Hey everyone, we now have a Hunter Road Force tire balancing machine! This thing is amazing in what it can do! We also now have Nitrogen for your tires! If anyone is interested just let me know!

 

I fill my tires with an amazing 80% nitrogen/20% oxygen mix. It's really amazing stuff.

 

You can laugh about the nitrogen, but when you do some testing of your own tires pressures this winter you will have a better understanding of why military and aircraft use it. Last winter we took a car that was outside and moved it into our shop overnight which we keep at 15 C. The outside temp was -10C. The tire pressures changed 6 lbs. For the average person who doesnt check tire pressure at all, its a great thing. For enthusiasts who check it all the time, it is not worth the money.

 

I always wondered what the hype was. I guess I never thought about people that never check their tire pressures.

But still... if it's the oxygen leaking out, then over time your tires would end up having a mostly nitrogen fill, right?

Or is the big difference in that when the tires change in temperature, the pressure doesn't fluctuate as much.

 

The nitrogen, as opposed to compressed air, is completely dry. The water vapour in the compressed air expands/contracts at a much higher rate with temperature changes versus the pure nitrogen. Nitrogen and oxygen molecules are very close in size, so leakage is essentially the same.

For enthusiasts, the benefit can be for track tires - at an autocross, I can see my tires change in pressure by as much as 5lbs over 3 or 4 runs, and different amounts at each wheel, which is huge when I try to keep my pressures within a 1/2lb range, and maintain a set differential between front and rear. I haven't tried the nitrogen, but apparently people using it see little change in pressures.

 

& "not worth the money for those who check their pressures regularly"



----> formula 1 teams all used "exotic mixed gasses" for their tyres... ie. just not nitrogen........ also, ive got a friend whos a karter ..... he fills his tyres with nitrogen as well. so ask yourslef...... is your rx7 better than a gokart? .... yes... lol


.... the gas has less changes in its characteristics though the temperatures experienced by the tyres compaired to air and would obviously have a more leanear change in the tyre pressures.

 

Ferrari F1 uses CO2.

Dry air will give the same benefits as Nitrogen.

For all you at home you can install an air/water separator, drain any water out of the bottom of your tank regularly and you'll have better air. If you've got a mobile compressor and an air tank for filling tires, do yourself a favour and on a really cold day empty the compressor, drain the water and take it outside and fire it up and fill up your air tank. There's very little moisture in the air when it's really cold out (the colder the better) and you'll have some very dry air.

 

It not that the air going in the tire is dry or not. The air IN the tire picks up moisture over time with different temps etc. Nitrogen is not a guessing game the reason the FAA mandates it is that it is a proven entity. The machine that inflates the tires with nitrogen has 4 different filters/driers in it. I didnt post this to open a discussion panel on the merits of nitrogen (lol) just to point out that we now have to equipment if anyone wants to try or use it, the main point was the Road Force balancer actually!

 

Unfortunately pretty much any gas will do this(increase pressure if temp is increased). But rx7racerCA is right the nitrogen fill won't contain any water vapour so would minimize these effects.

Also don't really see how the air in a tire can "pick up" moisture. If it was not sealed well maybe?

You can tell it's the off season when people start these kinds of arguments

 

That's some nice equipment you now get to play with.

I know the benefits of dry Nitrogen and I don't dispute it, I was just trying to make some suggestions for those who don't have access to it anywhere nearby. Nitrogen would pick up water too would it not? I mean air's 80% Nitrogen. That's where having a tire with a fill and a purge valve is useful. On a nice warm day the moisture will be suspended and you can purge out all that we air and replace it with dry air or dry Nitrogen.

 

I definatly watched someone mount a tire yesterday (275-60-18 I think, huge pickup tire) with like 8oz of water in it.


So nitrogen inflation DOES have it's benefits then!

thanks for opening my eyes.

The roadforce machine has got to be pretty cool, I've always wanted to see one of those in action.

 

I hope I'm not out of line...

This thread fails without pics! (I want to see the machine)

BTW, in Portugal, some people (even Soccer moms and grocery getter drivers) have been filling tires with nitrogen mixes for at least 20 years. Very proven.

 

i will try and post some tomorrow