Pro's and Con's of Super Singles

Singles really aren't worth it for a 1 owner truck. They are no good for a spread either! I know a company that bought them on their new trucks cause of the so called fuel savings. It was a joke! there was no better mpg's but the trucks were lighter. The cost outweighs any gain, if any in mpg's. This company pulls flats/covered wagons. Maybe if pulling a van or something else it makes a difference?

I also know one o/o who had them, he had problems with the way they was wearing and how fast. He's since switched back to duals.

 

How much lighter are we talking? Hopper is paid by weight, so I wonder if this is worth looking into.

So far reviews either love them or hate them. It's difficult to figure out what's going on here.

 

Yeah I've got Michelin X One XDA, at the time I bought them about a year ago, they were the lowest rolling resistance drive tire I could find. Once they broke in a bit, Fuel mileage improved 4%, it would be better if I could put them on the trailer too... but I don't own the trailers I pull.

The weight savings of going from 8 regular tires on alum wheels to 4 singles on aluminum was around 350lbs, obviously that would double if you swapped the trailer too.

Here's a couple recent articles on Super singles and their benefits. There's also some videos on the Michelin site showing blowouts on loaded trucks.

http://www.epa.gov/smartway/documents/supersingles.pdf
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/06/single_widebase.html
http://www.michelintruck.com/michelintruck/tires-retreads/xone/xOne-fuel-savings.jsp

 

I specced my truck with Michelin super singles and wouldn't consider running duals. They are an important part of my MPG efficiency, weigh considerably less than the duals they replaced, drive great and last a long time.

My Volvo 780 achieved 7.73 MPG over its first 104,000 miles (per engine MPG download printout from the shop), with at least 75% of the loads over 40,000 pounds with a reefer. I am this week finishing my 52nd week with this truck and plan on getting another download and printout next week to cover the 145,000 miles total I have on it now. Since this encompasses my truck as a whole I can't break out how much of that MPG is directly related to the tires, but I don't doubt in the least it is 4-5%.

Volvo's tend to be a bit heavy, so saving about 400 pounds I see as a direct offset to my 415 pound TriPac APU. My 780 weighed 17,200 empty, per the factory scale ticket, and with full tanks and pulling a reefer I can legally scale a 45,000 pound load. With a van trailer and somewhat empty tanks I could scale 47,000 or so, and I've done over 46,000 before with no problem.

As I said above, my truck has about 145,000 miles and the tires were installed by the dealer before I took delivery. They are wearing evenly and are now in the 12/32 to 14/32 range. I expect 250,000 - 300,000 from my drives which is what I encountered at CFI when I drove for them.

I've only driven three winters in a semi so I'm no expert, but I can say I've rarely had a problem with my supers. Many companies run them now and I rather doubt if they decreased safety on snow or ice it wouldn't be found out and the tires discontinued. A few big accidents on a fleet would more than overcome any MPG advantage the tires might provide. I've driven on plenty of ice and snow during the winters and if you take it easy I don't think you'll have any difficulty with them.

Good luck,

Jim

 

With tankers I wouldn't have it any other way. But what we were told by the company is you have to have the truck or trailer spec'd for singles with a different type of axle or you'll be defeating one of best safety items of the tire. The axles have to be wider so the tank will have a lower center of gravity and prevent rollovers. Our trucks could not go back to duals because of this.

We've had them on our trucks since 1991 and and the problems have been nil. One driver had a blow out and he just pulled over but our trucks are set up different than a semi. If I had a single axle then I would be concerned about blowouts but with another axle there you just pull over. If you're empty you can even limp a little distance if need be.

I had to go into a station once a different way due to construction and I caught the last tire on the curb and cut it. It exploded or it made the sound of an explosion and I just pull in and unloaded. But everyone that was getting gas there filled their pants when they heard it go and I thought that was funny.

OTR I stay with the duals since singles are not that popular but local tanker work there's no better way.

 

My company started putting them on our team trucks for weight issues. The new model truck they went to was quite a bit heavier than the previous so they needed them for weight. If I remember right going to these saved about 500 lbs just on the tractor.

Yes these do super singles do blow out. I had one blow out on me. They will also smoke the rim most of the time too. We have had several smoke rims when they blew.

 

Here's an angle no one has mentioned yet....you cannot haul as much w/supers in about 5 states...see SD/ND for certain. They only allow 500lbs/sqin vs 650sqin with singles....on a spread axle you would go from 40k to roughly 37.4k legally...and yes they will ticket in SD

 

I say take the truck, give it to me, and I'll test it for a few years.