Local welding supply stores have the nitrogen in various size cylinders. All you need is a cylinder, a good regulator and a hose. Cylinders are relatively inexpensive to refill, but you have to either lease or buy a cylinder. If you buy one, it has to be hydrostated every 10 years. If you are exchanging cylinders regularly most supply houses forget the hydro charge. (You don't own a specific cylinder, just a generic cylinder - whichever one they give you at exchange time........). Unless you're **** and insist on having "your" cylinder refilled and returned. Good regulator will set you back $30-60. Advantage is you can set the regulator to the desired tire pressure and just fill til it quits.

 

Of course I use Nitrogen in my tires and I also use the best polish available for my "ChromePlated Muffler Bearing"

 

Where do you buy the oil for your turboencabulator? I can't find it and I've looked everywhere.......

 

No offense to Kurt G or anyone else who buys (pun intended) into this bs. Thanks to the internet, there is very little profit in a tire sale, so the tire stores are just looking for other high profit centers to make up the difference.
Consumer Reports just did an article on this very subject, and said to save your money.
IMHO there are a lot of half truths and outright falacies being used to support this.
1. There is a lot of difference in the contents between a cylinder of certified dry pure nitrogen, and the output of a "nitrogen generator". The latter is neither pure nor certified dry. You'll never see NASCAR teams filling their tires from a nitrogen generator only from cylinders of pure nitrogen. They use nitrogen because it is the water vapor that expands with heat not the air, and their cars are sensitive to even a 1/2# of pressure difference, so they do not want any WATER in their tires. Before nitrogen became widely used the compressed air they used was put thru a complex arrangement of driers. This resulted in a large, heavy, expensive compressor system that required almost constant maintainance. Big difference between that and carrying a few cylinders of nitrogen. They also use the same cylinders for running their tire changing ratchets. (maybe we should all trade our garage compressors in for nitrogen to run our air tools based on "it's what NASCAR uses" justification?) NASCAR also uses 104 octane gasoline, should we be filling the tank on our Yugos with 104 octane? There are specific reasons that racers do certain things for their car to perform best under racing conditions, that doesn't mean it's the best thing to do for the street.
2. There is no effort made to remove the air and water vapor from the tires before filling with nitrogen short of removing the valve stem. Also what do they do when they mount your tires? Slop the beads with a water/soap solution! Can you say "I now have a LOT of water in my tire"?
3. 50.00 + to fill up your tires??? I thought it was ridiculous when gas stations added coin operated compressed air. About as silly as charging for cutting up the tread in your new tires.
4. Snake oil is snake oil no matter who is selling it.

My new truck has tire pressure monitoring on it, no where in the owners manual does it say to fill the tires with anything but compressed air.

 

Same with our '06 Charger.

My '69 Thunderbird sat in the garage all last winter. When I got it out in the middle of spring, the tire pressures were only down 1 or 2 psi.

 

Guys I know the nitrogen generator is different than bottled. As MIKEB stated I too have a truck in which pressure loss is minimal. The place I work does not charge extra for N2, and we still run air tools on compressed air.
Tire un-even wear has been reduced. Pressures are more consistant after 2 or 3 month, ie tires not underinflated. Most people driving out there do not take car of there cars. Thats why FEDs mandated TPMS (tire pressure monitoring systems). The other day I had a lady pull up with a new ford SUV and tire pressure was 18 to 21 psi on all for wheels, This SUV was less than 1 hrs sold, it had just left the lot. That rig should have been good for cross-country trip. Did you all check your tire pressures last time you filled up? What about your oil?
The main down side I see is consumers think they might not ever have to check pressures again (like they never did in the first place). Kurt G. Y-blocks rule.

 

Hooray for your shop! Tire places around here want 12.50 -15.00 per tire to fill with N2.
There may be a small reduction in pressure loss compared to air, but like you said people hardly bother to check it anyhow, and IMHO if told there will be less pressure loss with the N2 they will take that as reason to not ever check it. People demanded low gas prices over a "service" station with an attendant that pumped your gas and checked for things like low fluids and pressures worn hoses, fanbelts, wiper blades, dirty aircleaner elements for you, before there was a problem.
So instead you have prematurely wearing tires, engines that self destruct, automatic trannies that fail, wheels that fall off. The government steps in with state safety inspections and mandatory monitoring systems. "Pay me now or pay me later... was a prophetic tag line.

 

AX, how do you really feel?

Oregon (last time I checked) still requires that gas be pumped by a "technician", on health and safety grounds. Prior to the gas price surges of the last few years, gas there cost the same as everywhere else.

 

Oops got cut off..

So I don't think the cost savings from eliminating "full service" really got passed down to the consumer.

 

Sorry, I get passionate when I see people being sold something of little value at high prices just for the profit to the seller.

Of course the savings was not passed down to the customer only to the oil company. I spent 6 of my teen years as a "pump jockey" feeding my passion for cars. The service station owner made very little on the gas sales, 2.5 cents on the gallon back then. The gas sales were just to bring in the customers for the add on sales and mechanical work in the service bays. The independent mechanic/station owner went out with pump jockey. Today the "convenience centers" are owned by the oil companies and managed by large management companies. There is significant profit added to the gas sale as well as trying to entice you to make impulse purchases inside by having to come inside to pay.
The high gas prices forced the oil companies to install "pay at the pump before pumping" pumps which reduced the number of people buying more than gas, so the oil companies just added even more profit to the gas price to make up for it.
The oil companies are making obscene record profits every quarter...