single rear wheels?

yep



American Trucker

 

There are 2 advantages of what I call stupid singles. They are lighter than duals. Also, they improve fuel mileage because of what is called rolling resistance. When a tire rolls, the side walls flex. This flex consumes energy. With duals, you are flexing 4 side walls. With the stupid singles, you are only flexing 2. This means that it is easier to roll a single tire than 2 standard tires. So, less engine energy stolen in the tires. Think of the cooling fan coming on while going up a hill. It robs the engine of power. The same principle.

The disadvantages have been covered. If you get a flat, you are pretty screwed. Pull over right away and you have to replace tire and rim. On duals, if you lose 1 tire, the other tire will hold the rim off the ground and protect it. The greatest disadvantage is the wet traction. While the additional tread is an advantage on dry ground, it tends to cause you to float on wet surfaces. They do not make a super single with an aggressive tread or lug pattern to improve wet traction. It is sort of like using a street tire from a buick to go 4 wheeling in your jacked up pickup.

I had super singles for 8 months and will NEVER run them again. They are IMHO way too dangerous.

 

they have recently started selling open shoulder, siped Super singles....not that it"ll make them worth a ####, just figured you might want to know.



American Trucker

 

I have seen them. The last tire repair/change I had, they put 1 on with the rest of them being the old style tight tread types. I don't think that the new tread pattern is aggressive enough to compensate for the larger footprint. The nominal fuel savings are not worth the cost of a totaled truck and definitely not worth the cost of a single life.

 

It just depends. I would never use them OTR but in the city that are much better. You'll see a lot of gasoline tankers using them because after a awhile they will pay for themselves in more product being hauled. Plus they have a wider axle so the tankers do not roll over so easy. The center of gravity is lower so that ads to safety. I've had complete flats on them and with an empty truck you can limp back or off the road as needed. But with gasoline we are required to stop with any flat. So if you want to save money and have a little safer truck then use them in the city. If you want to use them OTR expect to wait forever to get a flat fixed.

 

of course but do you know what they cost for a SUV or Mini van? add that cost on top of the price of truck tires No one could afford them, also i dont think it would be possible to recap them. Also Run Flats are only good for 50 miles after they gel activates, so all the extra money would be a waste when we can limp on our other 17 tires to a shop or have road service come out....



American Trucker

 

Coming from Prime i can tell you from experience, they are about 800 pounds lighter than duals, the new smaller sleeper fad is the new light weight trend, these "lightweight" set ups can legally haul 49,000 pounds. Its all a marketing ploy to entice shippers to go green by hauling more with less fuel. I for one will be glad when this "trend" is GONE!

 

It has nothing to do with going green. It is all about going cheap. If the shipper can get more freight on a truck for the same cost than splitting loads over 2 trucks, they will do it. The unfortunate thing is that the driver is usually the one that suffers from the lightweight systems changes. You either get put into a truck that is a hazard (The stupid single tires) or one that is uncomfortable. There is nothing wrong with using lighter materials, but not when it compromises safety or driver comfort. We pretty much live in the truck. If I am not comfortable, then I will not be a happy or safe driver. If I have a sleeper big enough to store enough clothes to last until the next time I can get to a laundromat, enough food to take care of me in case the highways get shut down and enough space to be able to stretch out and relax, then I will be a happy driver and would tend to stay with that company longer than if I was having to re-wear dirty clothes, was stuck on a shut down highway with nothing to eat or so cramped up that I don't even have room to change my underwear. I have been in trucks with absolutely no storage or "maneuvering" room on the inside. If the company cares that little about driver comfort, then they don't care about the driver at all. If they don't care about me, I don't care to continue my employment with them.