Wide Based Tires

I say stick some good low rolling resistance tires on, keep the duals.

Michelin line energy D are a very good choice, as are a few others.
BTW I completely disagree on the assessment of traction or tire life on the Line energy D series and would say the exact opposite is true.

 

It has made me very leary of going home, especially after the summer we have had. One little slip of the tire and it is stuck. I have made some traction matts out of some old tire chains from my O/O days so if I see that the ground is really soft, I throw them down before I back in. That keeps the tires from digging a hole.

My company has 2 different tread types. Some with deeper lug tread and others with the road tread. The deep lug gets worse mileage as you would expect, but don't get stuck as easily. If it were my truck, I'd stick with duals to be honest.

 

I am not a fan of wide base tires. I have noticed they get stuck easier. Get mud in the tread they turn into a big slick bald tire. I've been stuck on a few inches of packed snow. As soon as they dig a little divot, they ain't coming out by themselves. And the one poster was right about you also losing the rim when you blow one. And like is the case with dual tire setups, you can't limp down the road to get to a better safer place to stop. Lose a single and you are right there till the service truck comes. And to repeat again what another poster said, they fight ruts real bad. Especially with a trailer with duals. If I owned my truck, I would have to get a really really big discount to consider putting them on.

 

While I really like the wide based drive tires on my truck, I do not ever recommend someone switch to wide based from duals. I only advocate spec'ing wide based from the factory, that way you can get the best axles designed for them and axle length that is more effective and use 0 offset rims. Likewise, maybe even spec full lockers in drive axles to avoid any traction issues.

I spec'd an intermediate length Meritor 14x axle set on mine, I use 0 offset rims, and have full lockers. From the factory, this is relatively cheap. the locker option for each axle was only $85 each from the factory. I got 447,000 miles out of my last set of wide based, still had 8-9/32 tread left, and dealer gave me $180 each for the old tires. Did get a small bolt in the center of one of them at around 100K miles. I just kept it aired up and got to my tire dealer 100 miles away and got it repaired. Only checked air pressure twice enroute. That tire still went to 447K like all the others. The intermediate length axles are longer than the standard length, but still I could go back to duals if needed. But in doing that, the total width would be right at 102". I run only the upper tier of the country, and never have any issues with snow or ice. I even run several miles of gravel roads each week and never have any problem with mud and such with wide based. Lots of drop and hook in gravel lots that have some pretty good potholes and never have any problem.

But for someone running duals, just get one of the great low rolling resistance tires on the market and be happy. The cost to switch to wide based may or may not be worth it. Long time for any ROI. Not really sure the weight savings would justify the cost.

As for worrying about blowouts, not really as big of a deal as some make it out to be. If you run the proper pressures in them, take care of the tires by keeping rocks from burrowing into the tread, etc, the risk of a blow out problem with a wide based is not that great. Trailers, especially spread axles, maybe more frequently. Sure, if one were to blow one, you would be on the side of the road. But if one blows a steer tire, the same thing even if you are running dual drive tires. I check my wide based tire pressures at least every other day, and sometimes daily during seasonal temp changes. Just part of my morning pre-trip regimen. Doesn't add more than a minute to my time. I use those pass thru "alligator" type valve caps so I can stick a gauge on them and check things pretty quickly.

 

I have had one blowout and come apart.....I was able to drive a couple of miles, the rim was not damaged.

 

Is it just me but it appears that super singles narrow the overall width of the tractor wheels since it looks like the drive hub is almost flush with the outside edge of the rim.

 

They are skinnier than dual wheels

 

curious info. Inflated tire pressure weight vs flat tire weight. 22.5 445/50 michelin energy tire on aluminum rim at 115psi weighs 219lbs. At 0psi it weighs 214lbs. so the pressurized air in the tire actually add 5lbs! hehe. I kinda expected it but i just did the experiment a few minutes ago to get exact numbers. Also 10/32 inch of tread wear changes that tire weight by about 22lbs!. So 2/32 super single is about 30lbs lighter than new super single For comparison 24.5 low pro on steel rim weighs about 200lbs.

 

I had a pass-thru valve leak (i think it wasnt screwed tight enough). So now I think the best way to avoid flat tire due to leaky valve is a correct truck tire valve cap! I blew a super single a few months ago and was back on the road within 2 hours!. I took the tire and the rim off, limped to truck stop, bought a new super single and rim, mounted there at the truckstop myself and was back on the road. Now, I think a blown supersingle is quite mellow.