Strange double-width tires on a semi?

I recently saw a semi (tractor-trailer) with tires like I've never see
before.

They were similar to what you might see on the front axle of a cement
truck. Except these were even wider and they were on the *rear* axles.
So it had just 4 big fat single tires where normally it would have
pairs of dual skinny tires. IIRC this was on the rear axles of the
tractor only and the trailer had the normal dual skinny tires.

It looked really cool and I've never seen that before or since! I was
wondering if anyone here could identify what I saw.

"toronado455" wrote

> I recently saw a semi (tractor-trailer) with tires like I've never see
> before.
>
> They were similar to what you might see on the front axle of a cement
> truck. Except these were even wider and they were on the *rear* axles.
> So it had just 4 big fat single tires where normally it would have
> pairs of dual skinny tires. IIRC this was on the rear axles of the
> tractor only and the trailer had the normal dual skinny tires.
>
> It looked really cool and I've never seen that before or since! I was
> wondering if anyone here could identify what I saw.

"Wide-base"
"Super-single"
"X-1" (Michelin doesn't like the other names)

You speak Czech?
Didn't think so.
Couple of nice pics, though.
http://www.tiscali.cz/auto/auto_cent...26.705062.html

toronado455 Wrote:
> I recently saw a semi (tractor-trailer) with tires like I've never see
> before.
>
> They were similar to what you might see on the front axle of a cement
> truck. Except these were even wider and they were on the *rear* axles.
> So it had just 4 big fat single tires where normally it would have
> pairs of dual skinny tires. IIRC this was on the rear axles of the
> tractor only and the trailer had the normal dual skinny tires.
>
> It looked really cool and I've never seen that before or since! I was
> wondering if anyone here could identify what I saw.

I think I know what you are talking about...they use those in some
certain applications where the small footprint of a standard profile
tire would place too much strain on the surface or cause them to sink
in to a soft surface (sand, etc)..I've seen them ever now and then
around certain places, like once in arizona at a salt mining facility I
saw some, they were able to drive around easily on the loose and crusty
ground at the site....my own semi was wallowing and trying to get stuck
the whole time...

To help understand, I'd need to know where you saw it (Highway? Street?
Off-Road/Building site?) and what kind of trailer (if any) it was hooked
to...I'm guessing it didn't have a trailer on it, or you probably
wouldn't have noticed the tires on the drive tandems, the trailer
usually obscurs them unless turning a corner or something....

I've seen some semi side-dump trailer rigs used at landfills that had
tires like that too, come to think....


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toronado455 wrote:
> I recently saw a semi (tractor-trailer) with tires like I've never see
> before.
>
> They were similar to what you might see on the front axle of a cement
> truck. Except these were even wider and they were on the *rear* axles.
> So it had just 4 big fat single tires where normally it would have
> pairs of dual skinny tires. IIRC this was on the rear axles of the
> tractor only and the trailer had the normal dual skinny tires.
>
> It looked really cool and I've never seen that before or since! I was
> wondering if anyone here could identify what I saw.

this is a new tire that is slowly being phased-in as part of the push
for fuel economy.
we are able to build a single tire that can handle the load of two
tires previously.

What does that do in the event of a tire blowout?
I always see chunks of tractor tire all over the highway.
I'd presume the cops will be harder on tire condition inspections.

toronado455 wrote:

> I recently saw a semi (tractor-trailer) with tires like I've never see
> before.
>
> They were similar to what you might see on the front axle of a cement
> truck. Except these were even wider and they were on the *rear* axles.
> So it had just 4 big fat single tires where normally it would have
> pairs of dual skinny tires. IIRC this was on the rear axles of the
> tractor only and the trailer had the normal dual skinny tires.
>
> It looked really cool and I've never seen that before or since! I was
> wondering if anyone here could identify what I saw.
>

Those have been around in certain applications for decades. Almost all
gasoline delivery tankers use them on the axles of the trailer, for
example. Many use them on the rear axles of the tractor as well. I'm not
sure of all the reasoning, but presumably they do a lot less "scrubbing"
damage to parking lots when the truck has to make very tight turns than
duallie wheels would.

ed Wrote:
> What does that do in the event of a tire blowout?
> I always see chunks of tractor tire all over the highway.
> I'd presume the cops will be harder on tire condition inspections.

Tire construction is getting better...it's much less common to have a
tire blow out that it was in years past...the slabs you see are usually
recap that has seperated from the tire...most good trucking companies
don't use recap tires anymore...it's just good business in that it's
safer and causes less downtime of equipment due to failure...O/O's will
use them because new tires are godawful expensive and with fuel prices
and taxes, they are getting killed on several fronts...

Anyway, redundancy is nice, but becomes less neccessary as equipment
improves...just the same as how new aircraft now all have 2 engines,
where in the past it was three and four...output and reliability are
better now, no sense feeding and lugging around an extra engine you
don't need anymore...


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http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/new...?news_id=35755


jeffcoslacker wrote:
> ed Wrote:
> > What does that do in the event of a tire blowout?
> > I always see chunks of tractor tire all over the highway.
> > I'd presume the cops will be harder on tire condition inspections.
>
> Tire construction is getting better...it's much less common to have a
> tire blow out that it was in years past...the slabs you see are usually
> recap that has seperated from the tire...most good trucking companies
> don't use recap tires anymore...it's just good business in that it's
> safer and causes less downtime of equipment due to failure...O/O's will
> use them because new tires are godawful expensive and with fuel prices
> and taxes, they are getting killed on several fronts...
>
> Anyway, redundancy is nice, but becomes less neccessary as equipment
> improves...just the same as how new aircraft now all have 2 engines,
> where in the past it was three and four...output and reliability are
> better now, no sense feeding and lugging around an extra engine you
> don't need anymore...
>
>
> --
> jeffcoslacker
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> jeffcoslacker's Profile: http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...?userid=219638
> View this thread: http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=613031
>
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http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/new...?news_id=35755


jeffcoslacker wrote:
> ed Wrote:
> > What does that do in the event of a tire blowout?
> > I always see chunks of tractor tire all over the highway.
> > I'd presume the cops will be harder on tire condition inspections.
>
> Tire construction is getting better...it's much less common to have a
> tire blow out that it was in years past...the slabs you see are usually
> recap that has seperated from the tire...most good trucking companies
> don't use recap tires anymore...it's just good business in that it's
> safer and causes less downtime of equipment due to failure...O/O's will
> use them because new tires are godawful expensive and with fuel prices
> and taxes, they are getting killed on several fronts...
>
> Anyway, redundancy is nice, but becomes less neccessary as equipment
> improves...just the same as how new aircraft now all have 2 engines,
> where in the past it was three and four...output and reliability are
> better now, no sense feeding and lugging around an extra engine you
> don't need anymore...
>
>
> --
> jeffcoslacker
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> jeffcoslacker's Profile: http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...?userid=219638
> View this thread: http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=613031
>
> http://www.automotiveforums.com

willy wrote:
> http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/new...?news_id=35755
>

Interesting article, thanks for posting!