Nitrogen filled trailer tires - good or bad?

[zero_cool]

I need to replace my trailer tires. Single axle trailer, Ranger z118. Will replace with GY Endurance.

Current set is 3+ yr old GY Endurance. These have been great.

I fish year round so temps from 20 degrees to 100 degrees. Average one way is 90 minutes mostly highway speeds. Probably 30 trips per year so about 6000 miles per year.

Will nitrogen filled tires eliminate the psi fluctuations due to ambient temperature?

Is nitrogen recommended or discouraged for trailer tire use?

[CatFan]

It’s a complete scam.

[KYRANGERMAN]

It’s a complete scam.

^^^^^^^^^^^
What he said.

Just keep them inflated to the recommended PSI and check them before every trip.

[zero_cool]

Why is it a scam?

[KYRANGERMAN]

Because of this:

Are Nitrogen-Filled Tires Worth the Cost?

The main benefit of nitrogen-filled tires is that the loss of tire pressure is slower, because the gas in the tire escapes more slowly than air does. With more stable tire pressure, the thinking goes, you’ll get better gas mileage and get full tire life since you’re always rolling on fully inflated tires.
Claims are also made that nitrogen in tires prevents tire “rot” by limiting the moisture that naturally occurs inside tires and heads off corrosion of the wheel that can be caused by contact with moisture.
These claims are overstated. The advantages of tires filled with nitrogen, instead of plain ol’ air, aren’t big enough to justify the price tag or the inconvenience. On new car tires, the cost can range from $70 to as much as $179. On existing tires, you’ll pay up to $30 per tire for service to drain air and refill with N2. Refills will run you $5 to $7 per tire, which you can expect to do less often than with air-filled tires. But you’ll still need topping off every two or three months.

The Science of Putting Nitrogen in Tires

Small amounts of air naturally leak out of tires over time, especially when tires are subject to large temperature swings. This is because the walls of tires are slightly porous. When a tire gets hot the air inside it expands. The added pressure pushes minute quantities of air out through the pores, so you occasionally have to get your air topped off even if your tire doesn’t have a hole.
Promoters of nitrogen tires point out they don’t lose tire pressure as fast as air-filled tires. Since nitrogen molecules are bigger than normal air molecules, it is harder for them to leak out. This means a tire filled with nitrogen will maintain air pressure longer. Therefore, they say, you’ll roll on tires that are always properly inflated, resulting in better fuel economy and longer tire life.
A normal tire filled with regular air loses an average 1 to 2 PSI (pounds per square inch) per month. It’s true that there is a slower loss from nitrogen-filled tires. But this improvement is slight — only about 1.3 PSI less over the course of an entire year, according to Consumer Reports. It’s not enough to make a true difference in gas mileage or tire wear for people driving passenger vehicles.
This is partly because air is already made up of 78 percent nitrogen and just under 21 percent oxygen, with the rest a mix of water vapor, carbon dioxide and other gases. When tires are filled from a nitrogen air pump this ups the percentage of N2 to between 93 and 95 percent. It’s never 100 percent.
Bottom line: Nitrogen will slow the amount of tire inflation loss to about one-third of what you’ll experience with air. This means instead of losing one to two PSI per month, you’ll lose ⅓ to ⅔ PSI per month. You’ll still need to check and top off your air roughly every other month to stay within the ideal inflation range. And you’ll spend far more than you’ll save on gas and tire tread life. You’re better off making simple tire maintenance part of your routine.

Go Ahead and Do It If:

• Your ride is a racecar. Nitrogen is used to fill tires for track cars, since it does offer the advantage of more consistent pressure.
• You’re buying a new car with new tires that are being filled for the first time, you live close to a nitrogen filling tank, you have disposable income to spare and you never check your air pressure.

[zero_cool]

Thank you. I appreciate this information.

[CJ1]

Humm, since the air we breath is basically 80% nitrogen and 20% o2 that leaves only 20% of the air in the tire as 02. And the 02 molecule is only 2% smaller than nitrogen that leaves how much o2 escaping from your tire? See post #2. CJ

[gehol]

It’s a complete scam.

Absolutely

[DewRonInc]

Actually the only real way to fill your tires with nitrogen is with 100 percent pure nitrogen, nitrogen is not affected by temperature like air from a air compressor, a drop in temp with straight nitrogen will not affect tire pressure. Race cars have been using nitrogen for years, since tires get hot and pressure goes up with compressed air. With nitrogen very little if no pressure change, it will not leak slower, it is not as adversely affected by temp, about it.......

[CatFan]

Actually the only real way to fill your tires with nitrogen is with 100 percent pure nitrogen, nitrogen is not affected by temperature like air from a air compressor, a drop in temp with straight nitrogen will not affect tire pressure. Race cars have been using nitrogen for years, since tires get hot and pressure goes up with compressed air. With nitrogen very little if no pressure change, it will not leak slower, it is not as adversely affected by temp, about it.......

It’s not the nitrogen that makes the difference. It’s the lack of moisture. It’s just easier to have dry compressed nitrogen around a race shop than dry compressed air because nitrogen is dry when produced. Air is already 78% nitrogen.

