Those damn Canucks can't do anything right with rubber. I suppose it is one reason we have a population boom right now..... .
I was thinking of grenading my Marathons and going to either Maxxis or another LT tire my tire shop says works well but I think I'll run these a bit longer and see how they work out. I just have to make sure I have at least one, or two, spares in stock in case something happens on the highway.
Barry
__________________ Barry & Donna Life is short - so's the door on an Flying Cloud (ouch) 1951 Flying Cloud 21' 1957 Pontiac Safari 2dr wagon TV
We purchased our used 34' Classic a year ago April. I bought and installed 6 new Marathons along with a set of Centramatic discs. I too kept the two best of the original tires by checking their date codes and use those as spares.
We have now put over 7,000 miles on the trailer and so far see no unordinary wear. I also ensured the tires were balanced and had the breaks checked.
Before our next long trip this fall I will rotate the tires and had planned on a 7500 mile rotation schedule which I'm rapidly approaching.
Our next trip is to SW Ohio to visit family and had hoped to get an appointment to Jackson Center to check my axle alignment and have them rotate the tires. But no joy as they're booked into June.
So far I have no complaints with my tires and my better half bought me one of those trick laser temp gauges for Xmas and used on our last trip to the Florida Panhandle.
Isn't is amazing that we have to worry about tires so much? It was said a couple of days ago. This is not new technology. It's lack of competition, poor quality control, and cost cutting.
When I buy a new vehicle, at least half of the time they come with crappy original equipment tires that last 20,000 miles. But I replace them with good quality tires and get far more miles, better traction and surely more safety. We don't even have that option with trailer tires if I read the posts correctly.
There are more reports of catastrophic failures with Goodyears than seems attributable to normal problems. Is it that some days QC is bad and if you're unlucky, you get those tires? Does the company that makes the tires in China sometimes leave out some components to save money as did another manufacturer in China with passenger car tires a year or so ago? Were the Canadian tires made out of old hockey pucks?
My Marathons are two years old according to the date codes. I pulled one off to test fit the rim on an axle with disc breaks.
Too many to count little cracks all around the tire where the sidewall meets the tread. Inflation is checked and adjusted daily when trailer is in use. The tires have 17,000 miles on them.
I'll be redoing with some Maxxis later in the month after the discs are installed.
Isn't is amazing that we have to worry about tires so much?
...There are more reports of catastrophic failures with Goodyears than seems attributable to normal problems...
hi gene
i don't 'worry' about the trailer tires anymore than the truck, cars, or bicycle tiires.
they all need proper inflation, rotation, balance and regular inspections.
my high performance snow tires just finished the 6th season and i will probably get one more year,
but they are carefully stored during the off season and rotated every 3k miles and check for inflation weekly when used.b
a major problem with trailer tires is...
none of the normal signals are 'felt' when a trailer tire is low or flat or out of balance, as with a passenger vehicle tire.
i agree there are LOTS of reports on gym issues but translating that into a prevalence isn't easy.
OFTEN we read about ONE TIRE, multiple times, like perhaps THIS EXAMPLE....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Goin camping
My Marathons are two years old... I pulled one off...Too many to count little cracks all around the tire where the sidewall meets the tread...
hey gc, is THIS THE SAME TIRE uwe describes in post 289?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Area63
...Today, I borrowed a clients mag wheel from an 06 Safari 25 SE...
The tire had a date code of mid 06, and started to show fissure cracks in the tread and down towards where the tread meets the sidewall....
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.
Yep, same tire. However while the trailer lives outside the tires are in the shade as the trailers home is between two ginormus toy haulers and faces South.
Had a very close look at my Marathons this afternoon. Manufactured the early part of 2003. I doubt these ones have more than 2,000 miles on them as I've been using my mags with Carlisles (?sp). The Marathons were made in Quebec. I cannot see any signs of deterioration, distortion or cracking, they look like brand new tires.
For the couple of hundred bucks I'll change them out anyway and put the oldies on my utility trailer. It's just not worth the risk for the small dollars involved. I'm torn between Maxxis or Marathons. My tire guy says almost any LT tire is the way to go but he's just a tire guy who does not happen to sell GY like I originally thought and I suspect the only science in his suggestion is that he sells lots of LT tires and not too many RV tires.
Disc brakes sounds like a neat swap. I need to look into that. A winter project, or maybe a weekend over the summer. Quick and a huge safety factor.
Barry
__________________ Barry & Donna Life is short - so's the door on an Flying Cloud (ouch) 1951 Flying Cloud 21' 1957 Pontiac Safari 2dr wagon TV
I've always been a fan of anything that makes it go faster or stop quicker.
As such I've always had it in the back of my mind to upgrade to discs. But when that red light runner was so close to the front of the truck that all I could see was the roof of her car I thoght that was it. That moved the upgrade right to the top of my to do list.
i don't 'worry' about the trailer tires anymore than the truck, cars, or bicycle tiires.
they all need proper inflation, rotation, balance and regular inspections.
a major problem with trailer tires is...
none of the normal signals are 'felt' when a trailer tire is low or flat or out of balance, as with a passenger vehicle tire.
i agree there are LOTS of reports on gym issues but translating that into a prevalence isn't easy.
cheers
2air'
I hope you're right, 2air. Somewhere back when the point was made that people who are very careful experience Marathon problems. That's not exactly reassuring. I agree the same Marathon issues get repeated and repeated so it feels like every tire is ready to explode. Just what is true is difficult to know. Nevertheless, I'd like more choices in tire brands. A lot of lesser known brands are actually made under contract by major manufacturers, so maybe someone will order a big bunch of high quality RV tires and start the After Market AirForum Posters brand ("Buy AMAFP tires, better than Marathons").
The good news is that I finally figured out that "gym" means Goodyear Marathon.
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