So many tires, and so many tire companies, support the practice of nitrogen tire inflation. Photo by Eva Cristescu.
We did a post a month or two ago about a Ford study that demonstrated the benefits of nitrogen tire inflation and had the green light from Ford itself to inflate its tires with nitrogen. Well, Ford isn’t the only tire company out there to approve the use of nitrogen tire inflation in its products.
In 2003, Michelin approved the use of nitrogen for all Michelin, BFGoodrich, Uniroyal, and P/A branded tires. Michelin did this because of nitrogen’s ability to maintain proper tire pressure for a longer period of time. In 2004, Goodyear followed suit and officially came out in in support of nitrogen tire inflation in all its Goodyear, Kelly, Dunlop, Associate Brand, and Private Brand products. This is based on the fact that the use of nitrogen extends the life of the tire.
Although Firestone has not issued an official statement, the company does provides tons of great information on nitrogen tire inflation as part of their complete auto care website.
Companies as large as Ford, Michelin, and Goodyear wouldn’t support the practice of inflating your tires with nitrogen if the practice didn’t have any proven benefits to consumers. Well, they do, and the practice is already being used by NASCAR, the military, the airline industry, and some law enforcement agencies. It’s only a matter of time before the service is available in more consumer locations such as gas stations and auto repair shops. There are already companies out there that specialize in nitrogen tire inflation for the consumer market, such as Nitrofleet99.
Overall, the practice of inflating your tires with nitrogen has been getting more popular and more credibility over the years, and this trend will only continue as more and more people are concerned with fuel efficiency and green initiatives in the auto industry. Using air to inflate your times may become a thing of the past.
