When i was a kid and dad was hauling asphalt out of Redlands, Flixton (87-89ish) i am sure i use to see some Redlands F7 eight wheelers running super singles on the drive axles, i seem to remember that Shell used to do the same on their 6 x 4 Fodens. What were the advantages for this set up and has anyone got any pics.
Regards
Daz
It was all to do with weight. My Dad supplied the F7s to Tilbury roadstone (Before they became Redland) and they had a minimum tare weight to achieve. I know there were a few issues with type approval but they all worked well in service.
i had a foden 6x4 unit with super singles on the drive axles , there was a saving on tare weight , but they were crap to drive . they bounced badly when empty , and traction on wet or snow was awful . as soon as the tyres were worn out they were replaced with normal twin wheels .
rigsby:
i had a foden 6x4 unit with super singles on the drive axles , there was a saving on tare weight , but they were crap to drive . they bounced badly when empty , and traction on wet or snow was awful . as soon as the tyres were worn out they were replaced with normal twin wheels .
I wonder why the traction was inferior, given that the weight over the bogie would be the same whatever wheels/tyres were fitted (minus the unladen weight saving, of course, which would not make much difference to the the gross weight)? Maybe there was no proper drive axle tread pattern/carcass on super singles whereas, on “normal” single tyres, you could get dedicated drive, steer, off-road, bus, lorry etc. variants in the same size. Any rubber aficionados on the forum?
Stupot:
It was all to do with weight. My Dad supplied the F7s to Tilbury roadstone (Before they became Redland) and they had a minimum tare weight to achieve. I know there were a few issues with type approval but they all worked well in service.
Cheers Stupot, bet the payload on them was better on them than on a modern eight wheeler
Regard Daz
[zb]
anorak:rigsby:
i had a foden 6x4 unit with super singles on the drive axles , there was a saving on tare weight , but they were crap to drive . they bounced badly when empty , and traction on wet or snow was awful . as soon as the tyres were worn out they were replaced with normal twin wheels .I wonder why the traction was inferior, given that the weight over the bogie would be the same whatever wheels/tyres were fitted (minus the unladen weight saving, of course, which would not make much difference to the the gross weight)? Maybe there was no proper drive axle tread pattern/carcass on super singles whereas, on “normal” single tyres, you could get dedicated drive, steer, off-road, bus, lorry etc. variants in the same size. Any rubber aficionados on the forum?
yup had the same feeling about super S ingles on Foden 6x4 drives…traction was not good in the wet (hauled ferry trailers ),i didnt last till they were worn out 
Traction issues were because the tyre “footprint” of one super single is less than that of two normal tyres. Besides the saving on weight, some of our local tipper operators stated that the tyres were less susceptible to the damage caused to sidewalls when lumps of stone became trapped between the twin tyres.