super single tires

I ran with them for for a couple of months in a daycab in Seattle. They were slick as heck in the rain (wait till you're bobtailing...). If you have a road with ruts they yank you around alot since they don't fit into the ruts. The ride seemed rougher too.

All told, I hated them.

 

I think they look neat. Outside that, from what I'm told the only benefits are weight and fuel mileage. I had one trailer with them on, and there was a line running from the air supply keeping the tires inflated to the proper pressure. I think that's a pretty cool feature.

 

Not only do you have to sit if the tire blows, but not all tire places have them. SO you could sit longer while locating a repair place that actually has them. Also, that much more pressure in one big tire means lots more "collateral" damage if the tire blows - as someone pointed out above. So far it appears the down sides outweigh the up side...

 

True that.....we lost one on one of our concrete trucks at 50 mph, ripped the fender clean off.

 

I have no PERSONAL experience with them--but I can tell you--there are couple of local fleets in the NE that I see regularly that run them now--2 pull tanks and one is a local meat wholesaler--they do LTL all over the NE--about richmond to boston--maybe west to Buffalo-Pitts? Anyway--all their guys love them and rave about the winter traction--especially some of the deep pit inner city docs that almost never get cleaned out and others have been in/out of contributing to the slick icy surface(I'm sure y'all know what I mean)--What I SEE is they are running the Bridgestone version of the Mseries(which by the way is my all time favorite drive tire)
Now one of the tanker bunch--uses the Michelin which as I see it is more of an all position type tire(less bad weather traction on drives IMHO)--while the other--gas hauler runs goodyears w/a little more aggressive tread.
The guys with the Michelins(hauls water) aren't too pleased--my buddy that hauls gas is relativley ambivalent--
All of them agree if you have a tire problem--it can be a problem--but the meat company trailers all have a used mounted spare--so that does negate some of the problem.
Also my friend @the gas company did explain to me--the hubs are the same and they have a deal w/road service that if a replacement single is not available etc.--they just mount a set of dual in it's place--and there is some kind of trade back agreement.
So IMHO seems to me there are good and bad points like everything else--but especially in terms of traction--it does seem to me(just like in dual applications)that the choice of tire is still paramount. Some of us like a more aggressive tread pattern--due to what we may or may not do--others opt for a tire that may have less rolling resistance for fuel mileage etc...
I personally prefer a more aggressive tread--BUT I know I trade off a certain amount of fuel mileage--BUT--I do LTL almost exclusively--I run have and do a considerable amount of tight backing(twisting and turning)and spend a lot of time on bad roads in the winter.....
Hope this is somewhat helpful!
Just my $.02

 

I really haven't seen a traction issue, ice , snow or water and I have run in them all with my super singles. I am concerned with a blow-out or any flat, but that (knock on wood) hasn't happened yet.

Major pro.. if you have a heavy truck they are lighter..

 

Can you even imagine how much $$$$$$$ in inventory a tire shop would have to keep on hand to stock a full range of super single tires. LOL my God they'd go broke, never mind the storage space a couple of those worthless turds take up.

Hey driver? Where ya gonna mount that super single spare? Aint gonna happen...

 

Don't know about rest but as in my earlier post--and they may have modified their spare tire racks--but 2 out of the 3 carriers I was referring to had mounted spares with them.