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Prepping Your Tires for the Winter Season

On October 6, 2011, in Nitrogen Tire Inflation, Tire Care, by allisonmreilly
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prepping tires for winter

Keep your tires winter-friendly with these few tips.

Sure, fall just got here, but let’s not wait until the snow falls before we start to prepare our tires for the winter months. Especially if you live in a part of the country where the switch from summer to winter can be quick, there’s not a whole lot of time before winter is upon is. Here are a few things to do to prepare your tires for the upcoming cold and harsh weather:

  • Check Them for Cracks, Damage, and Other Tread Wear – This should apply for both your summer tires and your winter tires. You wouldn’t want to switch to damaged tires on your vehicle, or have damaged tires on your car in case of a sudden snowstorm. A great way to see if your tires need replaced is to use the penny trick. Stick a penny in between your tire treads. If you still see Lincoln’s head in its entirety, then your tires legally need to be replaced.
  • Get Them Properly Inflated – This would include your spare tire as well as your winter tires. Make sure to go by the owner’s manual and not by the sidewall to find the recommended tire pressure for your tires. To keep your tires at the proper pressure for a longer period time, and to have them resist the colder temperatures better, than use nitrogen tire inflation. While regular air will cause tire pressure to  fluctuate as temperatures begin to change over the next few months, pure nitrogen will keep them at the proper pressure longer and more consistently.
  • Have Emergency Gear on Hand – Emergency gear would include the tools necessary to change a tire, as well as extra clothing to keep yourself warm, just in case you have to make a change when it’s 10 degrees outside. By extra clothing, we mean gloves, a warm jacket, a blanket, and some snow shoes. It would also be smart to have an ice scraper, a snow shovel and a flashlight on hand to make it easier for you to navigate around your car.
  • Know What to Do In Case of an Emergency – This means knowing to do more than to hit the OnStar button or to call roadside assistance. This means knowing how to set up emergency flares or hazard triangles so other drivers can see you. It also means knowing how to use a first aid kit in case someone gets hurt and rescue workers are delayed for whatever reason.
Overall, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Although the weather is nice now and many of us are still safe, we shouldn’t wait until driving condition become dangerous before we start prepare ourselves and our tires for the conditions.
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Preparing Teens to Drive: What You May Have Missed

On September 29, 2011, in Nitrogen Tire Inflation, Proper Tire Pressure, Tire Care, by allisonmreilly
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preparing teens to drive

Teen driving should also include how to take care of a vehicle.

When parents prepare their teens for driving and the driver’s test, what sort of things are covered? Well, things like maneuvering the vehicle, reading street signs and lane markings, and preparing for both the written exam and the driver’s exam. Although those things are certainly important, they certainly don’t make up the whole picture when it comes to driving.

Something that’s often missed is car maintenance. This is something that really ought to be covered, especially if parents plan to purchase a separate vehicle for their teens (actually, this might be a good idea even if you plan to share your vehicles with your newly licensed children). After all, what’s the point of the license if you don’t have a well-maintained vehicle to drive? Wouldn’t it be a good idea for your teen to know what to do in case an emergency happens, like if a tire goes flat or the oil starts to leak?

When educating your teen on car maintenance, a good place to start is with the tires. A car can’t go anywhere unless the tires are properly maintained, and it’s better for you and your teens to know when they need to be maintained instead of waiting for a flat or blowout to happen. Make sure to educate your teen about proper tire pressure and on how to fill up a tire if it’s below pressure. If the car your teen will be driving has a spare, make sure to let them know that it’s there, and that it needs to be checked for proper tire pressure as well. Having proper tire pressure will improve fuel efficiency, which will be a good thing to keep in mind. Filling up the tank can burn a hole in the wallet of a teen. If unsure about your teen keeping up with filling the tires, then utilize nitrogen tire inflation to keep the tires properly inflated for a longer period of time.

Next, show them underneath the hood. You don’t need to have the mind of a mechanic, or expect your teen to have one, but your teen should at least know his or her way around. Point out the basics, such as the battery, the engine, the alternator, the transmission, and the radiator. If you know how, show them how to jump start or to change the battery. Also, show them how to replace or to refill the necessary liquids, such as the oil, the coolant, and the washer fluid.