[RTex]

Why is it a scam?

it's usually sold as an upsell at a dealership in a package that they just aren't allowed to take off your deal man

[joebone1]

air is 78% N2 and 21% O2. N2 molecule is larger than the O2 molecule so there is truth in this. My argument is that if a tire is mounted and then filled with N2, it still has O2 in it. Not sure the $11 or $12 buck up-charge they get is worth it.

[gehol]

Actually the only real way to fill your tires with nitrogen is with 100 percent pure nitrogen, nitrogen is not affected by temperature like air from a air compressor, a drop in temp with straight nitrogen will not affect tire pressure. Race cars have been using nitrogen for years, since tires get hot and pressure goes up with compressed air. With nitrogen very little if no pressure change, it will not leak slower, it is not as adversely affected by temp, about it.......

This old wive's tale lifts its head from time to time. Apparently a few out there were absent from 8th grade science class when the ideal gas law was explained. All dry gasses behave almost identical with change in temperature. I say almost because at extreme temperatures or extreme pressures there can be a slight difference in that the atomic weight of a given gas can cause slight changes in gas behavior from gas to gas. But for practical purposes at temperatures and pressures being discussed here the gasses behave the same. One caveat, moisture can cause a slight difference also. Bottled nitrogen is very dry but, air from a compressor can contain some water vapor and water vapor expands quicker than a gas. Again, theoretically compressed air due to water vapor may expand slightly more than pure nitrogen but, in the real world you will not be able to measure the difference at pressures and temps being discussed here. Also theoretically a tire filled with for example pure O2 as compared to pure N2, the O2 will leak through the tire slightly faster due to a smaller physical size but in reality you won't be able to measure the difference. Many links are available explaining ideal gas laws. You have one law for all gasses, not a different law for different gasses. So yes, filling tires with nitrogen is a scam.
And by the way, NASCAR and others use nitrogen because it is dry, inert and cheap. They run their impact wrenches off of the nitrogen bottles as well as inflating tires, it is dry, inert and cheap, that is the only reason. There are other inert gases that would work like argon, helium, neon but would be very costly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideal_gas. here is a link more in layman's terms. https://powertank.com/pages/nitrogen-truths-and-myths.

And even plainer language: Ideal Gas Law: PV = nRT

This formula is the "Ideal Gas Law Formula." Although there is no such thing as an ideal gas the formula is pretty accurate for N2, CO2, and oxygen as we assume that the gas molecules are point masses and the collisions of the molecules are totally elastic. (A completely elastic collision means that the energy of the molecules before a collision equals the energy of the molecules after a collision, or, to put it another way, there is no attraction among the molecules.) The formula becomes less accurate as the gas becomes very compressed and as the temperature decreases but here "very compressed" pressures are well above even the highest tire pressures and "decreased temperatures" are extremely cold, too cold for tires. There are some correction factors for both of these factors for each gas to convert it to a Real Gas Law Formula, but the Ideal Gas Law is a good estimation of the way N2, CO2 and "air" should react through temperature changes. What does all this mean? It simply means that "air", nitrogen vapor, and CO2 vapor should all react pretty much the same within normal tire pressures (0-120 PSI) and temperatures.

Maybe this old wive's tale will finally be put to rest at least on BBC.

[DewRonInc]

It’s not the nitrogen that makes the difference. It’s the lack of moisture. It’s just easier to have dry compressed nitrogen around a race shop than dry compressed air because nitrogen is dry when produced. Air is already 78% nitrogen.

Yup,we have a air dryer on our system, it helps a ton with air tool life and plasma cutters etc. we have nitrogen filled tanks for our drag car tires. Works like a champ, after burnout pressure almost exact. With dry air u have to put about a half pound less to get what u want after heating tires up

[gehol]

Yup,we have a air dryer on our system, it helps a ton with air tool life and plasma cutters etc. we have nitrogen filled tanks for our drag car tires. Works like a champ, after burnout pressure almost exact. With dry air u have to put about a half pound less to get what u want after heating tires up

Dry air and nitrogen will have the same rate of expansion. Air that is not dry will expand slightly more than a dry gas as they are heated. The amount more of course depends on the amount of water vapor in the air. If you have very wet air as in saturated you might be able to measure the difference, if the two, (dry and wet) were heated several degrees but, going from say 90 deg to 100 deg, the difference will not be measurable with ordinary air pressure gauges.
Like I said above, the reasons for nitrogen in the pits are, cheap, inert and dry, not that nitrogen has any magical qualities compared to any other gas.

[rockmike]

Good way to sell 25 cents worth of nitrogen gas for $30.

[BMCD]

So the consensus is to do it... put nitrogen in your tires?

I have always heard commercial, high flying planes use nitrogen to fill there tires.

If its good enough for a 747 why no my F250.

[hooken203]

Only if your F250 tows at 35000 feet.

[CatFan]

So the consensus id do it? put nitrogen in your tires?

I have always heard commercial, high flying planes use nitrogen to fill there tires.

If it good enough for a 747 why no my F250.

Consensus it’s a scam. Planes use it to avoid fires when landing at 170mph. If you are landing at that speed it’s a good idea.

[DewRonInc]

IMO only reason large tire companies used the fact race teams use it so people will go for it as a option, equipment is really expensive