Should You Use Nitrogen in Your truck Tires?

[HemiRam23]

Should You Use Nitrogen in Your truck Tires? Pros & Cons

 

[stevenP]

I guess it isnt as affected by ambient temp changes, so thats one benefit of this gas.... but who has nitrogen refill ability at home? A lot of the dealers want to sell you this for $50. I dont do it cause I have multiple air compressors and air is free.

 

[Curmudgeon]

I just bought my Falken Wildpeak tires in July 2023, the tire dealer not only uses Nitrogen to fill the tires when installed but also offers free refills whenever I want or need it. So no Con for me.

I have to say, during temp fluctuations of ~90F in July to today's morning temp of 21F I am only seeing my tire pressure vary by 2 PSI.
My wife's Eclipse with regular air shows tire pressures all over the map with fluctuating temps, and frequent low-pressure warnings.

My first experience with Nitrogen. I would never have paid extra for it, but since it was part of the price, and their prices were among the lowest, I'm happy with it.

 

[bm02tj]

Dry air is the key and bottled nitrogen is dry
Next time at your tire shop ask if they have an air drier on the air supply if not find one that does

 

[Art_in_CO]

The earth's atmosphere is about 70% nitrogen. The only advantage I see to a pure nitrogen tire fill is that it's missing the ~21% oxygen in the air. Oxygen is highly reactive, so not having it in your tire might reduce deterioration that might occur inside the tire if you're keeping the tires for a long time.

As for the pressure variability vs outside temperature - again, regular air is 70% nitrogen anyway so any number of other variables could be causing a large pressure change.

Dry nitrogen is dirt cheap to buy. So if the shop is charging for it, they're just hitting you with a BS markup for something that offers little if any benefit.

 

[Curmudgeon]

^And it's even worse than that. Air is 78% Nitrogen.

 

[ramffml]

I have this squarely at the top of my "I can't be bothered" category. My tires tell me when they need air, I check them before a major drive/tow and fill them with my $25 ryboi cordless 18v "air compressor" when they need it.

 

[06 Dodge]

I use it and get it for free at my local Costco self air station. When I started just aired down my tires about 50% before I drove to the pump, then the next few times I'm their to shop I did the same, no way would I pay $50 when I can get it for free.

 

[Jas34]

Pros, the dealer sells it and he makes money.
Cons, the dealer sells it and you have to pay for it.

With air, you get 70% nitrogen and the dealer doesn't make any money. Win, win.

 

[KeithP]

I’ve had nothing but grief with the tpms with nitro filled tires. Bought 3 vehicles from the same dealer over the past few years. They do the nitro fill in everything they sell. First vehicle I fought the tpms for weeks as the temps went from the 100’s here in TX to the mild temps of fall. Finally flattened all four tires and refilled with air from my home compressor. Second vehicle same but I dumped the nitro almost immediately after buying it. Third vehicle I made them dump the nitro as part of the sales agreement.

 

[RamDiver]

Nitrogen fills in your tires sounds like a total crock and I laughed at it for years. One of the times I bought new wheels for my '07 Tundra the $hit for brains sales guy completely ignored my demand for air fills, used Nitrogen, and then expected me to pay because he said it was superior.

I told him to pound dirt and refund the extra charge but I drove away from that experience with free Nitrogen in my tires. I'm one of those crazy people who check tire pressures frequently and there was no TPMS display to read on my Tundra.

All that said, I've used nothing but Nitrogen in my trucks since about 2014. I know that air has 78% Nitrogen but the difference must be in the moisture content because air fluctuates constantly and it can be nearly a full-time job to maintain with the dynamic temperatures where I live.

Nitrogen hardly ever moves more than 1 or 2 PSI at Fall/Winter and Winter/Spring transitions. I get free fills at Costco and the original purge of air and replacement with Nitrogen cost $12 in Canadastan dollars at Costco for all 4 wheels.

I've adjusted my tire pressure a couple of times per season as opposed to every other week with air. I'm retired and I value my time very much. I will never use air again unless it's an emergency.

Good luck with your air fills.

.

 

[Fatbob Frank]

I have 16K miles on my Steetglide tires thanks to running nitrogen from the day it left the shop.
I wish I knew where to get my 35s filled on my PW but no place around me but the Harley shop does it...

 

[Jas34]

Just to add to my previous sarcastic post, we bought our car (a 22 Tuscon Hybrid) during covid. A mistake, I know, but you should have seen what we got for selling our 16 Sonata hybrid to Carvana, so it all balanced out. We ended up paying list for it (first year of that version), but no more. Only catch was that the dealer had a couple of grand of stupid add-ons that I couldn't weasle out of, as there were people literally standing in line willing to pay over list.

One of those add-ons was nitrogen in the tires. Pure nitrogen was more stable with temp fluctuations to a point, but not enough for me to justify ever paying for it (if I didn't have to). After all, driving isn't (or at least, shouldn't be) a Nascar race, where it might make a difference. I used to make a living fixing cars, and have been driving them since the mid '70's. Air was always good enough, and still is for me, and I am pretty particular about air pressure.

 

[HEMIMANN]

Zero, if you live in intemperate climate like here in the Siberia of the Americas.

1) air is 78% Nitrogen

2) the temperature swing here doesn't prevent having to change tire pressures 3 times a year using air, maybe it's only 2 times a year using Nitrogen. Plus you gotta have a dedicated nitrogent supply. Not worth the hassle nor expense.

 

[tjfdesmo]

The only benefit is potentially higher MPG, due to your lighter wallet.

 

[Dean2]

Temps here go from -60F to +90 F. Even concrete and steel expand and contract at those temperature swings. I use air and just learn to live with 10% one way or the other as no big deal, adjust them when they get outside that range. So set them at 45, colder drop to 40, hotter they go to 50. Really can't tell the difference driving them. You lose or gain 1 pound per 10 degrees F. Set to 45 pounds at 30 F covers a pretty wide temp range as long as 5 lbs up or down doesn't bother you.

 

[HEMIMANN]

Temps here go from -60F to +90 F. Even concrete and steel expand and contract at those temperature swings. I use air and just learn to live with 10% one way or the other as no big deal, adjust them when they get outside that range.

North American garden spot.

North Dakota is USA's worst. -40 to +110

 

[Scottly]

I wonder how many of these Nitrogen faithful know that many of the PDI techs just switch out the valve stem caps and put the sticker on the truck....The machine never touches it.

 

[White six four]

My truck has dropped 2-3 psi from summer to now. 50 psi down to 47-48. Our other 2 vehicles normally 35psi are at 33-34 now. I don't see the point in nitrogen with what has already been mentioned. I can pretty much have all 3 vehicles aired back up by about the time any of the vehicles would be warmed up to drive somewhere for nitrogen.

 

[markabby]

service manager told me to just fill the tires with air if they ever need it and save my money.