Which is Better For Tires - Nitrogen or Air?

February 18, 2021

A man is checking the tire pressure of a car. | Lex Brodies

Tires have a vital role when it comes to your vehicle. The lifespan of your tires is something that many don't tend to pay a lot of attention to. Recently, there have been a lot of conversations on maintenance of tires. It is extremely important that you keep your tires taken care of no matter what. A big topic of discussion is if nitrogen or is air better for tires?

For years now many commercial vehicles have been using nitrogen to inflate their tire. This has been done for numerous amounts of reasons. In more recent years it has been marketed that nitrogen is a good choice for your everyday car tires. There are some things that you should consider when you're looking at if nitrogen or air is a better choice for inflating your tires.

  1. When you're looking at which will be more cost efficient, you must know that air will win. In most cases, when you take your car to a tire center, they won't charge you for air. However, if you took your tires to the same center and ask to have your tires inflated with nitrogen you can pay anywhere from $50-$150 to upgrade to nitrogen from air and every visit after you could be charged $5-$8 for each tire.
     
  2. Consistency with your tire pressure is important, and the better for this is nitrogen. Since not all tires are entirely solid, the pores that can allow air to seep out over extensive periods of time. It has been seen that nitrogen in your tires will deflate at a slower rate in comparison to tires inflated with air.
     
  3. Naturally tires age and over time there will be some wheel corrosion. When you know this is inevitable, you can expect it… but nitrogen will not have this happen as much as air. Air in your tires will bring moisture which will cause the casing inside to corrode. Nitrogen is a dry gas that doesn't bind to moisture well.

There are advantages to both nitrogen and air for your tires. If you need tire services, give our auto repair shop a call today!

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