Sleeper tractors; single or tandem axle?

Its not the tire or the capacity I worry about, it's that offset that kills your axle bearings!!! Sure, there are a lot of super singles out there, but the biggest offset rim you can get is 2" singling out a tandem gives you like an 8" offset or more.

If you ever notice the buses or big RV that run a singled 2nd axle, the singled axle is quite a bit wider and the rim is mounted inboard like on a steer, I have to believe that is to save the bearings.

 

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what he said...

 

It is legal assuming you don't overload the tire/wheel assembly capacity, although you addressed the bigger concern in a later post, the wheel bearing off-set. If you were to single out a dual wheel assembly I would leave the inner wheel in place not the outer wheel although you will suffer some roll stability. When I had my short neck Miller I had to pull it with a rented tandem a few times I had to single out the rear drive otherwise I couldn't turn. Ryder wouldn't single out the rear drive axle but Penske would, said they do it for YRC all the time (which I know they do since I used to tow for both Penske and YRC).