One thing I have noticed from 2air's posts is that he seems to make his own luck, as we all do. However, in his case, he makes good luck.
Witness the posts on how he manages (and understands) his weights; how he manages wheel balance; tire pressures; hitch setup (and choice of hitch). And the evidence that he monitors everything - all the time.
I believe that if I were as careful as he, then I'd get better results as well.
Despite the news on Marathons, I also wonder whether it is just that there are so many of them out there, as others have said.
I'm with you, 2air is to be commended on his constant and focused attention to his tires. This constant checking, weighing, balancing, thumping, inspecting, monitoring, and scrutinizing makes him about the safest vehicle going down the road. I tried to do it that way, but realized I was working waaaaay toooooo hardddddd! I was missing too much of the scenery I'd driven so far to see. I guess I'm just lazy, so I bought tires which free up a good amount of time to do other things like take a nap!
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2002 Toyota Tundra Why is it Levee's built by volunteers with sand bags hold better than Levee's built as directed by the Corps of Engineers with millions of taxpayer dollars?
Well I managed to go for over 25 years without a failure until 2 weeks ago. I think the question is if you take reasonable care, which means balance, pressure, load, and replacement cycle, should you be able to get away without a belt related failure or tread separation.
While I subscribe to the theory regarding that the number of Marathon's out there will produce more reports, I'm bothered by the kinds of reports we are hearing and the age of the tires failing.
I take reasonable care which includes minimizing UV exposure of the tire and all the items described. Yet I had a tread separation failure with a tire that had 4 years of age and 7,500 miles on it. The question begs as to how I was neglectful of my tires.
There however is one large difference between 2air's tires and many of us. For all intents 2air is always on the move, and that in itself may be a key factor. How much that tire sits vs. how much it rolls. I'd be very curious to look at the kinds of failures we've been seeing and the correlation to how many were on full timer trailers. For example I've been out on 3 trips this year. One to Memphis Tn, Moraine View in Bloomington Il., and Branson. You just wonder if the sitting causes deterioration of the belts and tread bindings.
Jack
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Jack Canavera
STL Mo. AIR #56
'04 Classic 30' S.O.
'03 GMC Savana 2500
This is just my opinion but, it is my practice to not park the trailer with the tires on the ground for any extended period of time. If there is any type of penetration thru the tread rubber, then moisture can start to attack the belts and cause rust. I use a piece of pressure treated 2x8, otherwise my tires would be on the ground.
I have an old econoline van which is seldom used. It is very noticeable how much rust forms on the underbody, brake rotors, frame, wheels, etc. when it is not being driven regular.
Also, I never park the trailer where a tire is only partially on a leveling block so that the belts can be stressed.
This is just my opinion but, it is my practice to not park the trailer with the tires on the ground for any extended period of time. If there is any type of penetration thru the tread rubber, then moisture can start to attack the belts and cause rust. I use a piece of pressure treated 2x8, otherwise my tires would be on the ground.
I have an old econoline van which is seldom used. It is very noticeable how much rust forms on the underbody, brake rotors, frame, wheels, etc. when it is not being driven regular.
Also, I never park the trailer where a tire is only partially on a leveling block so that the belts can be stressed.
Just my $.02
So what's the defintion of "extended"? 1 week or more, 2 weeks or more? I understand the science of the moisture and need for a moisture barrier between a tire and the ground, but can "extended "be further subjective based on ambient temperature / humidity / ground type (i.e. grass vs. pavement vs. concrete vs. gravel)?
Two things I do. First if I'm up on leveling blocks I'm careful to make sure that the full tread of the tire is supported. It is a fact that partial support of a tire (or even one tire in a dually configuration) can lead to belt breakage since too much weight is being supported on a small tire area.
Secondly, since I store my trailer on a concrete floor, I make sure there is a sheet of cardboard under each tire. From a tire saftey class that I attended it was noted that exposure to the lime in concreate, leaches out the compounds from the tire. A good example is just to let a tire sit on concrete for extended periods and you will see a dark footprint. That's the leaching taking place. The suggestion was newspaper or cardboard was sufficient to keep the two surfaces from mingling.
I've not heard anything though about moisture getting through to the belts. I would think that this definately would be a possibility if the tire has some type of cut in it. In my case the belt snapped at the sidewall due to the torque applied to the tire as I was turning and backing into the drive. The lack of the tire tread left that belt unsupported.
Jack
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Jack Canavera
STL Mo. AIR #56
'04 Classic 30' S.O.
'03 GMC Savana 2500
My tire man suggested I switch to LT's on the airstream and they have been fine so far. I run them at full pressure and they are rated for something like 110 mph. However we don't run more then 60...
