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Nitrogen Tire Inflation
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Nitrogen tire inflation is the process by which the ambient air that fills your tires is purged and replaced with Nitrogen. NASA, the U.S. military, Boeing, Indy and NASCAR race teams all use nitrogen in their tires, and with good reason. Nitrogen provides more consistent tire pressure for better handling, enhanced safety and longer tire life. You may not be driving a 200 mph race car, but you can have the same benefits. |
| California Chrome is proud to use Branick brand Nitrogen Generators. CalChrome chose to use Branick because of their recognition throughout the world as the model for quality and workmanship. Branick is the Nitrogen Generator of choice for the United States Military, and NASCAR, due to their high Nitrogen output and reliability.
The purity of the Nitrogen in your tires depends largely on the tire and wheel design. Typically the pure Nitrogen content will be between 92% - 98%.
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Because of its larger molecular size, Nitrogen migrates through a tire three to four times slower than oxygen. A tire filled with "plain old air" will lose 1.5 PSI in less than a month. This will take your tires out of spec within a short time, and cause you to constantly top off the pressure in your tires.
With Nitrogen, this process can take three months or longer to lose the same amount of pressure. Under-inflated tires account for 90 percent of blowouts. With 54% of vehicles on the road having under-inflated tires, it is the single largest reason for tire failure today.
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The difference in fuel economy between an under-inflated tire and a properly inflated one, can be as much as 6%. With the high cost of gasoline these days, every mile helps. Nitrogen will keep your tires at the proper inflation level for longer.
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Tire contact patch for proper, low and high pressure inflations. |
The contact patch for a tire is the area where the tire touches the ground, and is the only contact between your vehicle and the pavement. Maintaining the recommended contact patch by inflating the tire properly will make your car handle better, by maximizing the possible traction. Tire life will also be increased by allowing the wheel to wear evenly. Under-inflated tires wear on the outer shoulders, and over-inflated tires wear in the center.
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Because Nitrogen does not carry moisture, oxidation is reduced almost completely. When a normal compressor is used, the humidity in the air condenses in the form of water vapor in your tires. This water will react with the oxygen and oxidize causing premature deterioration of the tires and wheels. Oxidation can cause bubbling or flaking of the chrome finish, which at that point can degrade the base material of the wheel itself. Also because the vapor carrying oxygen permeates the rubber of the tire, it can cause separation of the layers and even rust the steel belts, making for an extremely unsafe driving condition.
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