Someone more savvy than me can probably pick this out of the postings, but: is there a cut off date that I should be looking at on my marathons that indicate when they became less trustworthy? Obvious warning signs? I am pretty sure mine are pre-troubles but I don't know that for a fact. My tires look fine as far as I can tell and they should have a good bit of life left. On the other hand, I don't want to dance the 'my tire just failed at speed' shoddish.
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Rodney
The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.- Mark Twain
Hi, Rodney. I have heard many opinions, but in black and white, in my wifes BMW owners manual, it states "Replace all tires between five and seven years of age regardless of tread depth."
Is there anyone on this forum that has, let's say, five years and fifty thousand miles on an Airstream trailer with tires other than Goodyear Marathons?...
hi robert...
i agree not much user data on other current ST options vs a ba-zillion gyms on the roadway.
there is a member here with several years and 10s of thousands on miles on the greenball towmaster? tire, some of which were made by goodyear.
he usually doesn't post on THIS issue and after wearing them out sent back to the marathons...
too much hot air!
and IF your marathons are "pre-troubles" they are LONG since due for replacement..
since the majority of reported/documented issues began with tires produced circa 2002...
cheers
2air'
__________________ all of the true things that i am about to tell you are shameless lies. l.b.johnson
we are here on earth to fart around. don't let anybody tell you any different. k.v.
As noted my rule of thumb is between 4 and 5 years. My Marathons were produced in week 30 of 2003. I took delivery of the trailer in November of 2003 with the trailer being built in September. Officially we were concluding the tires 4th season of service with about 7,500 miles on the tires.
I've only had one trailer that I kept long enough to replace tires (14 years) and that trailer had 3 sets over that time period. Up until this failure last weekend, I've never had a trailer tire failure in my towing history (30 years).
Technically my trip to Fl. next month would have been my last one on these tires with my planned replacement being scheduled for season 5 next spring. Obviously we will do the replacement now prior to our last outing of the year.
Jack
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Jack Canavera
STL Mo. AIR #56
'04 Classic 30' S.O.
'03 GMC Savana 2500
'08 Vespa GTS 250
I guess I was looking for insight on marathons in particular. I bought this set mid 2005. At that time, the universal advice was to get marathons. Like I said, they look fine. As far as I can guess, they are fine. If there are batch numbers or production dates/ranges that are prone to failure I would like to know about it. These tires should have another 2 years left in them, but every time I see these threads I wonder.
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Rodney
The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.- Mark Twain
I guess I was looking for insight on marathons in particular. I bought this set mid 2005. At that time, the universal advice was to get marathons. Like I said, they look fine. As far as I can guess, they are fine. If there are batch numbers or production dates/ranges that are prone to failure I would like to know about it. These tires should have another 2 years left in them, but every time I see these threads I wonder.
My gut would say that you should be able to get 4-5 seasons out of them. I took the lesser approach since my trailer doesn't get a lot of miles on it and tires should last a little longer (assuming you have adequate tread) if they roll. Personally I should have gotten a full 4 seasons out of mine, but I'll never know for sure what caused the loss of tread and subsequent failure.
I know your fear and up until some of the latest threads, I would have expected most folks to get that 4-5 season life out of the Marathons. Now I'm beginning to wonder also. I think everyone is just going to have to be more vigilant and watch their's closely. I know I had been especially careful this year regarding watching pressures and looking over the tires at every stop when on the road. Obviously it didn't prevent my failure though.
That broken belt issue is really nasty and unless it's visually pronounced, the only way you can check it is by getting the tire up off the ground and then giving it a spin to make sure it's still symmetrical.
Jack
__________________
Jack Canavera
STL Mo. AIR #56
'04 Classic 30' S.O.
'03 GMC Savana 2500
'08 Vespa GTS 250
From my 2005 AS on the way back from a recent trip up the California GrapeVine on I-5. I blew this tire in the afternoon and had a loss of air from one tire on the other side of the trailer in the Morning.
__________________ "Better to have more then you need, then need more then you have because you don't have enough!" AIR #: 8129
Its readily apparent that marathon tire failures are not just old 2002 tires
by no means .Ive read quite a few posts on new coaches having new tires go ,even the circle S.
Take a good look at that tire of Safari Rick ,that is completely unacceptible for ANY tire to come apart in such a manner ,and no matter who throws in an
excuse for such destruction as its normal or any number of the usual reasons for giving this tire a pass ,its blatently obviouse to take a long hard look at
these tires overall ,and decide if its worth it .I try myself to stay away from marathon tire threads as a rule ,but its hard not too comment on somthing such as this tire failure.
As for the Maxxis users and folks going to BFG commercial T/A tires ,which
are an excellent tire ,hope is that they will indeed get many miles from those
tires .towmasters by the way ,marketed by Greenball tireCo. more specifically
the marathon are produced on the same line at the factory according to
the technical representitives at Greenball tire co in CA .GreenBall towmasters
offer many makes of tires in the towmaster line .One thing that stands out
in the RV trailer world is that I see many trailer coaches SOB that have
moved away from marathons to other brands ,be it fifth wheels or other
size trailers .Airstream seems to be the main trailer company that is
predominently using marathon tires .Well ,what else can be said that hasn't been said already ,except that , its seems hard to keep arguing in favor of this tire ,considering what the photo shows us.
Just phoned MAXXIS IN CANADA It seems they are still trying to set up a network of dealers so no trailer tires . and if you check the dealer network in the USA it is virtually non existing (based on their own dealer map) so back to goodyear , at least if the tire blows theres going to be a dealer close by.
my note reads "began circa 2002" in response to a query about owning tires that are 'pre-troubles'.
often the 'tires failing' info suggests that relocation of production 2 asian plants is the issue.
when usa and canadian plants have been and still are where MOST of the flat tires were produced.
the 2006 china produced gyms i'm currently running do appear to be better cosmetically and with over 18,000 miles still are performing as expected.
it is possible that the tire has actually been improved or MAY now be past the troubling phase.
it is possible....
still,
i'm looking forward to a few MILLION folks using the maxxis STs so we can approach a partially fair sample base for camparison...
cheers
2air'
You make a valid point , the stats are not there yet on other brands and/or tires . The problem may not be with Goodyear , it could be with ST tires . Perhaps we should do a survey on how many failures folks are having with there TV or cars . Just trying to narrow it down , there are so many variables . In my own family of six drivers I remember one blowout about 40 years ago . Of the 6 there are more than 1 that never check their tires , unless I do . So my experience is that tires can take quite a bit of abuse without failing.
My reponse was to point out that most often the 2002 and earlier dates
are highlighted as the prevlent tire that fails ,and it is, as has been reported many times and posted on .I read on many posts ,and there are hundreds at this point in time on the subject, and the reports on newer or S series tires
that are failing at high rates .This trouble is spread over all the renditions of the marathon with signifigant posts proving it to be certain .Now ,its because they are chinese ,thats the latest reason ,and if the chinese are building
them poorly or maybe using the marathon design to make them ,its still
having problems .to say that the other brands surley will be failing just as often is a wait and see thing ,and hardly the way to boost marathon loyalty.
I think the fact that some are running 3 axle coaches has a great effect on
the tire life and failures ,6 tires support the weight better than only 4 .
2airs had very good luck ,6 tires ,many other folks just have not ,thats
just the way it is .
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Hi, Rodney. I have heard many opinions, but in black and white, in my wifes BMW owners manual, it states "Replace all tires between five and seven years of age regardless of tread depth."
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