[DeTomaso] Firestone recomendation

Thu Apr 1 11:03:50 EDT 2010

The only problem I see with any of this is the difficulty I have adjusting air pressure without the valve stems in place.

I usually put about 90-100 psi in the tires and by the time I get the cap on the stem I figure its down around 35 psi.  You can't check the pressure with a guage either so I just go by look and feel.  Problematic, but if you want that last little edge in weight savings, it's worth it.

Michael Frazier
Gruppo Rompiculi Corsa 

> From: michaelsavga at gmail.com
> Date: Thu, 1 Apr 2010 10:37:52 -0400
> To: tmshinro at aol.com
> CC: detomaso at realbig.com
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Firestone recomendation
> 
> Helium isn't flamable, that's Hydrogen.
> 
> Nitrogen has been used in racing tires for decades because it doesn't expand
> at temperature as does regular air.
> This is applicable only in racing tires generally speaking where a 1 lb can
> make a difference between "Push'n" and Pull'n" or as
> sports car people say, Understeer and Oversteer.
> 
> IMHO opinion, removing the valve stems in a bad idea, valve stem caps,
> threads and the stems themselves were not designed to be pressure holding
> devices, but rather to keep it attached to keep the dirt out of the workings
> of the air valve itself.
> 
> Every NFL and College team has at one time tried to use helium to make a
> football fly higher and father, it has no measurable effect on either and
> the weight in nearly the same,
> 'helium only works uncompressed when it is allowed to expand and displace
> air.
> 
> As far as the 84.00 that you spent, if you are happy, that's all that
> counts.
> 
> Hate to be a killjoy.
> 
> Michael
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 10:28 AM, <tmshinro at aol.com> wrote:
> 
> >
> >
> >
> > I'll defer to those more knowledgeable, but isn't helium flammable
> > (thoughts of the Hindenburg are coming to mind)? I've heard of using
> > nitrogen instead of air but this is the first I've heard of using helium.
> > Maybe it helps lighten the car :).
> >
> > I've also never heard of removing the air valve and relying on just the cap
> > to keep the air/helium/nitrogen in the tire. Sounds iffy to my old
> > fashioned way of thinking.
> >
> > Tom
> > #5186
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: matt at nwpantera.com
> > To: detomaso at realbig.com
> > Sent: Thu, Apr 1, 2010 9:15 am
> > Subject: [DeTomaso] Firestone recomendation
> >
> >
> > Hello helpful forum members,
> > I took my car to the Firestone shop this morning.They rotated the tires
> > for me(left to right of course).The mechanic suggested I remove the old
> > "dirty" air in the tires and replace it with helium.He said the benefits
> > are many including less upsprung weight and total weight reduction of the
> > car. I called my wife and she said it made sense to her so for $42.00 per
> > axle I now have helium in my tires! I'm the man! He then needed to know
> > what the factory torque specs were for the valve stem caps.
> > He said this is critical because to further reduce weight he removed the
> > innards of the valve stem. An old racing trick he said.I didn't have that
> > info handy so he used a hi-tech calculation method on his computer
> > database. That was only $19.95 and it seemed important so I said go for
> > it.
> > Better safe than sorry.
> > It's rare to find a shop that really cares so much about safety and
> > performance with our "exotic supercars",as they put it.
> > I would sincerly recommend Firestone to anyone seeking help with the new
> > up to date methods of increasing performance on your Pantera.
> >
> > Matt
> > 3584
> >
> >
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> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Michael L. Shortt
> Savannah, Georgia
> www.michaelshortt.com
> michael at michaelshortt.com
> 912-232-9390
> 
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