Finally, educate your teen about the emergency kit and the insurance, in case they are pulled over or something happens at night. The emergency kit should include flares, a blanket, and emergency triangles. An emergency kit can easily be purchased at a car parts or auto repair shop. As for the insurance and registration, show them where those are located in the vehicle and what to do to keep those up-to-date. In case your teen gets pulled over, or gets in a minor accident, having the insurance and registration on hand will make things easier for everyone.

Of course, all that good information won’t be able to apply until the teen gets his or her driver’s license. One way to prepare is through some free DMV practice tests. Another way to get out on the road, practicing on both the highway and in busy intersections. Overall, learning to drive a car also needs to come with learning how to maintain it, and learning what to if a breakdown or an emergency arises.

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How Old are Your Tires? Make Them Younger with Nitrogen Tire Inflation

On September 22, 2011, in Nitrogen Tire Inflation, Proper Tire Pressure, Tire Care, by allisonmreilly
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proper tire care

This tire was made in 2007, in the 51st week of the year.

Industry suggests getting new tires once they are between six and 10 years of age. The reason why is that air migrates through the tire, making it brittle and reducing its strength. The only way to prevent the air from migrating and reducing the strength of your tire is to remove the air from you tire all together. Then, replace it with pure nitrogen with nitrogen tire inflation. That way, you extend the life of your tire, giving it more of those golden years on the road instead of in the dump.

Just like how you can find the maximum tire pressure allowed for your tire, you can figure out how old your tire is looking on the outside. If the tire was made after the year 2000, it has four digits. The first two indicate the week, the last two the year. If the tire has only three digits, it was made prior to 2000, with the first two indicating the week, and the last digit indicating the year of the decade. Tires that are older than 10 years old are considered unsafe for driving. Perhaps it’s because by then, they’ve become brittle and have suffered from the old tire disease of oxidation. Give your tires the fountain of youth with nitrogen tire inflation.

Nitrogen tire inflation has been proven to extend the life of your tires.  Many tires companies, including Michelin and Goodyear, support the practice of nitrogen tire inflation. It’s a practice that’s already being used by the airline industry and NASCAR. It’s about time that it’s used in the consumer market as well.

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Goodyear Developing Self-Inflating Tires: The End to Inflation as We Know It?

On September 15, 2011, in Nitrogen Tire Inflation, Proper Tire Pressure, by allisonmreilly
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self-inflating tires

Will these be obsolete with AMT? Not yet.

About a month ago, Goodyear announced that it is in development of a self-inflating tire. This tire will come with a miniaturized pump in each tire to ensure proper tire pressure at all times. Dubbed “Air Maintenance Technology”, these new pumps will enable tires to remain inflated at the optimum pressure without the need for any external pumps or electronics. All components of the AMT system, including the miniaturized pump, will be fully contained within the tire.

“While the technology is complex, the idea behind the AMT system is relatively simple and powered by the tire itself as it rolls down the road,” said Jean-Claude Kihn, Goodyear senior vice president and chief technical officer, in a press release.

“A tire that can maintain its own inflation is something drivers have wanted for many years. Goodyear has taken on this challenge and the progress we have made is very encouraging,” said Kihn. “This will become the kind of technological breakthrough that people will wonder how they ever lived without.”

As great as this sounds, this technology DOES NOT eliminate the need for checking your tire pressure from time to time. After all, if this self-inflating tire receives a puncture, how are you to know without checking the tire? If the self-inflating system isn’t working for whatever reason, how are you to maintain tire pressure then? So, don’t throw away your tire pressure gauges and “set and forget” your tires quite yet.

The Department of Energy recently awarded Goodyear and PPG $1.5 million to study self-inflating tire technology, which is likely to initially be targeted towards trucks and other commercial vehicles. Meaning, that even if Goodyear successfully creates these tires, they won’t hit the consumer market right away. True, Goodyear is developing a self-inflating tire for the consumer market at its research facilities in Luxembourg, but there hasn’t been any word as to when these tires will be finished and will be released into the market. Until then, it will still be the consumer’s responsibility to maintain proper tire pressure and to have the tires checked for maintenance regularly. Also keep in mind that the cost of these tires is still unknown, and that these tires will only be from Goodyear. So, someone who doesn’t want to pay for these tires, or doesn’t want Goodyear tires, would still need to check and to maintain their own tire pressure.

