Wide Based Tires

a few things to think about
outside edge to outside edge of STUPID singles (now you know how I feel about them) is not as wide as duels..... truck will not fell as stable in turns just because the track isn't as wide, on road with ruts you will feel the back of the truck move around in the rut.... it's 90 outside and sunny why does if FELL like i'm on ice.... only time I have ever been towed was with stupid singles on snow (3X)...1 time on packed snow in a flat parking lot michelin x one XDN2

is the tire dealer going to use the right rims for YOUR truck 0"-1"-2" offset.... the more the offset the wider the edge to edge will be BUT if your truck wasn't spec right you will eat the wheel bearing and may break an axel.....it would be the same as if you took all the inside duels off and only ran the outside tires.... only the truck dealer can check to see what offset you can use, the tire dealer can't tell what axel and wheel bearing your truck has.... my truck will take the 2" offset, I have a friend that has a truck that LOOKS like a twin to mine, same year, make, model, color, ordered for the same fleet but he would have to use the 0" offset because his axels and bearings aren't as big as mine....(can't tell by looking)

michelin x one line have some good tiers BUT also bad tires... the michelin x one XDA is a good fuel millage tire the michelin x one XDN2 will cost you .5-.7 mpg..... just because it's a stupid single doesn't get you better fuel millage

I run duels michelin x-line energy D, the best rolling resistance duel drive tire Michelin makes and better than most of the stupid singles they make..... ran them last winter in MI, OH, IL, IN. and they did just fine....about 130k miles and have gone from 23/32 NEW to 18/32...... my fleet cost $400 each on the truck out the door

btw I had 1 stupid single blow out (passenger side front drive) by the time I got stopped 500ft(rim was still good) I lost the cat walk, front splash guard and back 2' part of side skirt (the part with the rear step) and dented the fuel tank on a Volvo 780

remember free advice is always worth what you paid for it
just my 2C

 

if i know what bearings my trailer has, how do i tell if it "wishes upon the star" for 0,1 or 2" offset rims? Also, if you have bearings big enough for 2" offset, does that mean you can take 1 and 2" offset or are you supposed to use 2" only? Thanks

 

And that is why I stated that doing this out of the gate on a factory order is the best way to go. With wider (intermediate or wide) axles that standard, your argument about narrower footprint holds no water. And if one does the setup similar to the way I did with full lockers in both drive axles at only an $85 per axle uncharge, then the traction issues also are moot. With the intermediate axles I have on my truck, I get the wider footprint, even with 0 offset wheels, and I can still go to duals if needed, but instead of the typical dual setup with a overall width of 96", now with duals it would have a 102" wide track.

I live rural, even bobtailing home in winter months on weekends and snowing, I have never had traction issues. I use to have to get the wife to pull me up the drive with our ag tractor when ice and snow, but I have yet to have this truck towed for any reason in 469,000 miles since I bought it. And all it has ever had is wide based, and I stay up north all year round. Again, it is all in the way the truck is set up.

I have used the Xone XDN2 and the Xone Energy D on mine. I have very few issues from when I have run duals in the past. And pricing is relative. I just bought 4 Xone Energy D, and 2 XZA3 steers. Total cost was $5260 which included FET, etc. I got $180 for each of the old Xone's, and $150 each for the old XZA3+ steer tires. I had 447,000 miles on the Xone's and 227,000 on the steers. Total cost was then $4240 after the old tire credit for all new tires all the way around. Not really any different than your $400 per tire cost. Very cost effective. No appreciable advantage running duals compared to that.

There are arguments pro and con for either way. There is no one size fits all solutions with tires, or life in general. I like the wide based and will stick with them.

 

you can always use 0"...the trailer dealer can tell you (by trailer vin #) what offset you CAN use (max), if your truck/ trailer CAN use 2" you can always use less this is just the MAX you can use..... remember the more offset you can use the wider the track will be and the more stable it will feel

 

very true

 

This is an older thread but I wanted to update with my experience with the super single tire.

Put several units on the Super Singles three years ago. Did save a lot of weight and because we load out on the scales this does make a difference. However, we are now moving back to the standard duals.

A. Drivers complained they are not as stable in wet driving conditions.

B. We go off road and the super singles are the first to be stuck.

C. For the full advantage of the weight, you need to run them on aluminum wheels and if you blow out the chances of ruining the rim is about 95 per cent.

D. Recapping is not very reliable sort of a throwback to the early days of recapping. Simply put the super single recaps are not up to par with what we expect to see in today’s trucking.

E. The industry as a whole seems to be moving away from them. This relates to trying to buy a replacement on the open road difficult. My luck has been those that do stock them have old stock about ready to time out (sure sign they are not selling many).

 

Hmmm... I see more and more use of wide based tires, even on trailers now, all the time. I have been using wide based for 658,000 miles. I deal with several miles of gravel roads, weekly, that can be quite muddy at times, and they get hind tit when it comes to snow removal by the county, and i don't seem to have any more trouble than with duals. Several bulk livestock feed hauling operations in my area have moved to wide based rubber. But of course, off road is a relative term. I don't go into soft farm ground with 46,000 in the box. I will concede that I also am skeptical of wide based retreads. One has to be pretty remote to not find a replacement wide based tire out on the road. Regarding them in wet driving conditions, the only time that even remotely is an issue is when I bobtail and there is a lot of water on the road.

Of course, every situation is different. But wide based do a pretty decent job in most of them.

 

I know a fleet owner that says retread wide based tires on trailers wear better than virgins with his operation. He runs self inflation systems. Retreads are just as good as the casing they're on. Take care of those casings and maintain air pressures and you will have no problems with retreads at all. The gators you see on the side of the road are from a lack of proper upkeep coupled with wheel holder drivers running over curbs and anti-truck rocks because they are too stupid to make a proper turn.

 

I seem to agree with you. seems with proper attention tires don't blow all that often... although the only tires i did blow were recaps currently i run 5 recap 445s, makes me very nervousness

 

Since I bought my truck in 2009 and a trailer in 2012 I had never had a tire blow out on anything. Back in Jan 2014 I retreaded a set of worn out Yokohama drives that I had bought new in 2010. I took care of those tires always careful not to curb them, checking and maintaining air pressures often.

Up until this past fall they did great then I had 2 blow out in a month's time. I caught one before it failed at home in my driveway it had a large bulge in the sidewall. So 3 failures of retreads. And as irony would have it I ran hard from late spring up until Christmas. Normally during the summer I am down due to a lack of freight so I do upkeep on the truck.

But I was running a lot of quick, heavy loads all summer long. I let the air pressure checks go.... Wasn't keeping an eye on them... that's what I think caused the failures. My own fault. I did a lot of 75 mph trucking with heavy loads on hot days too.