| Author | Message | ||
| Gary McFarland (Gearheadgary)
Rating: N/A |
A couple of days ago, this hicube van was backing into the truckwell and I snapped this pic. What are these tires? They are way cool. Gary  | ||
| R.J.(Bob) Evans (Bobofthenorth)
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They are called super singles. http://www.hankooktireusa.com/press_view.asp?ID=15 | ||
| Derek (Derek_l)
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Prevost has them as an option on the new H3. | ||
| jimmci9 #2 Rating: N/A |
lots of the fuel transport trucks run them on their trailers, here in texas... saves on weight.... more fuel hauled, more revenue... the super single will carry the load, maybe not as much weight as the duals they replaced, but are rated for enough carrying capacity to make the loading work out... | ||
| bruce knee (Bruceknee)
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The downfall with the super singles is that with a flat, you are dead in the water. With duals, you can limp somewhere to get a repair (sometimes) | ||
| Ed Jewett (Kristinsgrandpa)
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They are dangerous in some applications. In Huntington WV, years ago, a concrete truck wearing a set had a blowout while sitting at a traffic signal. It toppled over onto the car parked beside it, killing the occupant in the car. Ed | ||
| Johnny Rating: N/A |
OK, this won't be popular, but: duals have worked fine for over 5 decades. Why reinvent the wheel? | ||
| Gary McFarland (Gearheadgary)
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You are the guy in the converted chariot, right?  Gary | ||
| Jim-Bob (Pd41044039)
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One big problem with these is front wheel well clearance. Another issue is that the spare tire compartment can not handle a tire this size. Of course, that's not a problem for the millionaires who won't carry a spare, preferring to pay "Market Price" (like a lobster dinner) for this fairly rare tire. Since there are no duals, the "limp up the road" idea is gone, too. If the clearance & storage problems could be solved, I do think a bus would look pretty cool with a set of these. Jim-Bob | ||
| jimmci9 #2 Rating: N/A |
the concept is to make $$$$ revenue... the less weight the truck/trailer combo weighs, the more it can haul... it may not seem like much, but the differnce between 4 super singles on aluminum and 8 duals on steel will probably be about 800 lbs... 800 lbs of gasoline, diesel etc is about 100 gallons... so if the transport hauls 100 gallons more each trip, times 100 trips/yr, its like getting a free load of fuel delivered freight free.... doesn't seem like much, till you're in business with a bunch of pencil pushers looking at the bottom line...when i was service mgr at a volvo/white dealership in lubbock tx, in the early 90's i saw a study that volvo did to show that a tandem axle tractor that had a pusher axle, instead of a full screw, saved enough weight to haul an extra 110 gallons of fuel each trip...and when the truck is on the road 24 hrs a day, using shift drivers, it makes a difference.. town and country convience stores based out of san angelo/abilene texas runs their fuel trucks 24 hrs a day, hauling their own fuel.... it takes a while to pay off, but the numbers add up... to somebody that wants the super singles as a novelty, it might not pay off...kinda like waxing the wings on a plane, putting sped mods on (like lopresti), gap seals, it pays off in the long run | ||
| Jim-Bob (Pd41044039)
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Make that "pretty cool". Fingers stuttered. Jim-Bob (Editor's Note: Ok, I did. Merry Christmas!) | ||
| John that newguy Rating: N/A |
Hmmmm.... Re: http://www.hankooktireusa.com/press_view.asp?ID=15 "The new AH10 Wide Base/Super Single All-Position Tire is available in the 385/65R22.5 /18-ply rated size, and the 425/65R22.5 in both 18 and 20-ply rated tires. This coverage makes it the perfect tire for medium-haul and city routes where fleet owners have found that Super Singles deliver lower operating costs in their operation." Long haul/over-the-road highway speed use, may result in the tire heating beyond the manufacturer's design. Duals will run cooler under load, at highway speed, vs a single extra-wide tire that's doing all the work alone. It'd be reasonable to assume also, that the traction with one wide tire would be less than two narrower tires mounted side by side, making highway driving less safe.. I'd prefer a dual rather than a single wide tire, if I had to drive through a snow storm or heavy rain. | ||
| Buswarrior (Buswarrior)
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Hello Gary. In order to stop the discrimination being spread around here... Michelin have done huge work on these new dual-replacing tires. One 455/50 R22.5 is good for 11 000 pounds, and speed rated for 75 MPH. What more do you need on the end of an axle on the US Interstate system? Here's a link to the Truck Tire section: http://www.michelintruck.com/michelintruck/hom_us.jsp Click on Michelin Tires, the picture of a tractor shorn with the super singles. The tires to review are called "X ONE" Also before you get deeper, there is a load and inflation chart for Michelin tires amongst the selections... Weight savings of 465 lbs on the tractor, 4 of 455/50 R22.5 on Aluminum rims, versus 8 of 275/80 R22.5 on steel rims. Up until now, it has been the limits of tire technology that have prevented the use of single tires on the rear of heavy vehicles. It is only fear of new stuff that is preventing their more wide spread use. When profit margins are as tight as they are in trucking, you can see why they will be shy of anything that might not work out for them. And as for limp home, let's think about how the partner tire has failed. Most highway failures are due to underinflation, so the "good" partner has been running for some time carrying an overload, until the heat built up in the softer tire and it blew. Now, the one tire left in a loaded dual application, having been abused as it's partner failed, is grossly overloaded and under extreme stress. Whether it's internals survive the ordeal, or whether it may be trusted to complete its service life is suspect. A good operator will change out both tires, which ends up costing $$$. Making the same decision with an X-ONE is cheaper. And just like us, reputable operators have roadside tire service contracts. 1-800 and they'll be out to get you going. We just have to get beyond our conditioning and embrace the technology improvement! 2 stroke became 4 stroke, mechanical became electronic, R12 to R134... happy coaching! buswarrior | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
