How many of you have heard the murmurs about inflating automobile tires with nitrogen rather than air? After doing a little research, it appears more folks are electing to use this method of tire inflation than in the past.

It’s not a new phenomenon. Perhaps not as common to the average car owner, nitrogen tire inflation gas has been used for several years in the Formula One and NASCAR vehicles, heavy-duty off-road equipment and by NASA and other commercial and military aircraft. The Moon Buggy had nitrogen in its tires, as do the Tour de France cyclists.

One of the reasons nitrogen tire inflation hasn’t caught on, say the experts, is that in the past, nitrogen was very costly to obtain and gas had to be purchased in liquid form. Growth of the nitrogen tire inflation system has been slow in highway transportation too, because of the lack of availability.

The use of nitrogen tire inflation gas is more commonly used in car dealerships and among multi-unit maintenance service providers. More and more nitrogen filling facilities are now appearing and preparing for affordable on-site generators.https://depositphotos.com/26324211/stock-photo-car-workshop.html

A natural inert gas, nitrogen is not dangerous, and is environmentally safe and non-combustible. Nitrogen will not burn and has a life expectancy well beyond 20 years if well maintained according to the recommended maintenance schedule. Seventy-nine percent of the air we breathe is nitrogen.

As an environmentally friendly automotive solution, inflating car and truck tires with nitrogen has several benefits, including maintaining of proper tire inflation, maximizing the life of the tire, improves overall performance. Additionally, a tire filled with nitrogen will not heat up and expand.

The previous owner of my 2003 Corvette used nitrogen in the tires and I have not changed that since purchasing the vehicle in 2011. A little air is needed now and then, but nothing like using just air in the tire. Benefits of using Nitrogen include an improvement in the overall life of the tire, better fuel efficiency and improvement in the handling of a vehicle, all due to tire-pressure retention. An environmentally friendly automotive solution, inflating cars and truck tires with nitrogen has several benefits.

Regarding the environment, the use of nitrogen assures better retread-every retread produced means one less new tire produced. Less energy is used and the cost of benefits to users of retreaded tires is lower. In most commercial vehicle fleet businesses, replacing tires is the third larges item in the operating budget. Retreading tires also saves millions of gallons of oil every year, uses less rubber and reduces the loss of natural habitat.

Because nitrogen provides strong casings for more re-tread, retreaded tires contribute to conservation of valuable finite natural resources and help to reduce solid waste disposal problems.

The air pressure required in a nitrogen tire inflation system is an inlet pressure of 145 psi, the amount at which the system is set to operate. A pressure as low as 110 psi can be used but adjustments will need to be made to system components to properly operate at this level.(When considering using nitrogen vs. air, check all psi levels and what works for your particular automobile).

A nitrogen tire inflation system is easy to install, according to experts. What is needed is calibrating the nitrogen analyzer monthly, changing the coalescing filter elements every 6-18 months. The required equipment is available in one complete package. Nothing else is needed except a hose to inflate the tires. The system is anchored to the floor and the air is connected to the inlet. A hose is then connected to inflate the tire. The average person isn’t expected to have such a system in their own garage (unless they race). But dealerships and some service stations would be so equipped.

Manufacturers advise that tires containing both air and nitrogen be purged and re-inflated with the proper amount of nitrogen. For instance, if a nitrogen-inflated steer tire has been repaired and refilled with air, it is recommended that nitrogen be let out of the other steer tire and refilled with air. A tire can be filled with air if nitrogen is not available. However, the effects of nitrogen will be lost, yet the tire will be fine until it can be purged and refilled with nitrogen.

Checking tire pressure is still important, however, with the use of nitrogen inflation gas; tires still need to be checked when cold. Maintaining your vehicles’ tires will not only maximize tire life and fuel economy, but also assure that the car handles well. Over the life of the tire, pressurized air inside a tire travels and permeates its way into and through the tire. Because air contains moisture, the oxygen and moisture in the air reacts with the rubber compounds which then cause a breakdown and loss of the tire’s strength and durability.

A tire that is underinflated is more likely to prematurely fail because when the tire rolls, it flexes more than it was designed to do. The flexing leads to bending of the tire’s rubber and steel which generates heat. A tire’s worst enemy, heat, accelerates tire wear. Air is not an inert gas therefore, it is affected by the change in temperature, which affects the rate of air loss.

When a tire inflated with air gets heated it expands, and more air is lost in hot weather. For every 10-degrees Fahrenheit change in temperature there is a one psi (pound per square inch) change in the tire’s pressure. Nitrogen on the other hand, an inert gas, is not readily changed by chemical reactions. Furthermore, nitrogen does not fluctuate as much, provides constant pressure and reacts less to accelerated diffusion caused by changing temperatures.

When most of the oxygen in tires is eliminated, tire components can’t rust or age as fast. Nitrogen-filled tires age more slowly, chemically. The nitrogen tire inflation system utilizes a semi-permeable membrane to separate nitrogen from the current shop air system.