Posted by Matthew Yu on Fri, Feb 05, 2010 @ 06:26 PM
Many vehicles on the road today have their tires inflated with the free air given away at gas stations. What they do not know is that the air they are pumping consist of 78% nitrogen, 21 % oxygen, and small amounts of other gases that release from your tires at a high rate resulting in under-inflation. If you went to a tire shop or repair facility that had a Nitrogen generator and paid to have your tires filled with pure nitrogen, being a larger molecule than oxygen, it diffuses through a tire wall 3 to 4 times slower than oxygen. Therefore, nitrogen can better retain tire pressure.
The thought of actually having to pay to fill your tires might not sound as enticing as "free" to the consumer but there are many benefits in having nitrogen in your tires.
- Better Fuel Mileage: Tires filled with air tend to deflate faster, increases rolling resistance and adds additional fuel consumption while Nitrogen inflated tires can maintain proper pressure and reduce rolling resistance. This translates into less gas mileage and less tire wear.
- Increase Safety & Reliability: Under-inflated tires are the major reasons for the blowouts and highway fatalities. Tires inflated with nitrogen can better maintain the proper tire pressure and reduce the chances of blowouts. This means less down-time and fewer service calls. More importantly, it saves lives.
- Reduce Corrosion & Increase Retreadability: Oxygen reacts chemically with inner liner, belt packages and metal rim at high temperature and pressure, forming oxides and rust. This oxidation will cause the tire materials to lose its strength and physical properties which result in premature failure. Nitrogen, on the other hand, is a completely dry and inert gas which eliminates the oxidation of the tire's rubber components and consequently extends the tire's life and the ability to retread your tires.
- Reduce Tire Pressure Monitor System (TPMS) Alarms: Nitrogen migrates through a tire slower so TPMS alarms will not go off as often and nitrogen does not contain moisture or dirt as air often does. Therefore, it cause smaller fluctuations in the pressure and removing oxygen in the tire and replacing it with pure nitrogen will prevent oxidation which can attack expensive TPMS sensors.
Not only does it benefit the customer but as a business owner the return on investment can be achieve in a minimal amount of time and the profits are endless! See below for an example of how having a Nitrogen Generator in your shop can be of an advantage to your business.
Nitrogen is beneficial to your vehicle, tires, the consumer, and the environment all built into one package!