Overall, this sounds really great, but doesn’t entirely eliminate the need for nitrogen tire inflation, and for you to get your tires checked. This isn’t the end of inflation as we know because if this technology comes out and we rely on it too much, we put ourselves in danger of something happening because we didn’t take the time to maintain this technology.

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Two MORE Nitrogen Tire Inflation Myths Busted

On September 8, 2011, in Nitrogen in Tires Myths, Nitrogen Tire Inflation, by allisonmreilly
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nitrogen tire inflation mythsA few weeks ago, we busted two myths about nitrogen tire inflation. Today, we are busting two more (there are quite a bit of myths out there). Since the practice of putting nitrogen in your tires is still new, there’s still a lot of possibility of rumor and falsehoods permeating the scene. Which means, some of us out there need to accept the responsibility of disproving those rumors and dispelling those falsehoods. Here are two more myths, busted:

1) TIRES FILLED WITH NITROGEN ARE NOT AFFECTED BY TEMPERATURE

This may seem like the case, since that’s one of the reasons why NASCAR and the airline industry use this practice. After all, since both race cars and airplanes travel at fast speeds, the ability for nitrogen-filled tires to retain those speeds without bursting makes it seem like nitrogen isn’t affected by temperature. However, nitrogen and compressed air respond to changes in ambient temperature in a similar manner, a 1.9% change of pressure for every 10F change in temperature. The difference lies in the water present in conventional compressed air, where dew points (the dew point temperature is the temperature at which the air can no longer hold all of its water vapor, and some of the water vapor must condense into liquid water. The dew point is always lower than, or equal to the air temperature) can be as high as 70F, compared with -40F+ for nitrogen. As temperature increases, liquid water vaporizes to become a gas and its volume expands causing tire pressure to be higher than that of nitrogen, which goes into the tire as a dry gas. So, the presence of water in a tire contributes to wild pressure variations as temperatures changes. The bottom line is that you will still see pressure changes with nitrogen, but the pressure doesn’t fluctuate as much as it does with compressed air.

2. LOOK AT THE PERIODIC TABLE. NITROGEN MOLECULES ARE NOT LARGER THAN OXYGEN MOLECULES

The periodic table is separated based on molecular weight, not molecular size. That being said, diatomic nitrogen (N2) is slightly larger than diatomic oxygen (O2), and this difference allows it to fit through the relatively tight passage ways between polymer chains in the rubber. The difference in size between O2 and N2 is almost infinitesimal, only about 0.3 x 1o raised to the -10 meters, or 0.00000000003 meters. Thus, diatomic oxygen permeates approximately three to four times faster than diatomic nitrogen through a typical rubber, such as what’s used in tires. Just because oxygen is heavier than nitrogen, doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s also larger than nitrogen.

Overall, nitrogen tire inflation is an excellent practice that will make your tires and driving safer and cheaper in the long run. Since this is something that is still new, there’s going to be plenty of people who don’t believe in the benefits and aren’t going to find this worthwhile. However, many have found this practice to be beneficial and to make a difference with their cars and with their wallets.

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Nitrogen Tire Inflation in the News

On September 1, 2011, in News Roundup, Nitrogen Tire Inflation, by allisonmreilly
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nitrogen tire inflation

Read all about nitrogen tire inflation!

It’s sad that when you Google “nitrogen tire inflation”, the top two related searches are “nitrogen tire inflation myth” and “nitrogen tire inflation scam.” There are a few arguments at as to why nitrogen tire inflation is a waste of time of money: using air is free, air is already 78% nitrogen, benefits don’t outweigh the cost etc. We’ve been doing our best here at Nitronomics and at Nitrofleet99 to bust to counter those arguments. But, it’s time to show that we aren’t the only ones who support the practice of nitrogen in the tires.

Yes, we’ve previously covered studies from tires companies such as Ford and Michelin, but news outlets and industry magazines are covering this topic as well. Surely, they wouldn’t write an article promoting the practice if the whole thing was a scam or a myth. One of the most recent of these articles is a piece from Modern Tire Dealer, a business-to-business information source on the tire industry. Authored by John Daws Ph.D, he studied the oxygen permeation of several different inflation methods. Daws concluded that nitrogen tire inflation does have its benefits.

