I probably should check my tire pressure more then I do, that said I also probably check it much more the the average joe, perhaps all 4 once every 1 to 2 months, and visually inspect them all the time, and if one looks low check it right away.
One thing I noticed as a year after year trend, when the weather gets colder, all of a sudden all 4 will drop by maybe 5 psi. This only happens 1/year. What is happening here? Does something (water vapor?) freeze out? Do gremlins come by at this time of the year and let some air out of my tires? Does anyone else experience this?
temperature affects tire pressure And it becomes a bigger deal in airplanes. Airliners use Nitrogen for that reason. The 1986 crash of flight 940 was the direct result of tire exploding from the heat of the brakes. Air was used instead of nitrogen in the tires.
Higher temperature increases gas pressure. The pressure of the gas simply comes from the force of the molecules bouncing against the walls of the container it’s in. Higher temperature means the molecules have more energy, are moving faster, and thus bouncing against the walls harder - more pressure. Lower temperature means the molecules have less energy, moving slower, and thus exerting less force against the walls - thus, lower pressure.
Contrary to popular belief, all gases behave this way - filling your tires with nitrogen would not solve the problem. Air is 70% nitrogen anyway.
Airlines do use nitrogen instead of oxygen in their tires, but not because it makes any difference to inflation pressure. Oxygen can react with the materials used in the tire. In the accident Magiver referenced, the tire overheated, which led to a chemical reaction between the oxygen and the rubber, causing the tire to explode.
It was not simply the additional pressure from overheating that caused the explosion - the increased pressure would be the same even if pure nitrogen was used.
