While most motorists fill their tires with air, another popular option is nitrogen due to its ability to keep tires inflated for longer periods and other benefits.
So if you have been wondering if you can put air in a nitrogen-compressed tire, you’re in the right place. Here is all you need to know!
Can You Put Air In Nitrogen Tires?
You can put air into a nitrogen-filled tire and not have to worry about any hazards happing like a blowout. Air is already 70-percent to 80-percent nitrogen as it is, but a tire is not considered to be a nitrogen-filled tire until it is filled 93% or above with nitrogen.
Putting nitrogen in your tires can have a lot of benefits toward driving performance, safety, and longevity of the tire. Read on to find out more about putting air into nitrogen-filled tires!
Which Is Better For My Tires: Air Or Nitrogen?
The best answer to which is better, air or nitrogen, is really in what you are looking to achieve. Nitrogen has bigger molecules and is slower moving than just air. This makes nitrogen less subjective to minor air leakage.
Additionally, nitrogen-filled tires help your tire stay at the correct air pressure longer. It will also be less affected by ambient air temperature (hot days, cold days), where the sun or other weather conditions can affect raising or lowering air pressure problems.
Keeping the correct air pressure in your tires can help your car handle better, avoid blowouts, sustain longevity, and possibly give you better gas mileage.
So is nitrogen better for your vehicle’s tires?
In a sense, yes, you can get benefits from nitrogen-filled tires, but you can also find it to be more of a hassle than it’s worth. Nitrogen service stations are hard to find, and on top of that, you can wind up spending $5-$10 on a fill-up of each tire.
If you’re just a daily driver, you might want to just pay attention to your Tire Pressure Monitor System (TPMS) or invest in a tire pressure gauge for a few bucks. The difference nitrogen makes for the better just might not be worth it to you.
Also, since you can put air into a nitrogen-filled tire, you might find gas station air from their air pump for free or .25-cents more practical.
How To Put Air Into My Nitrogen Tires?
This question comes up a lot, but if you can find your valve stem on your tire, the process of filling up a nitrogen tire with air is all the same.
Pay no attention to the color of the valve stem, for it might be green, or at least the cap might be. This is just to let the technician know what the tires are filled up with.
Once you have found your valve stem and you have your air supply ready, it works just the same as feeling up your tire any other time. Fill it up to spec, and you’ll be good to go.
Where Can I Find Nitrogen To Fill Up My Tires?
That is a tricky question and is one of the downfalls of keeping your tire filled up with nitrogen.
Even if you go back to the place that puts nitrogen tires on your vehicle, there is no guarantee they offer a stand-alone nitrogen fill-up service.
In this instance, you would have to do some shopping around. Check your dealerships, tire shops, tune-up shops, or you might be able to invest in a nitrogen top-off home kit. Maybe become buddies with your neighbor who works at a dealership?
To learn more, you can see our full guide on where to fill up your tires with nitrogen.
How Much Does It Cost To Fill A Tire With Nitrogen?
Filling up your tire with nitrogen can become quite costly. If you have your tires checked and filled every month, you could be looking at up $40 per tire a month as opposed to free or for a dollar at the gas station.
Since your tires have to be filled up with 93-percent nitrogen to be considered a nitrogen tire, if you have already top off your tire with air in the past, a top off with nitrogen won’t even let you reap the rewards of a true 93-percent nitrogen tire.
Will A Nitrogen-Filled Tire Save Me Gas Money?
It is possible that if your tire is filled properly with nitrogen, you could save some gas money.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for each 1psi drop in tire pressure, you reduce your gas mileage by 0.3%.
But if you keep your tires filled with the correct air pressure by using just plain old air, you won’t encounter any difference in gas mileage regardless of which way you go.
Will A Nitrogen Tire Prevent Me From Having A Blowout?
A nitrogen tire will not prevent you from having a blowout, but it sure takes the chances of it happening down quite a few notches.
When your tires are filled at the correct air pressure for longer periods, your tires receive a lot less unnecessary stress lowing your blowout chances.
Will A Nitrogen-Tire Help Me With Better Traction, Handling, And Tire Wear?
You could get better traction and handling for longer periods of time if you have your tires filled with nitrogen. The idea is when your tire is inflated or deflated to incorrect air peruse, your vehicle won’t drive as well.
If nitrogen holds air pressure better for a longer period of time, you won’t only see better traction and handling, but you will also experience longevity.
But just putting nitrogen in your tires, will not mean the tires will perform any better than if you just put air in them.
Will A Nitrogen-Filled Tire Screw Up My Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)?
Since your TPMS only checks pressure, you will see no change in the way your TPMS reacts.
If a warning comes up on your TPMS, then you need to check your tire pressure again, or something else is wrong.
To know more about tires, you can also read our posts on underinflated tires, how common are flat tires, and which tires wear faster.
Conclusion
Nitrogen tires do have their benefits, but they would be most beneficial for specialty vehicles like racecars, heavy-duty equipment, aircraft tires, off-road race vehicles, and other vehicles where the tires experience extreme usage in extreme conditions.
That doesn’t mean if a technician is going to fill up your vehicle’s tires with nitrogen you should decline, there is no loss. It just means if you want to keep them filled with nitrogen, you should weigh your pros and cons first.