Deputies find stability, savings in using nitrogen

OCALA - Motorcycle deputies once dreaded braking while traveling at high speeds because their two-wheeled machines would shimmy and shake as they came to a stop.

But since filling their tires with nitrogen as part of a three-month study conducted by the Marion County Sheriff's Office administration, the shaking stopped.

"They both came in at different times and told me they had better control," said Wyatt Earp, the Sheriff's Office fleet management director, of two deputies. "They hadn't talked to each other either."

Earp also inflated the tires of six cruisers with nitrogen for three months and found that the practice increased mileage by a half-mile per gallon.

That may not sound like much, but the savings add up.

When you consider that 700 cruisers, 300 of which are on the road on a given day, rack up 8 million miles patrolling the sprawling Marion County countryside, those savings can be substantial. That small increase in mileage could save the Sheriff's Office $92,000 in fuel. Officials hope it will save an additional $44,000 in tire wear.

And Sheriff's Office officials say it's also safer.

That's because the nitrogen system maintains tire pressure, unlike tires filled with compressed air that have pressure fluctuations due to changes in temperature.

"It also improves how the car handles," Earp said.

Earp said based on the three-month preliminary study, the Sheriff's Office will use nitrogen throughout the entire fleet. They will monitor the savings for the next several months.

He said he purchased a machine that transforms traditional air, which is already 78 percent nitrogen, into 100 percent nitrogen.

The savings will offset the cost of the $8,000 machine in about a month, said MSCO public informatioin officer Capt. Jimmy Pogue.

The problem for the average consumer to begin using nitrogen is the cost, which currently ranges from a few bucks to $20 per tire. Usually, the higher cost includes lifetime refills.

At Bob's Tire and Brakes on West State Road 40, manager Dennis Spadafore said they recently started selling nitrogen, charging $49.95 for all four tires, including lifetime refills.

He said his customers have reported gas mileage savings and said that tires will last much longer because nitrogen does not expand dramatically like compressed air.

The more the tire expands, the more rounded it gets, causing uneven wear. Though Spadafore is selling the product, he believes it will save car owners in the long run.

For the same reasons that nitrogen does not expand as much as compressed air, Pogue said they believe the cars are easier to handle, especially at higher speeds.

"This also makes the vehicle safer for our deputies to drive," he said.

Experts say nitrogen-filled tires remain inflated longer because the molecules are larger than oxygen molecules.