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Jaxon · 05-17-2009, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silverbacksurfer

I just bought 4 maxxis tires not made in china .Had a blowout on my Sob trailer before i got my airstream .

Was the blowout on the Maxxis tires that were on the sob trailer or did you just get Maxxis tires for your new Airstream because of a previous blowout?

silverbacksurfer · 05-17-2009, 04:45 PM

The blowout on my old SOB were marathons . After reading alot on the ASforum I decided on Maxxis .When I can I try to avoid chinese products . A lot of the times there is no other way .Here is the link for maxxis 8008 st radial. The tires I got were made in Thailand.

M8008 ST Radial

silverback · 05-17-2009, 06:26 PM

We're now riding on 4 new Maxxis M8008s. Replaced the original Marathons on our 2006 last Friday. We never had any problems with the Marathons. I checked inflation religiously and never tow over 63 MPH (well maybe a short burst now and then if necessary). Two people I talked to that had blowouts with the Marathons, both stated that the tires that blew had been lower than the others when they checked inflation before towing. I never saw that.
-Ken

Ed Emerick · 05-17-2009, 06:36 PM

Just as an FYI, I have had Marathons on all my trailers for the past 12 years, they do great! Just put a set on my 88.

I pull at 65 to 75 MPH regardless of the temp and have never had a failure.
Buy American!

Gene · 05-17-2009, 07:06 PM

Our Marathons say "Made in China", though there was a post saying Goodyear was not going to get Chinese made ones anymore. Nonetheless Goodyear is an American company selling tires made elsewhere. Doesn't sound very American made.

Gene

nmgt350h · 05-17-2009, 07:09 PM

In 2005 I bought a new 28’ SOB with Goodyear marathons on it…. In the 3 years I owned in I had 5 blow outs including 2 with the Goodyear’s and 3 with a set of new greenballs. Last year I bought a never used old stock 2005 Classic with a slide out, my dream stream. After putting a couple thousand gun shy miles on some date coded 04’ factory installed marathons I tossed them and installed a new set of maxis 235/75 LT light truck tires with a load range D. My tire guy talked me into this, he convinced me this is the way to go and that every 15’’ trailer tire was crap! I have put about 500 miles on this new set of truck tires and I cannot tell any difference in towing, I guess I’ll find out if these are any good when this New Mexico pavement heats up to egg frying temperatures this summer. I still can’t figure out why in the hell Airstream did not put a 16’’ tire on the larger units, it seems to me that this would have helped this problem…

HowieE · 05-18-2009, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silverback

Two people I talked to that had blowouts with the Marathons, both stated that the tires that blew had been lower than the others when they checked inflation before towing. I never saw that.
-Ken

Under inflation is the FASTEST way in the world to blow a tire other than a nail. That is why most people grossly over inflate their tires.

You can't blame Goodyear for a blow out when under inflated.

Gene · 05-18-2009, 08:38 AM

How much overinflation is too much? As temps have gone up on our trip—about 40˚—so has tire pressure. We had to stop and let air out yesterday when the TPMS warned up a tire was up to 81 lbs. and the others were close.

Gene

silverback · 05-18-2009, 09:03 AM

Howie,
I should have added that both of the people I talked to, then filled the low tires to the correct pressure and still experienced blowouts. The low tires were a symptom or an alerting condition of a Marathon going bad. Those tires could no longer maintain pressure.

-Ken

HowieE · 05-18-2009, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

How much overinflation is too much? As temps have gone up on our trip—about 40˚—so has tire pressure. We had to stop and let air out yesterday when the TPMS warned up a tire was up to 81 lbs. and the others were close.
Gene

Tires and starting pressure are designed to account for temperature increases do to rolling heat.

What tires are you using and what are the axles weights? What were the tires inflated to before you started?

Minnie's Mate · 05-18-2009, 10:08 AM

The max air pressure is on the side of the tire. Generally, I run my tires at 65 PSI cold tire pressure and have had no problems.

I also spray the exterior sides of the tires with a rubber preservative after each trip. I know that does nothing for the back side, but I can't get to that side easily and they aren't exposed to the sun.

**jcanavera** · 05-18-2009, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

How much overinflation is too much? As temps have gone up on our trip—about 40˚—so has tire pressure. We had to stop and let air out yesterday when the TPMS warned up a tire was up to 81 lbs. and the others were close.

Gene

I know if I am traveling to locales with different climates, I will check the tire pressures before each day's travels. I'm really reluctant to adjust any pressures in route once those tires get rolling. I'd tread carefully in making in route adjustments because you are messing with hot pressures which the tire manufacturers should have engineered for.

I've always been told that the tires can adjust for temperature variances over the stated cold pressure inflations. I worry more about a situation where I'm going from a warm clime to a cold over the course of multiple days. I've seen an easy loss of almost 5 lbs. on cold inflation when leaving the hot days of STL to the cooler temps in upper Wisconsin or Michigan.

Under inflation is the killer.