Oops, I'm having some misgivings about the moisture/rust thing. I grew up around Port Townsend, Washington and that part of the world is "rain country". I personally witnessed continuous rain for 44 days in a row. If wet would cause tire belts to rust, it would sure happen there. I never saw a single failure which could be attributed to belt rust. However........
I have researched the best way to prevent tire problems when letting a vehicle set for extended periods of time. What I read was: If you are going to let the vehicle set for extended periods, then you will want to take as much weight off the tires as possible, because, when a loaded tire sets for extended periods, a flat spot develops where it sets. The longer it sets, the more acute the flat spot becomes. At the edge of the flat spot, a kink develops. When the tire is put back into service (starts to roll with a load on it) this kink can cause the steel belts to bend and break at the kink, unless the tire is gently put back into service. In other words, after a tire has been setting for a while, be gentle in beginning to use it again. Don't load it heavily, and keep your speed way down for the first couple miles, as the tire flexes and regains heat and it's round shape. It's like a stiff sore muscle, go slow and ease it back into use.
When stored, it's best to take as much weight off the tire as is practical to reduce the tendancy to make a flat spot.
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2002 Toyota Tundra Why is it Levee's built by volunteers with sand bags hold better than Levee's built as directed by the Corps of Engineers with millions of taxpayer dollars?
I have researched the best way to prevent tire problems when letting a vehicle set for extended periods of time. What I read was: If you are going to let the vehicle set for extended periods, then you will want to take as much weight off the tires as possible, because, when a loaded tire sets for extended periods, a flat spot develops where it sets. The longer it sets, the more acute the flat spot becomes..
Now the question is what is "extended" defined as, and do folks really raise their Airstreams up off the wheels. I know I did that on an SOB when I replaced tires. It wasn't too bad since the frame of the trailer was exposed and I put the jack stands under the rear of the frame of the trailer with the nose down, then cranked up the hitch jack and added jack stands to the front of the trailer. I cranked the hitch jack back down and effectively the trailer was up on its frame in 4 corners on jack stands.
That trailer weighed 2,000 lbs. You would think that if trailers were subject to the steel belts getting kinks, that the tire manufacturers would give you some type of recommendations.
Jack
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Jack Canavera
STL Mo. AIR #56
'04 Classic 30' S.O.
'03 GMC Savana 2500
You would think that if trailers were subject to the steel belts getting kinks, that the tire manufacturers would give you some type of recommendations.
It's been a couple years since I read it, but I think it was on one of the tire manufacturer's websites.
My own solution is to put as much of the weight on the stabilizer jacks and tongue jack as is practical. I would guess, I support somewhere around 800 lbs. per jack so that leaves about 1600 lbs to be supported by the tires which is roughly 400lbs per tire. That won't make much of a flat spot on each tire.
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2002 Toyota Tundra Why is it Levee's built by volunteers with sand bags hold better than Levee's built as directed by the Corps of Engineers with millions of taxpayer dollars?
My car gets flat spots when sitting for 2 days. They disappear as soon as the tires warm up. I am not concerned about the flat spots. I am concerned that we're being sold a substandard product. Been reading about these Marathons for a couple years now, and am seriously beginning to worry about mine. I feel stupid for buying them for good money in the first place.
Well I managed to go for over 25 years without a failure until 2 weeks ago. I think the question is if you take reasonable care, which means balance, pressure, load, and replacement cycle, should you be able to get away without a belt related failure or tread separation.
While I subscribe to the theory regarding that the number of Marathon's out there will produce more reports, I'm bothered by the kinds of reports we are hearing and the age of the tires failing.
I take reasonable care which includes minimizing UV exposure of the tire and all the items described. Yet I had a tread separation failure with a tire that had 4 years of age and 7,500 miles on it. The question begs as to how I was neglectful of my tires.
Jack
Hi, my trailer has not had any tire failures yet; I probably have at least twice the miles on mine as you do on yours. I park mine on my concrete driveway with out blocking or jacking up my trailer in any way. I do not cover my tires, but being between the houses, my tires never get direct sunlight when not in use. I always keep my tires a 65 lbs and my trailer level. I only get to take my trailer out once or twice a year, but when it does get out, I take it for a long trip, usually a thousand miles or more. Is it just the luck of the draw?
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Hi, my trailer has not had any tire failures yet; I probably have at least twice the miles on mine as you do on yours. I park mine on my concrete driveway with out blocking or jacking up my trailer in any way. I do not cover my tires, but being between the houses, my tires never get direct sunlight when not in use. I always keep my tires a 65 lbs and my trailer level. I only get to take my trailer out once or twice a year, but when it does get out, I take it for a long trip, usually a thousand miles or more. Is it just the luck of the draw?
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