If you are walking through a parking lot and happen to see a vehicle with green valve stem caps on it, you are seeing new technology in action. The green caps indicate that the car or truck you are seeing has nitrogen in it’s tires in place of air.

According to Darrell Smith, owner of one of the two locations in Clinton explains this new technology makes for a better ride, longer lasting tires and improved gas mileage.

Smith has been the owner of Smith Tires for 10 years now after his uncle and his grandfather started the business 40 years ago. He shared that for the first 30 years the business only dealt with used tires, but when he came to own the business and introduced a new tire line. “I am always looking for new and better ways to serve our customers the best way we can. New technology is coming about each day and I try to keep up with new ideas that will improve our business for our customers.”

One of the most current new ideas Smith has instituted is the Nitrogen Tire Inflation System. “It is pretty new for our area,” he said. “The system I have is one of two systems in the area. But we are the only business that focuses on passenger and light trucks for use of the area.”

Smith stated that he first started hearing about the new technology about a year ago and decided to include it in his business’ services. At first the owner said the process took too long for it to pay for his business to use because quantity is a big part of their business.

“We try to get our customers in and out in a timely manner and see as many customers as we can each day,” Smith said. “The early machines just took too much time to put the nitrogen in the tires but the equipment we currently have, we can change the air in the tires to nitrogen in about eight minutes for five tires.” The fifth tire includes the spare which Smith said is often forgotten until it is needed. “Volume is important to us and we go through a lot of tires in a day here.”

Smith ordered the nitrogen system in January and it was up and running by February.

“It has been so productive that it has paid for itself and I am even considering purchasing another system,” he said.

What the Nitrogen Tire Inflation System does says Smith, is that it improves the life of the tire, gives a better ride and even improves gas mileage. “Because of the nitrogen, the tire runs cooler and therefore does not cause as much wear on the tire as the air inflated tire does.”

The tire business owner explained that as a vehicle travels down the road, heat builds within the tire. The air inflated tire will increase the pressure in the tire because as the tire heats up the pressure builds which makes the tire over inflated. Over inflation causes the tire to wear unevenly and eats away the tire treads.

He gave the example that if you leave Clinton and travel to Chapel Hill, that your tire pressure could go from 50 pounds of pressure at the start of your trip to 60 pounds of pressure when you arrived. A nitrogen tire does not experience the heat change and therefore the tire does not over inflate. Smith said that is why tires sales go up in the summer months due to tire failure due to over inflation from the heat.

“It might sound a bit strange for a tire dealer to tell his customers that I can do this to make your tires last longer. But that is part of our customer service and is an attempt to help satisfy our customers,” he said. “Improved gas mileage is a big thing nowadays for people.”

He explains that under inflated and over inflated tires not only does the tire have more wear and tear on it, it causes the mileage to decrease. With the nitrogen in the tires the pressure does not fluctuate and therefore the ride and wear along with the gas mileage improves because the pressure is constant. Smith also stated that studies has proved that with nitrogen in the tires no only reduces the wear on tire significantly but reduces tire failure as much as 50 percent.

One of the biggest questions Smith gets regarding the nitrogen is about where he gets the nitrogen and how often he has to have his tanks filled? He explains that is not how the system works. “It actually uses the air we breathe and extracts the nitrogen from it.” The tire dealer went on to share that the air we breathe everyday is about 72 percent nitrogen along with other gases such as oxygen. What his system does is to take the air that comes from his regular air compressor and converts it to nitrogen and it is stored as it is needed in the tire inflation system. “We can change the air in all five tires on your vehicle within eight to twelve minutes.” All five tires are done simultaneously. Because the process removes the moisture from the air in the tire, it also decreases the possibility of rust build up in the rims. Nitrogen is also a non-flammable gas which is safe. Smith likes to joke with some of his customers by telling them that because they have nitrogen in their tires now they better not be smoking around their car. The major concern asked by his customers is that if their tire has nitrogen and they experience a problem with the tire and nitrogen is not available, can you put regular air back in the tire. His response is yes.

“It just reduces the percentage of nitrogen in the tire. When this has happened the customer brought his car back in and we were able to replace the air with nitrogen at no additional charge to the customer.”

If a customer comes in and wants the air in his tires replaced with nitrogen it would run about $40 depending on the size of the tires. But it significantly cheaper if with the purchase of tires. Smith offers with both their new and used tires. “Once it is installed in their tires it is a one time charge. If they come back in and need a repair we replace the nitrogen at no charge to the customer.”

One of his customers who did not wish to give his name and had just recently had his tires filled with the nitrogen said, “It was amazing. My car rides and handles much better and the gas mileage has increased from around 17 miles per gallon to almost 23 miles per gallon. That to me is worth the cost of the service.” Smith shared that word of mouth from his customers who have opted to receive the nitrogen service has been the biggest selling point. He also said he has not seen a negative side to nitrogen yet. The dealer gives every customer receiving the service get Smith’s business card with his number and so far he has not had a single complaint. “So far we have 100 percent satisfaction from our customers.”

Smith also stated that a lot of people around the county have heard about the nitrogen service but they are unaware that the service is available now here in the area. “With tire prices tripling in the past two years for both new and used tires and people are looking for was to save. That is why we are offering the service for our customers.” Smith Tires is currently putting the nitrogen in 95 percent of the new tires it sells and about 50 percent of all the used tires sold.

“The very first thing I did when the equipment came in, I put it in my car. I wanted to see how it was done and the difference it would make in my personal vehicle. It is in all my vehicles now and I am impressed at the difference,” Smith remarked. “We have been trying to service our customers with the most up-to-date products for the past 40 years. We will not compromise on our quality of service or the products we sell. We will continue to do that but you have to stay abreast of the new technologies that come along to provide that quality service that our customers expect.”

To contact Billy Todd, call 910-592-8137 ext. 117 or e-mail sigeneral@myclintonnc.com.