<p>My D has a toyota camry that she will be taking to college in the fall. The mechanic (at a toyota dealership) recommended inflating her tires with nitrogen. The car is 6 or so years old, the tires were new last summer.</p>
<p>Great idea? Terrible idea? Anyone who has done this?</p>
<p>It probably doesn’t hurt- but why is he recommending this? Air is 78 percent nitrogen already.</p>
<p>[Nitrogen</a> vs Air In Tires - Why Nitrogen in Tires - Popular Mechanics](<a href=“Nitrogen in Tires | Should You Use Nitrogen in Your Car Tires?”>Nitrogen in Tires | Should You Use Nitrogen in Your Car Tires?)</p>
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<p>I goggled nitrogen in tires and after reading several reports, it seems if you check your air pressure regularly, then plain air is just fine. The difference between using nitrogen and basic air is not that much unless you are a race car driver. However, if you want to spend up to $10/per tire to get your tires inflated… </p>
<p>Scientific American had an interesting article on it.</p>
<p>By filling your tires with nitrogen (N2) you are killing at least two birds with one stone. Air contains roughly 20% oxygen which loves to react with the rubber in your tires. In doing so, it damages the rubber and decreases your tires’ lifespan (probably not too detrimental, since most wear and tear is due to the road damage and outside O2). When it reacts with the rubber, it is no longer present in your tires, so the pressure goes down…</p>
<p>Our tires are N2 inflated.</p>
<p>Do you buy cans of nitrogen to inflate your tires? Is there a nitrogen pump at dealerships? Where does one get this done? Just curious…</p>
<p>Around here, Costco and Les Schwab have nitrogen in tanks that look like these [What</a> a Gas! (Day 19/365) on Flickr - Photo Sharing!](<a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■/photos/debit72/3798283721/]What”>What a Gas! (Day 19/365) | Caltech uses a lot of compressed … | Flickr)</p>
<p>:) …</p>
<p>Just don’t inflate them with hydrogen–didn’t work so well for the Hindenburg…</p>
<p>I think I might go ahead and do this. D knows how to check the tire pressure but I would not bet a lot of money that she will remember to do it on a regular basis (or that I will remember to remind her). </p>
<p>Hydrogren–that’s funny.</p>
<p>My tires can go for months without needing to add air, so I question how much O2 is being lost to reacting with the rubber.</p>
<p>If it costs any extra for pure N2, I wouldn’t bother.</p>
<p>If a tire is filled with nitrogen and it loses some over time, is it ok to fill it with air without any negative effects?</p>
<p>NO, it’s not okay, because it will blow up if you do.</p>
<p>Costco uses nitrogen. They put on a cap that doesn’t work with air hoses at gas stations. The negative is you have to go to a Costco.</p>
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Yes, you can. Air is mostly nitrogen anyway.</p>
<p>I don’t want any tire that can’t be inflated with a Black & Decker Air Station:</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Black & Decker ASI300 Air Station Inflator: Home…](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-ASI300-Station-Inflator/dp/B000IE0YIQ]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-ASI300-Station-Inflator/dp/B000IE0YIQ)</p>
<p>Plug it into the wall outlet with an extension cord or into the car’s cigarette lighter. Might be the best garage gadget in the world. Bike tires, car tires, athletic equipment, you name it.</p>
<p>BTW, filling tires with Nitrogen came from Indy cars and Formula One. The size of the tires has a major impact on cornering, especially when the tires grow as they heat up. Nitrogen tends to lessen the impact of changing humidity and temperature. Totally unnecessary for a street car.</p>
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<p>The caps are green, but you take those off to fill the tire with air. I don’t think the valve stem was changed at all on my car.</p>
<p>Since they filled with nitrogen, I no longer lose air from my tires and don’t have to periodically check the air pressure. It’s great.</p>
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<p>A slow leak in a valve stem is going to be a slow leak whether it’s leaking air, nitrogen, or unobtanium.</p>
<p>Tires don’t leak air through the rubber. That’s absurd. They leak air because they are not perfectly airtight at every millimeter of the bead.</p>
<p>I guess I am cheap- for $10 a tire I can check the air pressure. Thanks interesteddad for teaching me a new vocabulary word!</p>
<p>The unobtanium is $25 a tire. It’s even more hoity-toit than COSTCO. You can only get your tires filled at Neiman-Marcus.</p>
<p>I’m telling ya. For the price of nitrogen in five tires, buy the Black & Decker Air Station. Greatest thing since sliced bread. You know the tire on your wife’s car (or your car) that has the slow leak in the valve stem? Two seconds to pump it up, right there in the driveway, until somebody finds the time to take the car to NTB and get it fixed. I’ve even had flat tires that I could pump up and they would hold air long enough to drive it to shop. What about the tire on the lawn mower or the snow blower with the slow leak. Yeah, like you’re really gonna take that in to get fixed. Pump it up once a month. No fuss. No muss.</p>
<p>Or, imagine this, you can actually top up the spare tire in trunk so it’s not worthless when you need it! No more crouching down in the parking lot of the gas station with a pump that doesn’t work worth a darn even after filling it with quarters.</p>
<p>I think it’s better to stuff the tires with money. It creates a firmer ride, and I like the rustling sound.</p>
<p>In other words, I think the nitrogen thing is primarily one more thing to squeeze a few dollars out of you when you’re buying a new car.</p>