Super Single Tires. Are class 8 trucks moving in that direction...?

[BravestDog]

My question is:

are new class 8 trucks converting from the standard dually rear wheels to the new super single rear wheels...? Is there any specific industry that prefers the super single vs the dually...?

I just saw a concrete truck, the one with the big barrel on the back with a rear two axle using super single rear wheels.

Are new trucks being sold with dually wheels or super singles...? Is this the new trend?

Anyone know the relationship between what percentage of each are being sold...?

[TransportDesigns]

To the best of my knowledge, you cannot get a new truck tractor with super singles. Late in 2007 I had a customer attempt to purchase a new cab and chassis from PACCAR (Kenworth & Peterbilt). They cited a maintenance issue with the single rear tires. However, reports show that the super single tires increase fuel mileage (3%), but I see this tire gaining little ground in the near future with manufacturers. The truck conversion market is tiny compared to the commercial truck market and until the commercial industry sees real benefit to replace duals, I don't see fleets and hence manufacturers moving that way. Fuel mileage is not improved enough to offset the cost of not being able to retread these tires more than once (there is increased strain on the super singles that prohibit retreading more than once.) I think we'll see faster change in commercial trailers which will likely force the truck market.

Steve

[DrFun]

I contacted Bridgestone/Firestone back in September regarding retrofitting my single-axle rig with super singles. Here's their reply:

The ultra wide base tires, reasonably new to the market here in the USA, are very popular in Europe, and have been widely used on single drive applications, which is also popular there. From a performance standpoint, there is probably no definite reason that you should not be able to use these tires in a single drive axle application here in the USA.


However, from a practicality standpoint, they may not be desirable to use in such application. The ultra wide base tires have a about a 13% smaller footprint than a set of duals being replaced, and typically also have less tread depth than a standard dual type drive tire; as a result, there is literally less rubber on the road, and overall removal mileage may be significantly less than dual tires. Also, when used in single drive axle configuration, there should be concern for vehicle downtime should the tire become unusable on the road; this is not quite such a concern with a tandem axle configuration.

Factoring in the reply above and the cost to retrofit (new wheels and tires), I decided to stick with duals.

And, FWIW, super singles were a factory option on dual axle Freightliner trucks when I ordered my rig in 2005. However, they would not install super singles at the factory on a single-axle truck.

[SandCarFan]

They are popular with trucking purposes that deal with heavy loads where they pick up cargo capacity due to the lower weight of the super singles. In SoCal, you frequently see them on liquid tanker trucks and garbage hauling rigs.

[geofkaye]

...TWO [fatties]TIRES AND[steel] RIMS IS $1700+... <IS THERE A SAVINGS?>...two tires[ 11X22.5's ]mounted on re-done rims is $570 out the door.....or $1140 for the whole axle[4tires and rims-Generals]....geofkaye