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jbrunson

Super Singles

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26 minutes ago, jbrunson said:

http://www.landlinemag.com/Magazine/2005/Oct/BottomLine/two-or-one.aspx

 

anybody tried this yet??? claims of more weight capacity, better ride, higher rollover speeds, and less rolling resistance..........  snake oil?

The real problem is that if one of them fails, it can cause a lot of damage not only to the coach, but to the rim and maybe the axle assembly. With a set of of tires on the rear if one does fail the side still has one that will allow you to move to the side of the road. 

Remember big trucks that are running them have more then one axle to carry the load and move to unit off to the side.

Rich.

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Lifetime member of OOIDA. They publish Landline. They have internet discussions on maintenance and equipment. Few were positive about super singles . The changeover is expensive, the trucking community at large has not embraced  them, and they have many negatives. Being a retired trucker, I know who the really big companies are and very few have super singles. Save yourself many $$$. Stay with what you already have.

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Agree with Rich & Obed......although you see some big rigs using super singles, most have not.  As Rich mentions, the security of having four tires on the rear axle allows one to limp off to the side of the road or safe spot in the event of a blow-out is good security for me.

I think one would have to put a lot of miles on their coach for an economic payout given the cost of the tires and new wheels.

Blake

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No way would I make this change, here's why;

The expense of changing wheel bearings or possibly hubs to accommodate the new offset, plus the cost of the wheel and tire. Most people fail to realize your axle housing, Hubs and bearings are all different when Super Singles are spec’d. If you are trying to lighten up for fuel economy change the inner wheel to aluminum. Also keep in mind traction can be a concern in bad weather including rain with the singles. I do not believe in this application the positives would outweigh the negatives.

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See previous discussions in the "Tires" section.

 

Bottom line is that for trucks that need max cargo weight and that drive 70 to 100k a year with very little time on secondary roads the "Super Single" may be a reasonable investment.

The lower weight of four to eight Singles rather than 8 to 16 normal size tires and wheels can be significant in more load which can mean more income.

 

I also doubt that many are converting existing trucks and those that do run these new tires are ordering on new trucks or trailers.

If you and your RV have the same needs as the trucks outlined above and if you can order a new RV with these special tires then it might be a reasonable item to consider. Otherwise I do not think making the change is worth the $$$$.

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Had this discussion with the tire dealer replacing steer tires on the coach I bought yesterday from a cost issue only you can buy a pair of drive axle tires for less than 1 super single plus you will have the other mods to make it work right and a wheel they are rated for more weight but in all but the largest coaches  h rated tires should do the job.

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In Europe the big rigs, delivery Box trucks, buses, gravel trucks and cement mixers all have singles.  However they all also have more than one drive axel, some I have seen up to 4!

Tour buses have a drive and a tag...just like I do, but even with the weight of passengers and luggage, they don't come close to my empty weight!

Carl

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Way way back, as in read 1970 or so, we had 'super singles on our camper and on one of our work trucks. NEVER AGAIN! Absolutely lousy braking. The truck with the SS tires would skid all over, the same truck with dual tires stopped much better and also had more pulling power. We did get a set of them to work on the camper, but if we could have fit dual wheels we would have done that.

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Many years ago, we had an inside dually blow out.  If it had been a super single, we'd have had a bigger mess than we had...and been stranded.

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Newmar tested them some years back, they must have decided the singles weren't worth the cost or something as they still use duals. Some of the construction trucks here use them on their pups, but not the towing rig.

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