anionrings

iTrader: (2)

Have anyone tried putting nitrogen air into the stock wheels or aftermarket wheels in our tl's?

Kind of like...the new mercedes?..these are the nitrogen caps made for it...



im planning to lean towards this route on my aftermarket wheels with TPMS sensors for my 08 tl...i was wondering if anyone tried this before?..is it compatible with the TPMS sensors??

Will Y.

Uhhh... every car that gets tires at Costco gets nitrogen-filled tires, along with green plastic valve stem covers, for free.

Air is already about 78% nitrogen, so pure nitrogen is compatible with wheels & tires. However, I wouldn't pay for nitrogen for a street-driven car-- just search "nitrogen" and "tires" here and you'll see some discussions.

BTW, if those valve caps have metal threads, I'd be leery of them if used on metal valve stems due to potential difficulty removing them later.

anionrings

iTrader: (2)

alrighty thanks!!!!... ill do some more searching...thanks for the fast response

Bearcat94

Personally I think it's a waste of time and/or money (if you're paying for N2).

I'd also be leary of ANY metal or metalized valve-stem cap; they may "weld" themselves to the valve-stem. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_corrosion

dinks07

iTrader: (4)

Yes metal caps are terrible i am a tech at a honda dealership and seen many tpms sensors snap at the stem trying to remove them.

anionrings

iTrader: (2)

^^ ok after hearing that..i stopped my research... ahaha...im not gonna choose this route Anymore !! phew!! thanks guys!! u saved me from big bucks

TheChamp531

iTrader: (3)

If you can get the N2 air done for free, I say do it. One of my old cars has not been driven for 5 years in the Texas heat and the tire pressure was still 33.

anionrings

iTrader: (2)

^^see thats why i wanted nitrogen air in my tires because i know they will last forever.. im trying to run 225/35/19's on my tl...i dont mind paying the price...money comes and goes...

but my only problem i feared were...is it compatible with tpms?..and aftermarket wheels... but seeing dink07's comment scared me...

veggiemonster

iTrader: (1)

just find a local tire shop, that has nitrogen obviously, and get it from them. they'll use little plastic ones caps just like the factory with only one exception, they are green.

i'm using nitrogen on my TL. it's my third personal car i've done this with. i've also encouraged my parents and sister to use it on their past/current 5 vehicles. all happy customers, no broken TPMS.

you'll be happy you did.

Jackass

Costco for the win. I personally won't pay for Nitrogen in my tires, but with it being free at Costco I have no issues and/or complaints.

Dinks07's comment has nothing to do with Nitrogen as being an issue....it was about the metal caps being an issue.

g2teg

if metal caps are an issue, couldn't you just put some anti seize compound on the threads?

veggiemonster

iTrader: (1)

why not just use FREE plastic ones?

g2teg

yes, why not? but you didn't answer the question.

anionrings

iTrader: (2)

Then why are the nitrogen caps made then??

Bearcat94

Green caps - plastic ones - are supposed to mean Nitrogen filled.

I guess you get 'em at the compressed Nitrogen tire filling place.

csmeance

Air is mostly nitrogen so it's a waste to pay to have your tires filled up with them.

As far as the caps, Green means nitrogen filled which is more of a way to lure customers into paying more. It's not special plastic or anything that allows less nitrogen or air to escape.

If you want nice caps, there are ones similar to the ones you posted that are a bit longer (2-3x the smooth plastic section, same amount of that rough section and are either plastic or metal that's been coated in plastic. They should be a bit long and the inside has a rubber gasket.

BMW put them on my car when I bought it (OEM ones) and they are really good. I haven't had an issue with them seizing and because they have the rubber, it keeps a good seal on the stem.

veggiemonster

iTrader: (1)

^^^^in chemistry, a 22% difference is huge. your arguement against nitrogen is invalid, and there are proven positives to using it over regular air.


um, what question? they will give you problems, and cost money. avoid them, do you need another reason??????
because there are people in the world that like to profit off of people who are dumb enough to buy shitty products.

g2teg

really? you don't understand the question? it's giving people options, if you have the steel ones already, couldn't you just use anti seize compound on the threads? If you don't understand the question maybe someone else can explain it to you cause I can't make it any clearer. for some, it might be easier for them to do that then to go out to a shop and say, hey can I get some free caps.

veggiemonster

iTrader: (1)

they come with all tires. for free. a person would have to buy to caps elsewhere and then put them on.

