Super singles, tires that is
- Thread starter 427v8
- Start date
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Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Yeap, that's what they are. They have been used in off-road applications for some time (construction, mining, etc.) but a new breed designed for highway use is starting to gain attention from fleets. Michelin and others report up to 5% fuel economy gains when 8 tires (two axles w/duals) become 4 in their test fleets. Rolling resistance is much reduced and weight is saved as well. The tire is stiffer though (to carry the weight) so I wonder if it would be suitable for an RV, which afterall is supposed to be a comfortable vehicle.
Karl
Moderator Emeritus
Interesting point Gary,
I wonder if a valid analogy would be: Are 2 springs of, say, 2,000lbs. compression strength more or less comfortable than 4 springs of 1,000lbs. compression strength? I'm of course assuming that we're talking about sidewall stiffness. The Michelin One has been around for 18'wheelers for about(?) 2 years now, but I've never actually seen them in use . Ride quality can be modified by several means: Shock absorbers, air bags, spring dampeners, etc. My concern would be "what happens when you lose a single "One" tire on an rv axle as opposed to losing one of a pair of duals on the same axle?". We don't have the benefit of having two axles closely spaced, as is the case with the 4 axle 18-wheelers.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Obviously, losing 1 of 1 tires is a problem, but losing 1 of 2 is no bargain either. The remaining tire is suddenly far overloaded and will quickly fail too if you don't notice the other has gone flat. So now you have two flat tires! According to the Michelin articles on the Super singles, the majority of tire failures on big rigs are on the inside duals and they suspect it is because (1) they are less visible and get checked less often and (2) even professionals may not notice that one of a pair is carrying the entire load. I can testify to that - I had a valve extension fail on an outside dual and the tire still looked perfectly round, both at rest and in motion. Even with zero psi. It was absolutely impossible to tell anything was wrong except with a tire gauge or maybe a good whack with a thumper.
Invaluable for either a single or dual tire application.
