Put some air in those tires!

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DarkStar said:
Unfortunately after two alignments that didn't result in any changes, I changed the tire store and oddly that solved the issue. :D
Did you stay with the same BRAND OF TIRE ? (if so ... VERY odd ... what could a store be doing "wrong" ?)
 
LEAFer said:
DarkStar said:
Unfortunately after two alignments that didn't result in any changes, I changed the tire store and oddly that solved the issue. :D
Did you stay with the same BRAND OF TIRE ? (if so ... VERY odd ... what could a store be doing "wrong" ?)
No, I switched from Les Schwab to America's Tire Co. I picked up new tires from them (which cost a little more, but not much) and had an alignment done. Report stated that no adjustment was necessary.

Unfortunately this was 2.5 years ago and I don't have the vehicle anymore or know what I had installed.
 
Some anecdotal evidence on the effect of tire pressure:

We have a camper-van that we use for vacations. I purchased new tires for it and for some insane reason, they pumped up the tires the the maximum pressure on the sidewall. I should have checked the pressures myself, but I was in a hurry to get going. It drove just fine around town, but it became terrifying in a crosswind on the highway. Once I set the pressure to the correct values per the manufacturer's recommendations, the cross-wind problem went away. Now I know this is a full size van and not a Leaf, but it was a lesson to me. If the higher tire pressures result in any loss of performance (stability or breaking), its not worth, at least to me, the extra advantage that would be gained in efficiency.
 
Speaking of crosswinds: I got hit by a sideways gust the other day on the freeway and the car pulled towards the next lane more than I can recall experiencing in previous vehicles. I don't know if it was a freak/powerful gust, or if the Leaf is a bit prone towards crosswind effects.
The Leaf is a rather tall vehicle (for a compact sedan) so I imagine it is somewhat more affected than one might expect. (But still probably less than a typical SUV or Van.)
 
TEG said:
Speaking of crosswinds: I got hit by a sideways gust the other day on the freeway and the car pulled towards the next lane more than I can recall experiencing in previous vehicles. I don't know if it was a freak/powerful gust, or if the Leaf is a bit prone towards crosswind effects.
I've noticed this in the Prius. Like the LEAF, the Prius has a low Cd head on, but not so much sideways :D
 
The Prius has definite crosswind issues, but on the Leaf i have not noticed it but have felt gusts. the lower center of gravity helps
 
ecoobsessive said:
My dealer put Nitrogen in the tires and I'm guessing that's a good thing. Any thoughts about that?

I put nitrogen in my tires as well. At a blend of about 80% ;) I get that for free with my own air compressor. Hopefully your dealer isn't charging extra for that service.
 
ecoobsessive said:
My dealer put Nitrogen in the tires and I'm guessing that's a good thing. Any thoughts about that?

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2694/is-it-better-to-fill-your-tires-with-nitrogen-instead-of-air
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http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/repair-questions/4302788
 
blorg said:
ecoobsessive said:
My dealer put Nitrogen in the tires and I'm guessing that's a good thing. Any thoughts about that?
I put nitrogen in my tires as well. At a blend of about 80% ;) I get that for free with my own air compressor. Hopefully your dealer isn't charging extra for that service.
Ditto. I'm rockin' 80% from my air compressor and as long as your dealer doesn't charge extra it's not a bad thing. :D
 
I've always put nitrogen in my tires. Actually, a mixture of about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% argon. :lol:

I had heard that putting in pure nitrogen made the tires lose pressure more slowly, but that must be nonsense, since a molecule of nitrogen has less mass than a molecule of oxygen. If any molecules are going to leak out, surely the nitrogen would be more likely to do it than the oxygen.

Ray
 
planet4ever said:
I had heard that putting in pure nitrogen made the tires lose pressure more slowly, but that must be nonsense, since a molecule of nitrogen has less mass than a molecule of oxygen.
Mass isn't what's important - molecule size is.

