Date:         Sat, 17 Oct 2015 18:38:07 -0500
Reply-To:     mcneely4@COX.NET
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
Subject:      Re: Nytrogen and tires
Comments: To: Eric Caron <ecaron1@COMCAST.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <6E879684-1EE6-402C-AB34-361EAA592A20@comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

Eric, it is simply a gimmick.  Tire dealers offer it as a come-on that they make sound good.  The actual benefits?  None.  I thought it had generally disappeared from most dealer's offerings over the past five years or so.

The claim is that with nitrogen rather than air in the tires, they will last longer because they will not rot from the inside.

1.  Air itself is 80% nitrogen.
2.  Tires lose pressure over time and have to have more air added, which will dilute the nitrogen in the tires toward the concentration of nitrogen in air.
3.  If tire pressure is varying due to external temperatures, this exacerbates point 2.  This time of year, temperature is dropping, thus pressure is dropping, thus point 2 is exacerbated even more.
4.  Dry rot of tires is mainly from the outside, and is almost never a problem anyway, as the tires either wear out or the rubber compound degrades not from rot, but due to exposure to UV rays.

Keep the tires properly inflated with air, and rotate them at an appropriate frequency.   Make sure they are rebalanced when needed, and maintain the suspension on the vehicle.

Just my 2 cents worth.

mcneely

---- Eric Caron <ecaron1@COMCAST.NET> wrote: 
> Hi folks,
> 
> this time of year I have a hard time keeping my tire pressure content.  the temperatures outside vary greatly.
> 
>         I recently learned that a friend has a car with Nitrogen filled tires.  Is anyone doing this with your vanagon?  Do you have any benefits to report?  Will this help with content tire pressure and tire wear?
> 
> A little reading on google gave me different opinions on the value but it sounded like my needs would have the most benefit from a nitrogen fill.  that is a car  that is used infrequently, has low mileage on the tires, and thus would like the tires to last longer. 
> 
> I’m not sure how expensive it is to fill this way and would like to hear if anyone has experience.
> 
> Eric Caron  
> 85 GL Auto Westfalia 
> Currently at 51 PSI General Ultimax Tires 
> on plain old air 

--
David McNeely