59 replies to this topic

[Chris Windsor]

I didn't read all the post but this maybe covered somewhere.

For the most proper form of nitrogen fill is to

* start with a waterless beading of the tire

* use a vacuum to dry the space inside the tire

* nitrogen fill

* purge

* and refill with nitrogen 

still a big PITA, but do it all or you are leaving something on the table

 

Of course the bigger the tire the greater the difference will be.

[AJ Roderick]

My guy has used liberal amounts of WD40 for decades, including all his own race tires for FA and other classes. I've wondered about it both in terms of what it might do to the rubber and whether it increases the risk of a tire rotating on the rim, but he swears by it and I've had no complaints.

 

I do some tire service at Mid Ohio, Nelson(when they ran) and Pitt Race... Certain tires we used soap/water depending on the tire /wheel size to get it to mount. Normally we have a white paste we put on. Some customers request putting them on dry to reduce tire rotation on the wheel but theres always a chance of ripping the bead if you aren't careful. We have also used hairspray before beading a tire up to help lock it to the wheel. We don't do that often though

[philstireservice]

Some use alcohol to mount tires. There are lubes that dry after they are applied. The pastes or Euro mounting lubes don't usually dry after being applied. Most tire guys use too much lube .......lol. Seriously...

 

 

 

Nitrogen does expand also, albeit the growth slows as the tire reaches operating temps.

[pat slattery]

I prefer to use Helium to inflate my tire.  It's a bit more expensive,but the lighter tire weight is worth it

[TrailBrake]

Has anyone tried a Parker Tyre Saver?

[SaulSpeedwell]

I didn't read all of this thread, but for what it is worth, my $0.02 of experience is this:

 

I tested Dry Nitrogen versus "air" from my Emco V-twin 80 gallon garage compressor with no air dryer - I just drain the air tank (and the mounter's "tank") of obvious water before I do anything with compressed air.

 

Result?  Tires vacuumed down against the wheel and then filled with nitrogen, versus compressed "air" from a tank that was drained of obvious moisture before filling the tire?  No different.  30 cold built to 38 hot in both cases.

 

And that's when I stopped messing with the hassle of vacuum-ing and nitrogen-filling forever.

 

If you are getting significantly more pressure rise with "air" than nitrogen, it means you have significantly wet "air" at your inflation source - whether that is Krazy Frank's Tire Emporium, the Hoosier truck, or your own compressor.

 

The Nitrogen molecule is larger than "air" and thus it can still be a good choice for reducing leakage in long-term fills like lawn mowers, trailers, etc.  But, in the end, I found Nitrogen to be a real pain in the butt versus just draining my tank to achieve "dry air".

[SaulSpeedwell]

Lube:  I use P-80 industrial rubber assembly lube from www.ipcol.Com.  It had mounting pressures as low as the "Euro" lube the local high end tire shop was using, except with the additional feature of not having a tire move after it was mounted.  Great stuff.  No affiliation, just a product I bought at retail pricing and was thrilled with.

[Jim Drago]

I prefer to use Helium to inflate my tire.  It's a bit more expensive,but the lighter tire weight is worth it

You are kidding right Pat? I didn't see a smiley?

[pat slattery]

Forgot the Smiley Jim, I was really seeing if anyone reads this stuff.  LOL

[Jim Drago]

Forgot the Smiley Jim, I was really seeing if anyone reads this stuff.  LOL

whew!  

[Steve Scheifler]

In this class, nothing would surprise me.

Typical air weighs about 8x more than helium. So if it takes 1 cubic foot of air (volume at atmo) to fill a tire to 30 psi, the actual weight of the air is... more than you probably think. And it is un-sprung rotating weight with a high MOI. Besides, it comes in handy for the post-race interview.

But the good stuff of course is hydrogen, at half the weight of helium.

[Danny Steyn]

Now this is getting funny!! Cannot wait for the first SM spontaneous combustion on the grid!!!

[Jim Creighton]

I can't wait for the--- "Wait, let me let the helium out of my tires so the car will make weight" as some gear head sits on the scales in post race impound.

[Jim Drago]

Forgot the Smiley Jim, I was really seeing if anyone reads this stuff.  LOL

 

I remember as a kid(like 15), we were scrapping cars at my dads body shop. One of the guys was airing up all the tires on cars we were scrapping. I asked him what he was doing.. he said " they are paying by the pound, so we might as well air all the tires up to 100" True story! You can't make this stuff up.  My dad let them haul the stuff off for extra money, they split it. When I informed them they were wasting their time, they tried fabricating a water inflation system until my dad put an end to that one as well  

[Bench Racer]

Upsmanship is on going on this site therefore another true short story. Three of us used to gather soda bottles from outside storage behind one business place, walk down the street to another business place and return the bottles for a 5 cent each deposit. A few deposits and a guy could buy a soda. 

[LarryKing]

Things were really hoppin in Wauwatosa !

[Bench Racer]

May have been, lived in Redgranite, WI back in the day.

[wheel]

A case of soda bottles was $1, that was two quart bottles of Coors.  Cheyenne, Wyoming, 1963

[Bench Racer]

I'm talking when I was a kid during the early 50's. During the later 50's when I was an older kid we'd lighten the storage of full beer bottles from the city ball park refreshment stand. Some times when I think back, there was not much thinking going on back inn the day.

[Steve Scheifler]

Watching FTN from last Sunday I just heard Nora O'Donnell, whom I like, ask if in light of all the problems the NFL has had, the issue of "the psi and weight of a football is really a distraction..." Surely she doesn't... nah, I hope not.