Why would anyone replace the air in their tires with nitrogen??

Well, did you know airliners use nitrogen in their tires?
There are a few reasons for this:

  • Nitrogen is a “fatter” molecule than “air” so the tire pressure won’t naturally leak as fast
  • Nitrogen reacts less to temperature changes
  • Nitrogen is inert (mainly a factor on airliners)

So, if it’s good enough for an airliner, it must be good enough for your car.

Sounds great in theory…in practice…well….

Eventually, nitrogen will seep out through the microscopic holes in the tire/wheel.

When it does, where do you top it off?
Don’t go putting air in there…unless it is an emergency.

The dealership where you got your car is a good start…unless they don’t actually service nitrogen.

I went to a local wheel & tire place that took the car around back and “topped them off”.

Well, I discovered after I was up the road, that they only filled 1 tire.  The 2 backs were still low.

I then did a quick search and found a local dealership that said they had nitrogen.

I pulled up, they topped off all 4 tires, and I was off.

Felt like a lot of work.

It is arguable it nitrogen in your car tires is actually worth the effort.

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