super singles

[buzz64]

Well, it appears I will be "retiring" early. Myself and DW are happy and excited. I will need new tires before we hit the road full time so I am curious about super singles. I understand there is an increase in fuel mileage, but what about tire life. Is the price difference worth it?

 

[Phil D]

In RV service, tires "time" out long before they wear out. Never count on additional tire life to mitigate costs.

 

The increased fuel mileage won't allow you to recover the cost of conversion, either. If you find a truck that already has wide base tires, it makes sense to keep them (unless you plan to single and the truck doesn't have Stability Control, in which case the tire manufacturers typically don't recommend them), but you'll almost certainly not drive enough miles over the life of the truck to recover the cost of converting a truck with duals to wide base wheels and tires.

[TreyandSusan]

x2 what Phil says

[buzz64]

That was easy. I wish all decisions were that easy. Thanks for the info.

[stolpsaddles]

Also a flat on a super single leaves you stuck , dually you can run slower or remove the flat tire and run without until you get to the next town. Harder to find a replacement tire on short notice as well.

[dlcarsonak]

X-3 with Phil

 

I just had some tire work done and talked to the repair man. He does road service also. He said that when he goes out to repair a super single he takes a wheel also, because the old wheel is normally bad after a flat. The bill is around $3,000.(new tire, new wheel, and road call) You be the judge.

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

 

Also a flat on a super single leaves you stuck , dually you can run slower or remove the flat tire and run without until you get to the next town. Harder to find a replacement tire on short notice as well.

That might work if you are running way under loaded.

 

One of the reasons fleets are switching to super singles. Running on one tire, with a full load destroys the remaining tire as well. But the driver who does such a thing will not replace the other tire. He leaves that to happen at a later time with another interruption of service.

 

The fleets prefer getting the tire repaired/replaced where it happens.

[Jack Mayer]

Another point of info. I talked to some Volvo engineers (not sales) at MATS about super singles....they actually showed some trucks with them. In our application, singled, they said the same thing as Phil. If you have stability control then they would allow them on a new build. But they also questioned the value because of the miles run.

 

They sure look cool though.

[Bob Cochran]

To be honest I think the real reason for us to go with the supper single. Like Jack said "They sure look cool though".

[SunJuniper]

then theres the other issue.

 

axle manufacturers will tell you if they RECOMMEND or NOT the super single conversion.

the designed for weight on the inner and outter bearings in the axle are different for super singles versus tandems

and can lead to issues.

[VegasFlyer]

Another point that has always bothered me about S/S's, especially if you stay tandem, it is not uncommon on conventional duals to have a series of tires downstream or behind the original one that blew out, to also go out from debris created by the first tire or possibly an object you hit on the road. If that were to happen with Super Singles, you could have a huge weight shift to whatever side the flats were on, thus creating a potential loss of control.

 

If you were not tandem and you lose a rear S/S, you would be in a similar boat.

[fsujeeper]

i had super singles on my truck when we purchased it. They looked very cool, but were less than ideal for grass or gravel. We never had an issue with them on the road. I always worried about loosing one on the weekend, and being held over the coals for a replacement. We replaced the tires last year with a dual set up. The truck drives no different on the highway, but we have noticed more traction in grass and gravel.

 

mark

[buzz64]

I went ahead and priced a set of 6 all position tires. it was not as bad as I thought. When the time comes I will have plenty of options to purchase a set at a reasonable price.

[Larry&Donna-AK]

Thanks to all. I was thinking there would be more of a traction problem, seems to be true, and what to do about a spare tire.

 

However, there is a definite "Cool Factor" to them.

[MrSeas]

I have heard from some of my trucking friends that run super singles not all of the truck tire shops carry them. Might leave you on the side of the road if you can't get a replacement for a damaged tire. Another common problem is when a super single has a blow out it also damages the rim and may also need to be replaced.

[bigredhdt]

Company I bought my truck from had some in their pile so I asked them about supers. They told me they were getting significantly less life out of them and they were more money than 2 regular tires. They also didn't see any fuel mileage increase as well. One of my trucker friends also told me they are horrible in snow.

 

The only advantage is weight. They can put more product in the tanker and still be legal.