Jack

Gene · 05-18-2009, 06:53 PM

This morning they were all about 67-68 lbs. after the sun came up and the outside temp was in the low 50's. When it was 92˚, one was at 80 lbs., the TPMS warning came on, I stopped and let some air out until it was 76 lbs. It had probably been the highest in the morning. The other three were 76 and 77 and stayed around that. Tomorrow is another hot day and I check the pressure with the TPMS every morning. Last week we had lows of upper 20's and low 30's, now we're in the 50's in the morning. Day after tomorrow a cold front comes through. Last week the pressure was a bit higher in the morning despite the cold, so if we had stayed in Canada, maybe they'd be underinflated, but as we have come south and temps have warmed up, pressure has increased, so I haven't had to add air, but let it out. Every day is different and making adjustments in the Spring is a constant job. If it weren't for the TPMS system I'd probably never know about temps while traveling.

Gene

Beginner · 05-19-2009, 05:00 AM

No you can't blame Goodyear for those who never check tire pressure and as a result run half flat tires that come apart, HOWEVER, you can blame Goodyear for all the tires that blow after diligent checking and maintaining of the pressure before each days running.
Goodyear (and they are not the only ones) have used the excuse of not checking the pressure to skate out from under tire failures for years.
The fact of the matter is that that you check the tire pressure in the morning and some time during the day the rubber compounds let go due to excess heat (for the rubber compound used) which allows the belts to slip.
This creates a slow leak.
As the tire deflates the sidewalls flex more and more.
This caused a very rapid increase of heat generation and overall tire temperature increase.
This causes the rubber compound to lose all integrity and the tire "blows" when actually the process has taken place over the last five miles or so.
Spraying water on the tire may seem silly to some but the cause of the tire failures is too much heat for the cheap, bargan basement rubber compounds used to build these ST tires.
If you were having the same problems with your car tires you would be raising holy h*** (reference the Firestone/Ford mess).

Ben4762 · 05-25-2009, 06:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silverback

Howie,
I should have added that both of the people I talked to, then filled the low tires to the correct pressure and still experienced blowouts. The low tires were a symptom or an alerting condition of a Marathon going bad. Those tires could no longer maintain pressure.

-Ken

Tires with defective valves stem can no longer maintain pressure too. This month one of my tires had low pressure due to a defective valve stem. Its not always a problem with the tires. A few years back I also had a defective wheel.

SRW · 10-27-2010, 02:19 PM

On a trip to the Arkansas from Texas two weeks ago the tread on the front left tire (the street side) on the AS separated from the casing. Fortunately, we were approaching an exit from I-30 and even more fortunate there was a Discount tire store close to the top of the ramp.

The AS is a 2008, 28 foot International, made in 2007 and the tires were likewise made in 2007 and suffered no damage from the large chunk of tread hanging from the tire.

There are PressurePro sensors on the tires of bot the truck and the AS and the tires are checked for 65 psig before the AS moves. Also, with minimum exception my tow speed is between 60 and 65 mph. Nearly always at 60 mph. Total miles on the AS is about 20,000.

When the tire failed the air pressure dropped slowly from about 70 psig (it was about 60 F ambient) to 56 psig. The tire never went completely flat.

The only tires the dealer had that would fit were ST225/75R15E1 Carlisle Radial Trails and I had four mounted. I thought about changing to LT's from ST's but it meant that the rims would require changing and neither wheels or LT's were available.

I had previously bought tire warranties from Discount and that paid for the tire that failed.

We were back on the road in just over one hour.

All in all a pretty painless experience

TEXAS 66

SteveH · 10-27-2010, 03:07 PM

You were very fortunate that you caught it before it totally self destructed and did who knows what to the trailer.

**jcanavera** · 10-27-2010, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beginner

The fact of the matter is that that you check the tire pressure in the morning and some time during the day the rubber compounds let go due to excess heat (for the rubber compound used) which allows the belts to slip.
This creates a slow leak.
(reference the Firestone/Ford mess).

This is one of the major reasons I replaced my Marathons with the Maxxis brand. Maxxis uses a nylon cap to surround the belts which minimizes the slip and heat build up. Apparently this is a technique used on many tires built in Europe.

Jack

SteveH · 10-27-2010, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcanavera

This is one of the major reasons I replaced my Marathons with the Maxxis brand. Maxxis uses a nylon cap to surround the belts which minimizes the slip and heat build up. Apparently this is a technique used on many tires built in Europe.

Jack

Towmaster tires also have the nylon belt. I have had good luck with both towmaster and Maxxis tires.

wxbuoy · 10-27-2010, 07:14 PM

Had the same thing happen as SRW last Sunday. The belt separated though ( didn't even feel it). Passing car brought it to my attention. TPMS is definitely in the works. Slight damage to the wheel well. After reading the 100's of threads on tires I figured I would go with American made Goodyears... Mine where made in china, less than 3 years old, took great care of them.... Others I know have had the same issue with the GYM made in china. Only problem is no one can seem to get the ones made in America. A new set was ordered and guaranteed to be from the atlanta plant, even had to wait a few days... But they were marked made in china.

So, what do I replace them with. The dealer had tow masters in stock.. 225/75/R15 E rated. I can use the same rims since they are the same size, and I only plan to inflate to 65 lbs, so no issues there. OR am I missing something? I was even considering maxis, but still not quite sure which way to go....

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!