Tire Air Rotation for Spring

[mechanics_corner]

Just a Reminder

Spring is here. That means it's time to rotate the air in your tires. You need to pump the air out of your front tires and put that same air back in your rear tires. However if your air is more than three years old, it's recommended to replace it with new air. However, if you live in a northern climate, your car probably has Winter Air in the tires. This must be completely removed, and replaced with Summer Air, before the hot weather arrives.

This is not something you can do at home, without specialized equipment. Get it done professionally, so it's done right, which insures that you're tires are safe. After all, your life depends on those tires.

Prices vary according to where you live, but I've seen Air Rotation for as little as $5.99. If you're getting the air replaced, or need Summer Air, the cost is quite a bit more. Shop around, and watch the newspaper for specials and coupons. Some places will rotate your air for free, if you have them change your oil and/or get a tuneup.

[The Daring Dufas]

I've been practicing circular breathing and have been told it can help stave off Springtime allergies. ^_^

TDD

[Bob_Villa]

I fill mine with helium to avoid this process...an it gives a slight increase in mileage. (Recommended by Goodyear!)

[Bill Gill]

in mileage. (Recommended by Goodyear!)

Where is it recommended by Goodyear? I've been looking for a source of the nitrogen recommendation for years and can't find one. I did find a Goodyear recommendation only for heavy off-road equipment (earth movers and such like). They didn't recommend it for over the road truck tires.

Bill

[Ed Pawlowski]

in mileage. (Recommended by Goodyear!)

I use 80% nitrogen

[Ed Pawlowski]

in mileage. (Recommended by Goodyear!)

Nitrogen is used in race car tires and some aircraft tires. There was some sensible reasoning for aircraft since they see big temperature swings from flight to landing. They can hit 200 degrees and have very high pressure. Nitrogen will not sustain a fire should one start to burn. That is from Goodyear in the 50+ page manual about aircraft tires.

If you want a recommendation, just ask the people that sell it. They will gladly tell you how wonderful it is. The logic of it is that the nitrogen molecule is larger than the oxygen molecule so it is less likely to leak. Since air is 80% nitrogen anyway, I'm not going to waste my money on a nitrogen fill.

IMO, it is a method of extracting more money from the consumer.

[bob haller]

rease in mileage. (Recommended by Goodyear!)

regular air is 80% nitrogen........

corrections departments are looking at going back to gas chambers to execute prisoners sentenced to death.

they would breathe 100% nitrogen and just go to sleep within a few minutes...... No breathlesness since nitrogen is a noramal part of air.

I DONT BELIEVE anyone should ever be executed, since mistakes can and have been made, executing killing people who were not guilty..

[Bill Gill]

increase in mileage. (Recommended by Goodyear!)

When I was getting my safety training down at the Kennedy Space Center they told us that if you walked into a closed space with no oxygen you would die in about 2 breaths. That's because the oxygen free atmosphere would suck the oxygen right out of your blood. In fact I understand that there are almost always 2 deaths associated with an oxygen free atmosphere. One person goes in and drops, so the second goes to help and dies also. That was why they have such good training for entering confined spaces. There have been a couple of deaths caused that way. And of course they purge a lot of spaces with nitrogen prior to launch to prevent fires and explosions.

You don't really need a chamber to execute somebody with a pure gas, you just need a mask. Put the mask on, turn on the gas and they will be gone.

I agree with not executing any body. If they turn out to be innocent you can't bring them back. And there is another argument that will get some people. It costs a lot more in court costs to execute somebody than it does to lock them up for life.

Bill

[Zz Yzx]

While you're at it, have your coolant replaced with a 50-50 mix of antifreeze (ethylene glycol) and an automotive-grade solvent (e.g. "dyhydrogen monoxide" aka "DHMO").

Be careful though, DHMO is nasty stuff:

[Robert]

I've looked into euthanasia, and it seems that any inert gas -- helium, nitrogen, argon -- will work about the same. Simply drift off to sleep, painlessly, and no feeling of suffocation since these gasses don't combine with hemoglobin and form carbon dioxide, triggering the sensors in the carotid artery..... Simply a little hose to a plastic bag over one's head...... a good plan to have in one's back pocket.....

Regarding the original poster about tires... I'd fill them full of fart gas so that people wouldn't park so close and dogs wouldn't pee on the tires.... Harbor Freight sells a transfer pump that one can insert to pump out the farts into a plastic bag connected to a compressor input, and re-fill the tires from there. Use caution, tho, and don't turn on the compressor pump with the transfer pump hose still inserted.... you might lose your tongue and your ears....