Nitrogen tire inflation may seem like a brand new concept, but it really isn’t. Not only has the practice been used by NASCAR and the airline industry for a long time, this Fox News article from 2006 shows that the concept of consumers using nitrogen in the their tires was around even five years ago. For something much more recent, Leslie Silverman of the Connecticut Watchdog wrote an excellent post last month on the benefits of nitrogen tire inflation and how it works.

Overall, if you don’t take our word for it, there’s the word of many others who are saying the same thing. We’ve found a lot of skeptics, but we haven’t found anyone or any evidence that say nitrogen tire inflation is harmful for your tires or bad for your vehicles in the long run. If anything, it’s worth a shot, at least once.

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Why Nitrogen?

On August 25, 2011, in Nitrogen Tire Inflation, Proper Tire Pressure, by allisonmreilly
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nitrogen tire inflation

Why is nitrogen used for tire inflation, versus air and other gases?

We’ve talked a lot about nitrogen tire inflation. After all, that is what we’re all about. But, we need to answer the question of “Why Nitrogen?” Why use nitrogen and not helium, carbon, or argon? If the point of nitrogen tire inflation is to reduce the amount of oxygen in the tires, then why do we specifically need nitrogen to accomplish that?

Nitrogen molecules have a more difficult time escaping through the microscopic spaces that exist between a tire’s rubber molecules. Nitrogen is a “slow”, inert gas due to its nonreactive nature with many materials. However, oxygen is a “fast” active gas that reacts with many materials. This reaction is a process called “oxidation.”  Additionally, nitrogen is a dry gas that doesn’t support moisture while oxygen combined with hydrogen makes water (H2O). So, even though air is already 78% nitrogen, that 21% of oxygen is enough to do long-term damage to your tires. Again, nitrogen seems like the most natural fit for tire inflation, but is it really the best fit, or the only fit?

Well, nitrogen is a denser gas than oxygen (and helium and carbon), so that explains why it does a better job of maintaining tire pressure than regular air. Consumers can benefit from the more stable pressures, even more so than the fact that your tires are safer with proper tire pressure. The problem is that humidity (aka water) is a horrible thing to have inside a tire. Water, present as a vapor or even as a liquid in a tire, causes more of a pressure change with temperature swings than dry air does. It also promotes corrosion of the steel or aluminum rim.

However, humidity doesn’t get in there through oxygen and the elements. It gets in there through the regular air systems you find at gas stations. Popular Mechanics remarks that some gas stations don’t do a very good job of keeping the humidity out of their air system. If your tires go unchecked, they can accumulate a lot of water, varying the tire pressure even more so than simple temperature changes.
Nitrogen tire inflation provides a good fix for this. Any system that delivers pure nitrogen is also going to deliver dry nitrogen. Filling tires with nitrogen involves filling and purging several times in succession, diluting the concentration of oxygen in the tire. This will also remove any water.

Sure, filling your tires with nitrogen will cost a little money, since you need to have it specially done. We’ve demonstrated in a previous post that the practice is worth the money in the long run. But, why does it have to cost money? Aren’t air and gases free? Well, they are free to acquire, but it does take time and labor to acquire. You simply can’t just put it in a jar. Nitrogen and other gases have to go in special tanks so they can be used appropriately.

Which brings us to the question of why nitrogen for tire inflation over the other gases. As previously stated, it 78% of the air is nitrogen, making it an incredibly abundant gas. The third most abundant gas is argon, which makes up 0.93% of the world’s atmosphere. Can you imagine how much it would cost to fill your tires with argon!?! It would certainly be an exorbitant amount of money, since it would be difficult to acquire and it would take a long time to acquire enough to fill up some tires. Nitrogen is not only the best fit, but it works out nicely due to it’s large quantities and density to be much more affordable than using any other gas.

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Busting 2 Myths on Nitrogen Tire Inflation

On August 18, 2011, in Nitrogen in Tires Myths, Nitrogen Tire Inflation, Proper Tire Pressure, Tire Care, by allisonmreilly
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nitrogen tire inflation mythsNitrogen tire inflation is still a new concept. Although it has been embraced by entities such as the airline industry and NASCAR for many years, it still has yet to hit mainstream in the consumer market and in industrial fleets. Some folks have never heard of the practice, or may be skeptical that this whole thing is just a gimmick. Some may just be reluctant to pay money for something that can be done for free, despite the costs. Whatever the case may be, here are two myths about nitrogen tire inflation that we here at Nitrofleet99 are ready to bust.

