Super Singles

Work great on concrete mixers, we have guys that drive them and like them...but OTR I probably would not trust them. We have some transfer dumps in So Cal with super singles....those things are tough to back! seems the tires react much quicker than the same setup with duals all around.

 

Wow, I would scared #### less to drive a mix truck with super singles and 100K lbs of concrete back there rolling around and end up blowing one of those tires. My blood pressure would never level out constantly wondering if I'm going to get into an accident over a tire.

 

First off mixers are not carrying 100K, The tires on the front of a heavy haul or mixer are not the same tire are put on a trailer.

The company I work for Valley Bulk is a concrete bulk hauler and we have had batch plants with mixers, at one point in time we had 4 batch palnts and 96 mixers.

Our new trailer come in from Beall pneumatic doubles with singles on them they are pulled and put on out bottom dumps.

The weight difference is right at 750 lbs. The mixer steer tires are about 60 lbs heavier than the trailer tires. The trailer are rated as all position tires but I have never seen them used on the steer axle.

We do not use singles on our OTR regional tractors or trailers highway failure in the past has been to high. Maybe our weight load as we are always right at 80,000, 56,000 is load weight.

Normally a highway flat or blowout would take the rim with it. Company policy is to park when flat not to run for help, and we get paid hourly for breakdown is the fact you can run on a flat (or blown) does not matter to us.

Personally I would run them on a local truck around town, but never OTR. They seem to work better in dry quarry conditions, but you add water and there dead in there tracks.

I ran them for about 2 years here when my tractor and trailer were new, never personally had much trouble as far as dependability, but duals ride better in out industry, Did like mud or snow.

 

Mixers here in CA gross 70K....and they have the same heavy haul setup in the front like powder joints said.

 

See this is my point. Everyone has a different opinion on them. They are great if used in the proper application. There is no right answer, not everyone. and I would actually say most people. would see no benefit to having SS's.

If you need the lightest possible tare weight and you've done all the obvious stuff already (spec a lighter truck, aluminum wheels ect) and could benefit from the extra ~600 lbs of carrying capacity then yes they would probably work for you. But I laugh when I see something like a steel flatbed with super singles, or better yet the super singles with steel wheels. I've got one to use as a spare, had I picked it up before I bought it I would have never bought one. It's extremely heavy, I'd bet it weighs 4 times what the aluminum wheel weighs. Super singles work great if used in addition to other light weight stuff. But like I said before, in my experience they do not last longer, they are not worth a crap in the snow, spin easily on wet roads (empty), and they are not cheaper. But they seem to be easier on fuel, they are lighter.

If they're worth it to you all depends on what your looking to get out it.