[nestork]

I'm skeptical of how much of a difference using nitrogen makes. The air we pump into our tires is 78 percent nitrogen already, and a tire properly installed on a rim with a new valve and stem should hold it's pressure for years. Paying extra to inflate the tire with 100% nitrogen gas seems to me to be just a way of separating the naive from their money.

Thanks for the tip, Mechanics_Corner.

I'm nearing retirement and was thinking about taking up a hobby that would earn me extra income during my retirement. Your post has given me the idea of moving to Honolulu, Miami or San Diego and laying in wait at bus stops. When the busses pull up, I could jump out and suck the air out of the bus tires and use it to inflate beach balls and air mattresses for people at the beach. Who knows, if the business grows I might franchise the business to people who want to work the airports. They could suck the air out of the tires on commercial jets and use it to inflate car and truck tires. Thanks again, man. I owe you one.

[sam E]

[snip]

You shouldn't do that :-) The government is taking advantage of the fact that most people are too stupid to realize the government is killing people, unless they CALL it killing. If enough people find out what the government is actually doing, they'll have to reopen room 101.

[The Daring Dufas]

increase in mileage. (Recommended by Goodyear!)

No doubt that there are people who should be killed and deserve it but the power of life and death should be incorruptible and unfortunately NO legal system is incorruptible even our own is not immune to corruption. If we're going to have a death penalty lets have a mandatory death penalty for the commission of ANY felony by any public servant who takes an oath to uphold the laws and Constitution of the country. Sentence to be carried out within 48 hours upon conviction. People with special powers, special privileges and special immunities should get special punishment. Perjury is a felony, imagine what would happen when politicians realize that lying could get them killed? ^_^

TDD

[Stormin Mormon]

If I remember from my chemistry days, the atomic weight of nitrogen is 14, oxygen is 16. So, the oxy is heavier. And presumably larger.

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

The logic of it is that the nitrogen molecule is larger than the oxygen molecule so it is less likely to leak. Since air is 80% nitrogen anyway, I'm not going to waste my money on a nitrogen fill.

IMO, it is a method of extracting more money from the consumer.

[bob haller]

Some people have a thing about masks, and would likely fight it being put on as best they could.

Lethal injection drug makers have stopped making the drugs it looks bad for their mainstream businesses.......

Put the cndemmed in a room and flood with nitrogen, makes it easier for the poor person being killed and those doing the job of taking anothers life.

[Unquestionably Confused]

Not sure that that is entirely correct. They may have stopped marketing it for that purpose... Or, if it was a specialized compounding created for the purpose, what with all the court decisions coming down against capital punishment, it could just be an "orphan drug" There are plenty of those.

FWIW, reading through the drugs, their effect, and sequencing of administration, you might be surprised to learn that I was the recipient of that same protocol...

When you have a coronary artery bypass, they follow the same regimen. The difference being they bring you back (hopefully).

They put you to sleep and stop your heart an switch you over to a heart lung machine. When they are done, the reverse the procedure, maybe jump start the ticker, and you're off and running (again, hopefully).

They neglect to do the reversal with a legal execution.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Theoretically, you are right. In practice, it does not always work that way. Some of the alloy wheels have porosity and lose air.

I know of a couple of cases where air pressure would drop over a few weeks in one wheel and tire assembly and no one could find a leak is was so slow. I've had cars where I never put air in a tire for a couple of years.

[Dean Hoffman]

The aluminum wheels on my car have corroded a bit a couple times and leaked right where the tire is supposed to seat.

[nestork]

It's not quite that simple. In chemistry there's something called "electronegativity", which is a measure of how strongly different atomic nucleii attract the electrons around them.

[image:

You can see that except for fluorine, oxygen is the most highly electronegative element there is.

That means an oxygen atomic nucleus would attract the electrons around it more strongly than other atomic nucleii, and that means that the cloud of electrons around an oxygen nucleus would be smaller than you'd otherwise expect.

It turns out that despite an oxygen atom having more electrons than a nitrogen atom, the electron cloud around an oxygen atom is smaller in diameter than that around a nitrogen atom, cuz of that electronegativity. And that means that if you imagine an oxygen molecule to look like a small jelly bean, an oxygen jelly bean has a smaller diameter than a nitrogen jelly bean, which is why oxygen jelly beans can migrate through tire rubber more readily than nitrogen jelly beans.

[harry]

crease in mileage. (Recommended by Goodyear!)

The helium being lighter than air reduces the weight of the car thus reducing petrol consumption.

Hydrogen is even better. (This latter from OSBL) Recommended for every muslim as American air is haram.

Heh Heh!