MrCrowley
11/04/2004, 05:57 AM
I was talking with a few guys yesterday afternoon, and then proceeded to search online about inert gas filled tires. You can use nitrogen or argon fairly easy, but I think the most accepted is nitrogen. From what I have read this stuff is dry and has no moisture so cool and warm temperatures cause less pressure difference which is a plus going from season to season. Some peole have claimed that they havent had to "top off" their tires in years. There is also information on the inert gas having better effect on the heat dissipation of a tire. The lack of oxygen and moisture in the tire has some really kooky scientific purpose of not causing corrosion on the aluminum alloys, and therefore doesnt cause fine particles to become blown around and causing the valve seal to not seat properly. Also, the nitrogen atoms dont permeate through the tires' rubber as much so this prevents loss that way. I know a VXer in Japan has reference to having gas filled tires, so someone already has a VX and does it. Since all aircraft have nitrogen in their tires I think because of some FAA law, and racing teams use it too, there is abundant reliability information. Plus, aircraft use it because under some conditions a tire is actually flammable under extreme heat situations. This goes for all tires so even the moto fiends can do it too. I have access to all the inert gasses at work, so I might try a different gas in each tire and measure temperature on each tire after a spirited drive home. If anyone wants to find out more, just search on it. Maybe we can get other thoughts on this.