Are any of you speccing out 'super singles' on the rear axles on your new units?

A tire guy was telling me that many OTR owner/operators and some fleets are going with singles on drivers and trailers. He claims lower repair/replacement costs and better fuel mileage as the reasons. What is your opinion?

Bob, I did alot of logging and lowboy-ing in the woods.  On first thought, I'd hate to get a flat and be stuck without being able to continue on to the repair shop.  How do these singles function, can you drive slowly to find a wide spot to pull over, can you limp into town 10-15 miles to a tire shop.....I would be concerned without having duals.  I really like duals, you just can't forget to check for rocks...or the tire bill will be horrendous.

That was my first thought.

You do realize why they get better milage?

The rotating mass is lighter so power unit need less horse power to drive unit - can you drive a unit on a steer axle with a super single when flat? No the same applies to the drive axle. One super single cost's less than two 11R 22.5s

The big booms are so heavy would you really want to run a axle on one tire - taking the risk of the tire coming apart and taking out fenders and what ever else is in the way.

The safe thing is to have the tire repaired, whatever the type.

they suck if its muddy

All the new big booms I have seen are running singles. They don't seem to have many tire problems... could be due to more experienced op's, I don't know. ;~)

Many rm companies in run them on front discharge units for year's here in wi. A fully loaded rm truck is pushing 80.000#fully loaded so I would say they have stood the test of time Terry

my truck was 121000 pounds didnt do good in mud

BigBoom,

Just taking one of those monsters into the mud is risky. 121 thou is a bunch. Have you driven a machine of comparable weight with dual tires?

R-Mix companies are making the switch down here too. Interesting concept. The R-Mix guys go the same places we do... I am curious to see how this plays out.

A flat would put you 'on the side' right now.