Rating: N/A |
And percentage wise, just how common are flats? I understand that some of the nuts run tires that are many years over age and under inflated and are just asking for trouble. My experience is that I never had a flat in well over 150,000 miles of driving the bus and pulling a toad of some kind. Maybe just lucky, but I think a large part of it was keeping a close check on the tire age and inflation. That was the reason I never bothered to carry a spare and all the additional equipment to change it. In fact, thinking about it, I do not believe I have ever had a blowout in my life of 50+ years of driving. Richard | ||
| Gary McFarland (Gearheadgary)
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Thanks buswarrior, good information, An example is my dad went to his grave having never used a Microwave, thinking they would cause cancer. Setting all the BS aside I think they are freaking cool. Straight up. I always wanted a musclebus. Practically speaking, my bus has a 22K# axle My whole freaking bus, at 30' is only 19K# total. My alcoas and Goodyear G159s are overkill to say the least. As for a Spare, I WOULD want to have a spare for this configuration, like an automotive space saver, I would retain a normal dual that would work for either the front or rear. Anybody know what these tires and wheels cost? Gary | ||
| Brian (Bigbusguy)
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I think they look stupid. And I think in ice duels have better grip 2 edges insted of one. Super single been around for a long time and I dont see every trucking Co. jumping to buy them and some states are looking on banning them for the road dammage they cause more load on a smaller foot print on the pavement. Also you have to mount them closer in to the center less stable in a hard turn. And I like the Idea I can move my steer tires to the rear when they are showing ware. Brian 4905 Klamath Falls Oregon | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
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Brian, why could you not move the steer tires to the rear? I have seen some trucks with these large tires all around. Richard | ||
| Brian (Bigbusguy)
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Yor right you probley use them in the front and you would turn a 45 foot turning radius into a 80 foot Becouse I would bet they would hit the inner workings before they even came close to the stops. Why stop there just go with the monster truck tires and wheels. And I think on the trucks that have them up front have a 18000 or more LBS axles with the bearings to handle the bigger wheels and load and the differnt off set and loads you would have with them. And I think the ride would suck. Yes I think if done right on a 2 axle 35' bus and maybe raised up a little it could look ok with the same size super singles on all 4 corners. Kind of a off road look. Any other way of doing it like on the rears only would look stupid I think. If you got the money gofor it. Im just going to stay with my old time bud wheels (Alacoa dura bright 22.5 ). Brian 4905 Klamath Falls Oregon. | ||
| Ethan Tuttle (Mrert)
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We had these wide tires on some of our state trucks here in Iowa and went back to the duals and narrow tires on the front. It made a big difference in the turning abilty. on slick roads the trucks want to go straight with the big wide tires. I did not like them at all. But this is just my opinion! Ethan 1981 Eagle 10 | ||
| John that newguy Rating: N/A |
Buswarrior- Re: Michelin X-One super wide http://trailer-bodybuilders.com/mag/trucks_super_go_single/ Potential negatives of wide-base tires: "Assembly size and weight One wheel assembly with a wide-base tire weighs about 245 lb, compared to 175 lb for a standard-size tire. It's difficult for one person to pick up the wheel assembly and move it around. Highway damage Although a study conducted by the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and published by the Reserve Board in January 2002 showed there is no significant road damage caused by wide-base tires compared to duals — Michelin marketing director Ralph Beaveridge refers to wide-base tires as “damage neutral” — a 1998 study in the United Kingdom posed questions. It concluded that the cause of surface-initiated cracking was due to horizontal tensile stresses generated by truck tires at the asphalt surface, and that wide-base tires generated the highest tensile stresses. Stress on bearings Dan Tilton, chief engineer for heavy-truck applications for Timken, says his studies have concluded that if a user is operating with an existing wheel-end design and simply taking off a dual and replacing it with a wide-base tire, there could be a “fairly significant reduction in the expected life of the bearing components.” Changing load position “It changes the load position on the bearings,” he says. “With the duals, the load position was designed to put it in a favorable position relative to the bearings, which are somewhat centered over the two bearing rows. Those designs have been around for quite some time, and the bearings were designed in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Users wanted the ability to go from dual to single and back to dual, but the wheel-end design has not been changed to accommodate the shifting of that load line."” The problem of availability is also noted. Not all back area garages are going to carry a tire that's not widely used. I can buy my standard bus tires in nearly any town I go to. But hey.... If all this bus stuff is "the hobby", then go for it. If the "hobby" is traveling, it's less expensive to stay with what's normal. |