Nitrogen??

[Brett Dikeman]

On Mar 21, 2006, at 8:28 AM, Schaible, David wrote:

> I use nitrogen instead of compressed air for a lot of applications for
> various reasons, usually to prevent or control the adverse effects of
> oxygen and it is generally more steady in impurities and humidity
> etc......it seems like serious overkill for passenger car  
> tires......do
> race cars or planes use nitrogen in tires?

For passenger car tires, yeah...it is, since they don't get anywhere  
near as hot as tires driven at the track, moisture expansion isn't a  
concern.  The "$5 for nitrogen in your tires" sounds like a wonderful  
side-money-maker for tire shops.  They're selling it with the usual  
scare crap.

Racers use either nitrogen or CO2 because it can be stored in  
enormous quantity, eliminating the need for a compressor- and it can  
be supplied at very high pressures for airjacks, tools, and yeah- the  
tires.  It is also dry.  I've seen weekend-warrior types often use  
either a small CO2 tank from a beverage company, or a scuba tank.   
All you really want is very dry air, so the moisture in the  tire  
doesn't dramatically expand.

Some people claim nitrogen leaks out of the tire more slowly than  
"normal air", but as Bernie pointed out, "normal air" has quite a bit  
of nitrogen already.  Just check you tire pressures on a regular  
basis...

Brett