Big Wheels

If you’re looking for weight savings from low-profile wide-based singles, tires are only half the story. With aluminum wheels, the entire package weighs 1,000 to 1,200 pounds less than a set of duals. While the switch to 14-inch wheel and tire equipment can be expensive as a retrofit, when spec’d as original equipment there is no cost premium.

Currently, Accuride and Alcoa supply the market with low-profile, wide-base wheels. Accuride’s DupleX-One wheel (right) is primarily offered as original equipment on tandem-axle tractors and trailers (an exclusivity arrangement with Freightliner, Sterling, and Western Star expired last year). It is available in both aluminum and steel, although Larry Taylor, vice-president of sales and marketing for Accuride’s heavy-vehicle operations, says there is little interest in the steel wheel. “A 14-inch steel wheel is just a monster wheel, and you kind of negate the weight savings you can achieve,” he says. “Also, the cost of the steel wheel is almost bumping up on the cost of an aluminum wheel.”

Alcoa has benefited from aftermarket sales among fleets converting a few units at a time. The company’s wheel weighs 71 pounds and carries a 12,800-pound maximum load rating (above).

As the market develops, sourcing spare wheels and aftermarket replacements is less of a concern. “We keep aftermarket inventory in our London, Ont., facility and some in our Taylor, Mich., facility,” says Taylor. “Even if there is none available on the road, we can order one out of inventory and get it out immediately. Also, the diameter of this tire and wheel setup matches the diameter of duals, so if you had to you could limp in on a set of dual wheels, no problem.”