Diatomic nitrogen is 3.16 Angstroms long. Diatomic oxygen is 2.96 Angstroms long. The idea is that, since nitrogen gas is slightly larger, it leaks out slower. If this claim were true, we would expect the air in the tire to eventually become almost pure Nitrogen anyway. Repeated refilling with normal compressed air would, over time, result in relatively pure nitrogen inside the tire as the oxygen leaks out. You would probably need a new tire from wear before you see any benefit.
=Smidge=
 
This morning I used the Easy Fill Tire Alert (page 5-4 of the owners manual) built into the car when filling the tires with air. It works perfectly by signaling when you reach the 36 psi for each tire with a beep from the horn. I was very impressed that it worked so well. Maybe this is a common capability on cars these days but the Leaf is the first car I have had with this. Another nice surprise on a great car.
Is this common on other cars?
 
Leaf1 said:
This morning I used the Easy Fill Tire Alert (page 5-4 of the owners manual) built into the car when filling the tires with air. It works perfectly by signaling when you reach the 36 psi for each tire with a beep from the horn. I was very impressed that it worked so well. Maybe this is a common capability on cars these days but the Leaf is the first car I have had with this. Another nice surprise on a great car.
Is this common on other cars?

i am sure its that way with other cars just dont know about any of them (above my pay grade...)
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
Leaf1 said:
This morning I used the Easy Fill Tire Alert (page 5-4 of the owners manual) built into the car when filling the tires with air. It works perfectly by signaling when you reach the 36 psi for each tire with a beep from the horn. I was very impressed that it worked so well. Maybe this is a common capability on cars these days but the Leaf is the first car I have had with this. Another nice surprise on a great car.
Is this common on other cars?

i am sure its that way with other cars just dont know about any of them (above my pay grade...)

I didn't know the LEAF had this. There is an Altima commercial about this and thought it was neat.
 
OhmPah said:
Some anecdotal evidence on the effect of tire pressure:

We have a camper-van that we use for vacations. I purchased new tires for it and for some insane reason, they pumped up the tires the the maximum pressure on the sidewall. I should have checked the pressures myself, but I was in a hurry to get going. It drove just fine around town, but it became terrifying in a crosswind on the highway. Once I set the pressure to the correct values per the manufacturer's recommendations, the cross-wind problem went away. Now I know this is a full size van and not a Leaf, but it was a lesson to me. If the higher tire pressures result in any loss of performance (stability or breaking), its not worth, at least to me, the extra advantage that would be gained in efficiency.

The LRR tires are different from regular tires. If you over inflate regular tires, you lose control and they wear more in the middle. Going 5 lbs. over with LLRs actually helps them wear better and the control / safety is maintained.
 
LEAFfan said:
OhmPah said:
Some anecdotal evidence on the effect of tire pressure:

We have a camper-van that we use for vacations. I purchased new tires for it and for some insane reason, they pumped up the tires the the maximum pressure on the sidewall. I should have checked the pressures myself, but I was in a hurry to get going. It drove just fine around town, but it became terrifying in a crosswind on the highway. Once I set the pressure to the correct values per the manufacturer's recommendations, the cross-wind problem went away. Now I know this is a full size van and not a Leaf, but it was a lesson to me. If the higher tire pressures result in any loss of performance (stability or breaking), its not worth, at least to me, the extra advantage that would be gained in efficiency.

The LRR tires are different from regular tires. If you over inflate regular tires, you lose control and they wear more in the middle. Going 5 lbs. over with LLRs actually helps them wear better and the control / safety is maintained.


Running 50.
 
LEAFfan said:
OhmPah said:
Some anecdotal evidence on the effect of tire pressure:

We have a camper-van that we use for vacations. I purchased new tires for it and for some insane reason, they pumped up the tires the the maximum pressure on the sidewall. I should have checked the pressures myself, but I was in a hurry to get going. It drove just fine around town, but it became terrifying in a crosswind on the highway. Once I set the pressure to the correct values per the manufacturer's recommendations, the cross-wind problem went away. Now I know this is a full size van and not a Leaf, but it was a lesson to me. If the higher tire pressures result in any loss of performance (stability or breaking), its not worth, at least to me, the extra advantage that would be gained in efficiency.

The LRR tires are different from regular tires. If you over inflate regular tires, you lose control and they wear more in the middle. Going 5 lbs. over with LLRs actually helps them wear better and the control / safety is maintained.

going 5 pounds OVER what?
the sidewall max or the recommended inflation level?
 
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