don't fix what isn't broken.

did you honestly think out your question? metal to metal threads, anti-seize will work, but it will end up gumming up the valve more than likely. happy? everything is covered now.

pohljm

Next time you go shopping at Costco drop your car off at the tire center and they will remove the air and fill with Nitrogen for free. You do not even have to buy your tires there. At least thats how they do it at my store.

g2teg

did you honestly read my last post? I said "what if people already have the steel ones" My Volks came with some nice valve stems and steel caps and I would like to continue using them as would others I'm sure and like I said, in my last post, which you must have missed also, its giving people options! Oh and thank you, if you answered the question the first time, it wouldn't be a problem. And if it's the black plastic caps that you're talking about that come for free with all tires, theres no way in hell I'm putting those on my 19's.

csmeance

In chemistry it's a big difference but we aren't exactly performing experiments here with tires! Nitrogen fill's are being using because it helps avoid the 1-2 PSI loss that occurs naturally with tires and as well to make it easier for the consumer to become lazy and not have to check their tires!



There is no way costco can remove all the air from the tire and fill it with 100% nitrogen unless they dismount the tire in a chamber, vacuum out a chamber, refill the chamber with nitrogen and remount the tire and seal the bead.

There will always be oxygen present even though you fill with nitrogen because the tire is being mounted in AIR and not in a 100% nitrogen environment! That 22% of Oxygen will be reduced to probably 10% or so, but does that additional cost justify having to not check your tires once a month instead of once every 2 months?

veggiemonster

iTrader: (1)

i went 20k miles without losing 1 psi in any of my tires. this was while going from 700ft, to 7800ft in altitude. no change. a whole winter, no change. 11 months without checking, because i didn't even need to.

you get better gas mileage, and your tires are less likely to dry rot.

anionrings

iTrader: (2)

^^ thats the comment i was looking for...so basically the nitrogen is better than regular air correct?...it will last longer...it wont leak or anything?

im not lazy.. i check my tires everytime i leave to work..i dont mind spending money on quality items...but if its better for my car i will do it!!.. money is NOT an option.. hehe

veggiemonster

iTrader: (1)

yes. it is better, if only slightly (it's not a huge difference, you gotta be a little anal-retentive). if you really look at your pressures that much, you'll be sure to notice the difference.

anionrings

iTrader: (2)

well before when i had my 2nd gen TL..i had my RH Evolution C5's...19's wrapped on 225/35/19...and my air overtime it seems to just leak out overtime through weather changes...

i had let my older sister borrow my car for 3 weeks...within about the 2nd week to 3rd week...the tire pressure got low when she was in the highway...then...the tire just came off on her while she was driving...

so ever since then im iffy about the tire pressure i check mines everyday.....only on my aftermarket wheels..

TheChamp531

iTrader: (3)

You have TPMS.

Just put 38 PSI all-around, and you should be fine till the winter.

csmeance

I don't mean to keep on "arguing" here but in the winter air is denser and thus isn't as prone to leak out through the pores in the rubber.

Air/Nitrogen leaks out through rubber because it's porous, take a balloon and put some vanilla extract in it and fill it with air. You'll notice that the air around the balloon will smell like vanilla even though it's not "leaking" out in liquid form. The air is carrying the scent and that air is leaking out.

As far as dry rotting, yes that is true but only to an extent. There is still going to be oxygen present inside the tire and the outside of the tire is still going to be exposed to oxygen so at best I figure you gain very little over the 5 year life-span of the rubber since you are eliminating a very small percentage of oxygen that interacts with the tire.

As far as better gas mileage, that's just related to making sure that your tires are up on the proper pressures and the same thing is achieved with regular air.

IMO it's the same thing either way with nitrogen and air, the only difference is that the nitrogen fill will cost the user more money. As well, scientific advances shouldn't make up for stupidity on the user's part; they should be checking air pressure and other aspects of their car to ensure their saftey and others.

pohljm

My point is that it will not cost you any money if you have the ability to use Costco. I realize it will not be 100% nitrogen as they are not pulling a vacuum, but its better than straight air and its a freebie! the tires will loose less pressure when going through the seasons, and I guess less dry rot although thats not something I can confirm.

veggiemonster

iTrader: (1)

and they will always lose less, because the oxygen molecules are far smaller than that of the nitrogen.

eventually, there will be almost 100% nitrogen.

it's a very small percentage of gain in terms of efficiency, but i still feel it's worth it.