what to run for pressures......it was a guessing game......and once the sun went down the setup needed to be totally different for the feature than the practices we ran all day. but anyway....air in a tire when it is cold say set at 18 lbs comes back into the pits after 10 laps of a 1/2 mile track increased about 4 to 6 lbs.....then we switched to nitrogen and the pressure change in the tires was minimal hot...cold...night... and day........much better for consistency......the season is coming to a start soon and we're hoping for the championship this year.....but nitrogen is the way to go as long as your tires and rims are up for it.....meaning no slow leaks because they charge for the nitrogen. Catch ya later Leon
