Tire pressure obsession

[Cupton]

At what pressure fluctuation do you all find yourselves out there in the cold (or heat) adjusting your tire pressure due to temperature change? Is it a 1-2 PSI change from your normal pressure? More or less than that?

 

Reason I ask is that it’s a little colder today and noticed I was down to 34 PSI and was kind of stressing over it. I was about to go top them off at 35 PSI and stopped myself due to it only being a 1 PSI difference and it warming up for a few days before it gets colder again.

 

Just curious what PSI change needs to happen for all of you to go out and freeze (or sweat) your butts off to top off or let air out of your tires.

[1SLOW1500]

Your issue is you have the wrong setup. Change out all the air and never have this issue again.

Onstar said my power train warranty would be void if issue wasn't resolved at dealer asap. HA

[duquephart]

27 minutes ago, Cupton said:

 

At what pressure fluctuation do you all find yourselves out there in the cold (or heat) adjusting your tire pressure due to temperature change? Is it a 1-2 PSI change from your normal pressure? More or less than that?

 

Reason I ask is that it’s a little colder today and noticed I was down to 34 PSI and was kind of stressing over it. I was about to go top them off at 35 PSI and stopped myself due to it only being a 1 PSI difference and it warming up for a few days before it gets colder again.

 

Just curious what PSI change needs to happen for all of you to go out and freeze (or sweat) your butts off to top off or let air out of your tires.

 

 

Sounds like you need to switch over to winter air.

[aseibel]

As the weather gets colder, I will fill them a couple times, maybe once a month at most. Especially when I know a real cold snap is coming.

In the spring, I don't recall ever having to let air out. As the temps warm up and air slowly escapes, I just ride on. 

Definitely not worth my time to adjust for every 1 psi fluctuation.

[Cupton]

4 minutes ago, duquephart said:

 

Sounds like you need to switch over to winter air.

If it comes in a can and I can get it on Amazon I’ll give it a go. ?

[1SLOW1500]

why you laugh. Really get the air out and have nitrogen put in. never deal with it again.

[Cupton]

why you laugh. Really get the air out and have nitrogen put in. never deal with it again.

Actually my neighbor had nitrogen put in his when he bought his new equinox and he has been pretty pleased with the results. I never heard of nitrogen in tires before that. I work from home and don’t get out much. ;)

 

[ftwhite]

I just had to top mine off today. I usually keep my Nitto 275/70r18s at ~40PSI. i noticed the TPMS was reporting they had dropped to 33 over the last week as it got colder. 

However, I also noticed that when they report as 33 on cold mornings, they warm up to around 36 after 20min or so of driving. 

Still, my guess is the winter does rob air from us. 

[Mike GMC]

The frost fairies steal nitrogen as well as air, just not as much.  I never worry until I get 5 psi off setpoint or if one tire is changing more than the others.  Generally, once a month is adequate.

 

 

[Enough]

Mine had nitrogen in the tires when I got. First cold snap they lost 5 PSI ea. I don't buy the nitrogen argument any more. Others I know have had results similar to mine. Maybe they used summer nitrogen. 

[1SLOW1500]

Issue is nitrogen needs to be added the right way. there is a machine that removes air and adds nitrogen. However nitrogen has oxygen molecules in it so some loss. Just don't try CO2, it will be gone in a day. Hydrogen is lighter and makes you faster. Just some ideas. good luck.    

[Supreme Pizza]

 

 

 

You could use helium. That would improve your fuel mileage by 0.0000007398  mpg. 

 

Or you could fill them with hydrogen, so that if the vehicle ever catches on fire - it would put on more of a show. 

 

Maybe overfill them with methane, and ask then your least favorite tire shop to check the tire pressure. 

 

 

 

 

 

[pronstar]

Mine had nitrogen in the tires when I got. First cold snap they lost 5 PSI ea. I don't buy the nitrogen argument any more. Others I know have had results similar to mine. Maybe they used summer nitrogen. 

PV=NRT
The ideal gas law says all gases behave the same in response to pressure, temperature and volume.

If you lost 5psi due to cold, it would have been identical to any other gas in your tires [emoji106]




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[draperfish]

Yeah I'm OCD about it, I usually scroll to the tire pressure just to check them every day and if they're off from each other more than a pound or two it bugs me. When my truck as been sitting with the sun shinning on one side in the morning and those pressures are 2 or 3 pounds higher than the other side it bugs me too. I keep mine at 35# cold and if they get below 32# or above 39# I'm dragging out the compressor. 

[Ravenkeeper]

When I gas up, around the first of each month, I hit the tire pump at the gas station, and fill/deplete to what the suggested pressure is on the door jam (38PSI).  The pump at the station that I routinely use, will inflate/deplete to the pressure that you input into the machine.  Even during the summer, if you check them in the cool of the morning, you should be fine, even when the pressures go up as they get warmer.

 

Nitrogen should not fluctuate, if at all, that's why we use nitrogen to service aircraft tires, struts, etc. 

 

"Aircraft tires are filled with nitrogen because nitrogen gas is mostly inert, meaning that it requires more energy to react with other substances. This is important because at elevated temperatures, oxygen can react with rubber. Oxidized rubber is weaker than non-oxidized rubber, and weaker tires are not preferred.

Oxygen diffuses through rubber much faster than nitrogen. This means that tires filled with 95% nitrogen (the standard percentage of nitrogen gas for inflation purposes) will maintain pressure longer. This leads to less maintenance, which lowers costs.

Tires operating with correct pressure are less prone to premature wear. Less wear means less tires (lower operating costs) and less heat generation during ground operations. Higher tire temperatures increase the risk of tire tread delamination or blowout. Apart from the safety concerns (which really aren't that bad, blowouts happen quite frequently), tire fragments can cause damage to the aircraft structure, get sucked into the engine, and almost definitely cause undo stress on the landing gear due to uneven loading. Loss of a tire can even cause excess loading on the other tires of the landing gear (meaning just the nose gear, or one of the main gear) and require the other tires to be replaced regardless of condition.

So in short, tires are filled with nitrogen to save money. "