Nitrogen Filled Tires

[cmillsap]

I’m going to buy new Michelin 315/80r/22.5 XZA2 Energy tires for my bus through the Michelin Advantage Program. My Michelin tire dealer suggested I fill the new tires with nitrogen at an added cost of $25 per tire. They tell me that one benefit is that nitrogen filled tires maintain a more even pressure (approx. a 3# variation) as compared to air filled tires as they heat up and cool off. That can be as much as 15 to 20 psi during normal service. Nitrogen may be somewhat beneficial if you have a tire monitoring system because you can set the monitoring parameters more closely. At $200 to fill 8 tires with nitrogen, I’m not so sure it’s worth it unless there are other good reasons to switch to nitrogen that I am unaware of. I’ve heard stories of people claiming they get better mileage with tires filled with nitrogen but I’m skeptical of that claim. Maybe someone can clue me in to other advantages of filling your tires with nitrogen?

[csprenger]

(02-08-2015 00:09)cmillsap Wrote:  I’m going to buy new Michelin 315/80r/22.5 XZA2 Energy tires for my bus through the Michelin Advantage Program. My Michelin tire dealer suggested I fill the new tires with nitrogen at an added cost of $25 per tire. They tell me that one benefit is that nitrogen filled tires maintain a more even pressure (approx. a 3# variation) as compared to air filled tires as they heat up and cool off. That can be as much as 15 to 20 psi during normal service. Nitrogen may be somewhat beneficial if you have a tire monitoring system because you can set the monitoring parameters more closely. At $200 to fill 8 tires with nitrogen, I’m not so sure it’s worth it unless there are other good reasons to switch to nitrogen that I am unaware of. I’ve heard stories of people claiming they get better mileage with tires filled with nitrogen but I’m skeptical of that claim. Maybe someone can clue me in to other advantages of filling your tires with nitrogen?

Chuck, this is worth reading https://powertank.com/truth.or.hype/.

[dentmac]

Chuck, this is worth reading https://powertank.com/truth.or.hype/.


Great article.
Also this one:

http://tirenitrogen.typepad.com/tirenitr...hange.html

Seems that biggest effect is from water vapour . So fill the tires through a desiccant or air dryer. (in the desert or well below freezing may work too ! )
The tire shops "Purify " the compressed air to hopefully 95% N2 . But who knows

---

Perhaps priorities should be :
New Tires,
TPMS,
Centramatics,
N2

[davidbrady]

I'd save my money Chuck. The aircraft industry uses nitrogen mostly because it's more inert than O2 so it tends not to corrode tire rubber or magnesium rims. The fact that the larger N2 molecule (larger than O2 and dihydrogen oxide) permeates rubber more slowly is an added advantage. Every tire I ever had off my bus wheels was bone dry inside telling me that the 02 and H2O readily leach thru the rubber carcass leaving behind almost pure N2, so in essence you get nitrogen pressurized tires for free.

Ron Rueckwald ran a study of Nitrogen in his LXi tires and IIRC he didn't notice any appreciable difference in ride or in pressure stabilization.

[DOSZORROS]

Chuck:

If you have not already purchased the Michelin tires, I would like to suggest you consider Toyo or Bridgestone. I assume this will start a firestorm but I personally would not run a Michelin unless I was broke down on the road and had no alternative.

50 years ago, Michelin was the best tire you could buy but I have had dismal experience with Michelin of late. I have not run anything except Toyo for the last 15 years on coach, pickups, cars and have been well satisfied.

[cmillsap]

(02-26-2015 21:22)DOSZORROS Wrote:  Chuck:

If you have not already purchased the Michelin tires, I would like to suggest you consider Toyo or Bridgestone. I assume this will start a firestorm but I personally would not run a Michelin unless I was broke down on the road and had no alternative.

50 years ago, Michelin was the best tire you could buy but I have had dismal experience with Michelin of late. I have not run anything except Toyo for the last 15 years on coach, pickups, cars and have been well satisfied.

Thanks for the suggestion, George, but the Michelins are installed already. Sorry to hear of your experiences with the Michelins. I’ve never had a problem (knock on wood) with Michelins and have used them on all three Bluebirds that I have owned. So, it just never occurred to me to look at other brands.

After you suggested Toyo or Bridgestone, for future reference I did look at their prices and specs as compared to Michelins. The specs are pretty much comparable. The Toyo was a bit less pricy but the Bridgestone was more expensive as compared to the Michelin Advantage Program tire price.

Here’s a bit more information that may be helpful to other readers of this post who are in the market for new tires regardless of brand;
Because we usually have to replace our tires due to age (approx. every 7 years) instead of wear, it is important to insure that the new tires have current manufactured date codes. If I understood correctly, my tire dealer stated that Michelin tries to maintain inventory in their distribution centers with tire date codes no older than 4 months. Some of the larger tire dealers may have pre-bought tires in their racks that have older date codes, so check out the tires before they install them. Many tire dealers prefer to pick up new tires from the manufacturer’s distribution centers for a specific customer. And for good reason as these big tires are expensive to inventory and if not sold soon the tire can become outdated. My tire dealer does not stock the big Michelin tires and needed a couple days’ notice to pick up them up before installing them on my bus.

Chuck

[GregOConnor]

My two cents here
replace two tires to the steer axle with ;what ever brand ;every two years, and rotate old set back. I never have steered my coach on tires older than 24 months. If on the road and you need a replacement and cant find a 12r or 315, put a tag tire on it and drop a used $100. 11r on the tag.

I recently lost air in a inside drive while on the road and didnt want to chance running on the remainder of my trip with a possibly compromised tire that was 8 years old so I accelerated the front tire install. I couldn't even tell you what brand they installed. goodyear, goodrich or something. I do however need to replace the shrader valves in the valve stems, the tire guy said the cheap/crap valve was probably the fail issue. I never considered learning what valve products were better or that there was a difference.

My '94pt is for sale and I am amused with interest in tires but lack of interest in reading the computer and other systems.

[DOSZORROS]

Valve stem seals and valves should be replaced whenever you replace tires (much cheaper than doing a tire repair or replacement). If you run Equal in the tires, it requires a special valve core.