I have heard of this new nitrogen service where they swap your air for nitrogen...any opinions...$29.95 and you are gaurenteed to see 3.3%+mpg gain...thats at Jiffy lube by my house...

 

Get it in wrighting so when your mileage don't increase you get your money back. Also see what are they gonna charge you when your tires loss a little air and you need to bring them back to correct pressure

 

Fill them up with helium and then just float down the road.

 

Nitrogen=myth.

Okay, while it might not be entirely mythical, the benefits for the average driver are slight, at best.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/070216.html

You can Google it, but for the most part, it's not worth the added expense or headache of trying to find someone to top you up if you're low.

 

AHAHAHA!

 

costco has been using nitrogen for the last few years. it's free there, though. plus free fill ups whenever needed... when i asked why, they said less pressure change with changes in temperature.. dont know if its true.

 

I got the costco nitro. when I got a new set of Michelins for my Landcruiser.
It do maintain constant pressure. No psi fluctuations between hot and cold tire temps. Why not? If you intend on manipulating you tire pressure, often as traction conditions change with terrain? perhaps not a good I.D.

 

thats correct, not really a noticeable mileage benefit but better performance i suppose.. not much tho, if its free who cares, otherwise forget it.

 

nitrogen has a lower molecular weight so wouldnt it leak easier

 

Negligible increase in mpg. I air down and up each time i go offroad, and between those times my tires keep air and don't leak.

Air and N have very close chemical characteristics in physics terms.

 

I'm running a nitro mixture. About a 78% with good results. Good luck.

 

Haha nice, but the reason is so the that you don't have to air up the tires as much because there isn't oxygen like in the atmosphere to escape, nitrogen is a larger molecule.

 

pretty smart marketing ploy for Jiffy lube!

30 bucks for some air in your tires...what will they think of next?

 

Helium is even lower and has the waskilly floating option, I wonder how flubber would do.

 

Wouldn't know about the MPG gain or loss, but back when I ran around with circle track and drag racers it was a common thing to do because the 100%nitrogen doesnt hold water molicules like compressed air does. depending on how much you need you can acually do it yourself with a nitrogen tank, regulator, and tire chuck. the kit can be bought from your local Gas supply service (Airgas, Arcet, Tractor Supply Co., etc)

 

Okay people. Lots of "interesting" stuff being thrown around in here. Muddpig and wncmtnrunner have it right.

First of all, the air is 78% Nitrogen. You are paying 30 bucks to get that extra 20%, plus, its not going to be pure in your tires, because there is 0 psi of air in your tires when they start, which is atmospheric pressure. So you are starting out with a volume of air equal to the volume of your tire.

Again with the Molecule size? Gaseous forms of Oxygen and Nitrogen are O2 and N2. 2 oxygens in gaseous oxygen, which is present at about 19 to 20% in air, and 2 atoms of nitrogen in N2. Oxygen has an atomic weight of 16, and Nitrogen of 14. So O2 has a weight of 32, and N2 a weight of 28. OXYGEN IS A LARGER MOLECULE PEOPLE!!!! You would lose less pressure with pure oxygen, but then your tires would spontaneously combust and you would die.

Lastly, there is not really much truth to "more stable" in the tires.

At the same temperature and pressure, almost all gasses behave in the same manner, which is why we have the ideal gas law: PV=nRT, and why that is such a useful equation in physics and chemistry.

This means that, in a tire, if you add heat, or increase temperature, by driving, or on a hot day vs a cold day, you will get the SAME change in pressure with Air or Nitrogen, because the losses through the tire are small enough that they are negligible.

Essentially, its a scam. You are paying 30 bucks for the same results you could get with free compressed air. On a drag car, sure, you don't want water vapor, which is in air, but on a regular truck, no change, and you are just throwing your money away.

 

oh yeah! all those ap classes payed off.

 

Benefits being less moisture=less rust. tire shop told me that that's where most air loss occurs, rusted beads. guess that applies only if you run steelies.

 

Glad to see someone else on Yotatech didn't sleep through chemistry/physics/thermodynamics/whatever you took.

 

Took them all.

Did pretty well too. Got a job doin it.

Go figure right?