After doing a little research on this, it seems that the reason Nitrogen is used is because of the 0% water content. If you figure normal air to contain around 30% water vapor, then there is potentially enough water to a) freeze in the pores of the rubber, increasing internal breakdown of the rubber (water expands when it freezes), and potentially causing balance problems for a tire that is accelerating from 0 to 150+ MPH almost instantly.

FWIW..

 

Can you safely remove all pressurized air from a tire to be able to fill it up completely with nitrogen?

 

butler tire in atl ( marietta ) has nitrogen tanks

 

My wheels are made for it...

TO fully get all of the air out of your wheels you need to beable to bleed out the air while inflating with nitrogen...

 

I actually have nitrogen in my tires right now . It rides alot smoother on the highway. i think it is worth it don`t have to check tire pressure .

 

The water content in the air that comes out of common air compressors is what needs to be avoided. For the temprature range that is associated with with Tires, most gasses will behave like "ideal gasses"

The coefficient of expansion is about the same for all the common gases at ordinary temperatures; it is 1/273 of the volume at 0°C per degree rise in temperature. The Kelvin, or absolute, scale is based upon this behavior. Charles's law concerning the expansion of gases states that the volume of a gas is directly proportional to its absolute temperature.

The most easily available source for "dry air" is from a scuba bottle. All water is removed from air before it is used to fill scuba tanks. It is easy to get an adapter that will fit on the low pressure side ( 110 to 130 psi ) of a scuba regulator. I use it to fill all of my tires.


Air is a mixture of gases. Mostly Nitrogen and Oxygen.
If you believe that Oxygen escapes from tires much faster than Nitrogen just overfill your tires with dry air for a few days and all of the Oxygen will escape through the tires and you will be left with nothing but Nitrogen.

 

Helium is a noble gas Smart Guy...it isn't even flamable.

 

just a quick thought from a chemistry student, perhaps the air we're using is not theoritically DRY AIR? air we used contain other moisture in it.

 

The reason to use Nitrogen is the 0% water content.

As air is heated, it can hold more water vapor. Cooling the air (like letting the tire sit overnight) can cause that water to condense into a liquid, causing the tire pressure to fall (liquid takes less volume than gas). Heat the tire again and the water turns back into vapor.

Simplified, but that is the reason.

 

Imagine how many people would have blown up by now if helium was flamable? Ballons have helium, your talking a time bomb specially at parties were people smoke.