1.) NITROGEN ELIMINATES THE NEED TO REGULARLY CHECK TIRE PRESSURE. This is absolutely untrue. While nitrogen leaks through a tire at a slower rate than oxygen, that doesn’t eliminate the necessity of regular pressure checks. There are numerous issues (valve stem, puncture, rim seal) that can still cause major leaks within a tire and lead to unsafe driving conditions. Nitrogen will maintain pressure longer than tires filled with compressed air, and will make your tires safer to drive on, but we advise against using nitrogen tire inflation as a substitute for regular pressure checks. Besides, there are other tire problems, such as tread wear, that still require that you pay some attention to tire maintenance.

2.) NITROGEN INFLATION IS ONLY INCREASING NITROGEN FROM 78.1% to 93.4%+, THERE IS NO BENEFIT TO SUCH A SMALL INCREASE. This is an argument that a lot of skeptics use, but what makes nitrogen tire inflation beneficial isn’t the nitrogen itself, but the decrease of oxygen and water vapor. Decreasing the percentage of oxygen is a more important factor than increasing the concentration of nitrogen. When filling your tires with nitrogen for the first time, the tires are purged twice, removing the 78.1% “bad” nitrogen (that is laden with water vapor, oil contamination, particulate, etc.) and replacing it with nitrogen that is clean (99.99% of all liquids and solids removed @ 0.01u) and dry (-40F or lower dewpoint). The nitrogen now has the properties of an engineered gas. Water vapor causes pressure fluctuations during normal driving, so removing it is a distinct advantage. The oxygen also damages the insides of your tire over time, so nitrogen tire inflation allows them to last longer.

Overall, nitrogen tire inflation is an excellent practice that will make your tires and driving safer and cheaper in the long run. Since this is something that is still new, there’s going to be plenty of people who don’t believe in the benefits and aren’t going to find this worthwhile. However, many have found this practice to be beneficial and to make a difference with their cars and with their wallets.

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Gas Tax Likely to Keep Going: How You Can Save the Money

On August 11, 2011, in Fuel Efficiency, Nitrogen Tire Inflation, by allisonmreilly
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saving gas money

Save money at the pump by taking care of your tires.

The bill that authorizes the gas tax to be collected, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) bill, is currently on its seventh short-term extension, which expires Sept. 30. Once Congress comes back from its August recess, it’s likely that this gas tax could become the next political issue. It’s also possible that another short-term extension is granted quietly, without much kerfuffle.

Either way, this gas tax will likely remain in place, meaning prices will remain as high as they are to help pay for our country’s transportation infrastructure. If you’re still going to drive around in spite of all this, then listen up!

One way to beat the gas tax is to improve your fuel efficiency, which is possible with nitrogen tire inflation. Putting nitrogen into your tires instead of regular air, maintains proper tire pressure for a longer period of time, which increase your fuel efficiency between three and six percent. That may not seem like a lot, but as we demonstrated in our cost comparison, those dollars can really add up!

Our roads need this money, and even if the tax were to be removed, states would only make up for those lost funds by raising their own gas taxes and other transportation fees. The best thing to do is to make sure that your vehicle and driving habits are cost-efficient, so you are saving that money. A tax on gasoline, whether it’s federal or state, is not going away anytime soon. In fact, both the Chamber of Commerce and General Motors want the tax to be raised, to ensure that we have national standards for our transportation system. Overall, one of the best ways to beat this tax and to save yourself some money is to use nitrogen tire inflation. After all, you’re still going to be driving around, using up gas. Why not make your car more fuel efficient?

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Jay Leno Supports Nitrogen Tire Inflation

On August 4, 2011, in Nitrogen Tire Inflation, Video, by allisonmreilly
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Comedian Jay Leno has been known for his love of cars, as well as his great jokes. Leno has one of the largest car collections around, so naturally he would know a thing or two about taking good care of them.

In this video, Leno discusses the benefits of nitrogen tire inflation. If you don’t trust what the industry is telling you, maybe you’ll trust a familiar face like Leno’s.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUZGXmWMKXM&version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0]

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