Question on Super singles vs Duals?

There are a lot, and I mean a LOT, of grain haulers and bulk haulers in my area that are now on wide based singles. They get in and out of feed lots, down a lot of gravel roads, etc and they are not having problems. I run wide based on my tractor, and I actually like them. I stay in the upper Midwest all year round, and I have not had any issue with traction in snow, rain, etc. And it can be interesting sometimes to try any get down the 6 miles of gravel road to my house in a snowstorm. But then, I also have full lockers in both drive axles. And I suppose the type of tire means something. I am running the Michelin XDN2 wide based. Now, I don't play games and experiment with tire pressures like some do. Not saying they are right, wrong, or indifferent. I just follow the recommended tire pressures put out my the manufacturer. I stick the tires every day. So simple to do using wide based and pass thru valve stem caps. Have caught one leak down when I was loading one time. One of the pass thru caps, I didn't make sure no leaks after I checked it that morning. I just reseated the cap, pulled out the glad hand air hose and and aired it back up, checked for leaks, and haven't had to do anything more since.

I suppose another tire model would give me better mpg. I might give something like the XDA Energy a shot in the future. But I am ok now with what I have. I have no desire to run duals on my drives again. To the OP, it is a ROI thing. Some will see a decent return running wide based, some will not. It is a hit and miss and not always a sure thing. I ordered my truck from the factory with intermediate axles and 0" offset wide based rims and Michelin rubber. I get pretty fair fuel mileage, I like the ride, I like the decreased weight, and I like how easy it is to check tire pressures each morning as a part of my pre-trip regimen. Oh, and I also put Counteract in the tires right after I picked up the truck from the dealer. I think that really helps with ride and tread wear on tires. These are some of the best wearing tires I have ever had.

Unless you have a need to reduce truck weight a little, there are some really low rolling resistance regular sized tires that will give the wide based a run for their money on fuel economy. I would look there first before shelling out a large chunk of change to swap rims and such.

 

I got lucky that my tire dealer had a used set of wheels that traded me for around a $500 upgrade to SS tires.

Let me add, how often have you had a drive tire blow out in all your experience because I have never blown out a drive tire since I owned my first truck before 2001. The tire sensors are a great investment to catch leak downs very early no matter if you use duals or SSs and they will pay for themselves for the cost of 1 road service call.

 

I can see where an O-O [especially] wouldn't want super-singles for several practical reasons but in my experience with them, I kind of liked them. 4 (or 8 ) fewer tires pressures to worry about and I've never noticed any loss of traction in snow. In fact I think they are better in snow because you have a little more weight applied per sq inch of tire surface area. The only time they felt "squirrely" to me was in the first few thousand miles of new rubber. I never noticed any amount of perceivable difference in wind or turns.

Interesting Write-Up On S-S's vs Standard Duals

 

Before when i have michelin Xdn2(ss),i have 1flat in 2.5 years,last year i changed the brand now Goodyear SS 392 duraseal,never more a flat,im happy with the tire,never problem in snow

 

I just went through my first winter with the singles and had no issues with traction at all. I also notice no real difference in mileage. They are fine for me as a company driver, but I wouldn't use them as an O/O for the reasons mentioned.

 

I use um and love them. After installing I gained .5 mpg. (old duels compared to new singles). If properly inflated, they last just as long as duals. I save about 7000 per year in fuel. On snow they do fine if properly inflated. In rain they do better. Even if they do wear quicker, the fuel savings pays for a a new set of tires anualy.
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They are less drag for sure, but I seemed to have noticed much more tire noise, and after some miles, they felt like they started to cup or egg shape? Maybe the pressure was not correct, but I wonder if on a set of duals, they help each other to stay round? Just a conjecture, as I have not much experience with SSs.....

If it were my truck, I have always wondered if a set of 24.5s with a low aspect ratio and narrow tread, such as say a 255/60 or something would not get a lot of weight off the rig, plus have very little side wall flexing, and compete with the SSs on fuel mileage and allow one to have the ablitity to get a rig off the hyway in case of a failure. I would like to see a test on the two.....

 

I wouldnt run super singles if they were free!!! Dual, you blow a tire, you ease on down the road, blow an SS and you are DONE!

 

then it's not really a cost savings now is it?