Super Singles and safety in the winter?

Yes PROVIDED you monitor the tires like the regs say you should. If you ignore them like most drivers you will pay for more roadside repairs. With dual tires you can limp to a truck stop for repairs. You cannot limp anywhere with duals unless you also buy a new wheel. I would not consider dual vs single a factor in picking a company. Many drivers just repeat some 2nd hand story they once heard from 2000.

 

Drove a rig that had supers on the drives. Had the left side front drive blow. Scary. Felt like the truck was hit from behind. Knocked a hole in the bottom of the trailer and broke the end cap weld on the fuel tank. Big ol mess.

 

I would only go super single if it was both truck and trailer and you never went north in the winter. Also note I wouldn’t go out of my way for super singles, but if it happens to have it already I wouldn’t say no. Here’s my reasoning.

If you properly maintain and check your tires, and have like a maxxair or whatever it’s called system on the trailer or something similar on the truck, you won’t blow a tire unless it’s a tire defect.

The weight you save will make a big difference as the time goes on. The fuel mileage you save will make a difference as well. Lastly my Costco sells Michelin super singles for $900 each. In the life of a tire you’re saving a crap load of money.

If you want to be paranoid you can carry a spare under the trailer with a rim. I think the only downside really is traction in the winter. If a tire blows you can limp just using a ratchet strap if not super heavy.

 

Singles suck in slick conditions.
Singles suck if you bust one, be it a flat or blowout.
Collateral damage is tremendous.
Another driver had one more or less s explode on her trailer, which took out the rim, fender, tail light assembly box, license plate bracket, and rear bumper was pretzeled... Took the shop a month to fix it to be usable again.
In normal conditions, they're great.
Lighter, good tread life, good mileage... Overall, I like them most of the time.
Even in heavy rain, they're fine.
Snow and ice, forget it.
Park it and watch the fire in the stove until things thaw out.

 

I had them on a Cascadia, and even on snow and ice I thought they did fine. Never got stuck. I was in 42 states with them.

I concluded also from driving other Cascadias with duels, that they are worth about .5 mpg. I could tell that they roll easier by the distance they took to coast down.

But, they are noisy, and in a cross wind they do not have the lateral stability of duels.

If one goes flat, you will probably be buying a rim as well.

 

Talked to a guy about this not too long ago.
He said that if you are doing a lot of highway and not much city, there is a small mpg gain.
But a lot of local/city where you are turning alot will wear them down pretty quick.
So, depends on what kind of driving you do.
For him, he said they were working out as he does mostly highway and straight into, and out of, warehouse areas.

 

2 things that make a would of difference..

Wheel offset. 0", 1", 2"... some trucks can only use 0" others can use 1" or 2" (has to do with axles and barring) wider is better for ride and handling. 0" offset when running on roads with ruts the back of the truck will float back and forth in the rut...(why does it feel like I'm on ice in CA in August) add them to the trailer and it looks real strange to see the truck float right 1-2 in as the trailer float left 1-2 in the same time...

Type of STUPID single.
X-line energy d (duel) gets better mpg than X one XDN2 STUPID single... just because it's a stupid single doesn't mean it'll get better mpg.

 

I’ve had buddies that ran them and said they’re pretty sketchy on wet roads always wanting to hydroplane.

 

The one truck I ever drove with them was miserable on anything but a very smooth surface. If the road was rutted at all by traditional duals, the singles would constantly wander. I swore I’d never have another truck so equipped.