Goodyear Marathon Failures

[Beginner]

When I said one shop in a hundred I included all RV dealerships, commercial tire shops, the Firestone dealers at the mall and the local mom and pop tire dealers.
When you say ballance the brake drums they look at you like you are from a different planet. Then you run into this old guy who just gets this all knowing grin and tells you "we havent done that in 30 years or more. Dosen't mean they don't need it, just no body bothers because of the additional cost."
I could not afford the Centramatics last year because of the tire/wheel upgrade so I used the ballancing sand(sand bags). It was installed through the valve stem(all valve stems are the same) with a little machine they had and the special Schrader valves (cost me $1.00 each) were installed. The bags were I think $5.00 each.
Beginner

[Bob Thompson]

Brings to mind an interesting question, "Has anyone using Centramatic's had unwarranted or unreasonable failure from Marathons while using the Centramatics?" The Marathon failures I had were without Centramatics in use.

[flyfisher]

Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In

Faulting Marathons is OK.

But, how many of those blow outs, were caused by improper running gear balance?

Human nature is to always put the blame on some else, even though that person may have made a significant contribution to the problem.

Proper running gear balance is "NOT" a tale.


It's a fact. It "MUST" be done, or suffer the consequences, and/or bite the bullet.

Of all the Marathon failures that have been posted, not one person has claimed "proper running gear balance."

Hmmmm.

Andy

I had read your recommendation to do this before we bought our new Airstream in 2004, so that was one of the first things I did when we got our new trailer.

I found a local frame and alignment shop not far from our home here in SE PA with the knowledge and equipment to do this. It's a good sized facility that has been in business a long time that does most of its work with over the road tractor trailers.

The first thing they did was to true my tires (made them perfectly round by shaving off high spots) and then they balanced the running gear. They showed me where there were out-of-round spots in my Marathons before they shaved them off, and convinced me that was a good thing to do before balancing the running gear. (The guy said they could balance everything, but I'd still be rolling down the road on egg shaped tires otherwise.) We also discovered at that time that my tires had not even been balanced before leaving the factory and the wheel bearings had not been properly greased, but that's another story.

I've said this in past posts here, but it took 3 guys (including the shop owner) well over one hour and almost 1 pound of weights to balance one of my tire/wheel assemblies. Apparently the hub had not been cast/or machined properly, and they had one heck of a time getting the whole thing into balance.

Anyway, I've since had 3 cross country trips, iincluding 1 of which extended well into British Columbia, and haven't had any tire failures. I shudder to think what my experience would have been if I had not had my running gear balanced.

Thank you, Andy!

John

[classic67]

How easy are Marathons to get in most places, say if one were to blow out while on the road. I know tire matching is important. Also who has anyone actually had a tire go down on the road and what were your options/solutions for getting to a tire dealer? I'd hate to have to think about changing the tire along the interstate on the AS, especially on the road side. Our dealer said with the dual-axle we cound drive to the nearest tire center in most cases at a reduced speed, but at least far enough to exit a limited-access highway or reach a rest area.

[Bob Thompson]

In my case, my blowout was in the middle of nowhere in Utah about 70 miles south of Price. We put the spare on and drove cautiously to Price, but no replacements there, so we drove on to Provo and stopped at the first major RV dealer we saw. The dealer didn't carry tires, but the owner told me it was common to have problems with Marathons. He told me it was his experience that you couldn't trust Marathons after they were 30 months old whether they ever moved or not. He sent me across the street to a tire dealer who carried an off brand, Superstone (or something similar), which had been holding up well in normal use.

[Blu_Hwy_Lady]

Originally Posted by classic67

How easy are Marathons to get in most places, say if one were to blow out while on the road. I know tire matching is important. Also who has anyone actually had a tire go down on the road and what were your options/solutions for getting to a tire dealer? I'd hate to have to think about changing the tire along the interstate on the AS, especially on the road side. Our dealer said with the dual-axle we cound drive to the nearest tire center in most cases at a reduced speed, but at least far enough to exit a limited-access highway or reach a rest area.

As I've discussed before on this thread, our Marathon blew in the middle of nowhere in Montana, 40 miles from Kalispell. The Les Schwab tire place didn't have Marathons so we put on an off brand. As far as mis-matched tires, well I don't know how much worse it could be than the Marathons. The one that blew had less than 3500 miles on it. When it blew, we didn't even know it because the Airstream towed so well. And that was what was dangerous. The carcass really tore up the wheel well and even started to burn the plywood subfloor, filling the whole inside of the rig with smoke. So, if you plan on limping on three tires, take the dead one off first.

[LI Pets]

Have a happy holiday

[niknas]

Lost a Goodyear Marathon on my annual trip this year to Baja Sur. The tire was 2 years old with plenty of thread. My speed at the time was little over 50 mph which is my average speed in Mexico, the air temp was around 80. It was a right rear tire. Total failure, damage the wheel well, bent the LP gas lines and some minor body damage. The tire on the same side front is showing a nasty split running inside to out. I no longer trust this tire.

So here I am 1000 miles from the States looking for two replacement tires. So far all I have found are used Marathons of unknown age. This seems to be the only option for me, unless I change out all four tires with LT rated tires.

This is my second Marathon failure in 11 years of towing my Airstream. My third set of Marathons. The first failure was also a total failure with wheel well damage also and some minor body damage.

I would like to have a tire that if it fails, it would not be a total massive failure as have been the Marathons. I am now ready to try a differant brand.

Nik

[Silvertwinkie]

So if given the choice, what tire would you replace with now if not Marathons?

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by niknas

Lost a Goodyear Marathon on my annual trip this year to Baja Sur. The tire was 2 years old with plenty of thread.This is my second Marathon failure in 11 years of towing my Airstream. My third set of Marathons. The first failure was also a total failure with wheel well damage also and some minor body damage.

I would like to have a tire that if it fails, it would not be a total massive failure as have been the Marathons. I am now ready to try a different brand.

Nik

Well Nik when tires fail in many cases they do exactly what your Marathons do. It's a matter of the steel belts found in many radial tires that cause the damage.

I guess the real question comes as to why the tire failed. Obviously from the point of failure your speed and air temperature doesn't lend any contributing factors. The question with any tire failure is whether there were conditions that occurred before failure that could have caused this tire to become subject to future failure. Obviously things like low air pressure, excessive speed, overloading, UV deterioration, alignment or balance issues, road hazards, and driver induced damage can potentially plant the seed for a future failure.

This is what makes this thread so difficult to interpret for many of us. A tire that fails may have no issues prior to its immediate failure. The skeletons of the past in many cases may truly sow the seeds of the failure. So when you hit the curb on a tight turn, or hit that pothole, who knows if that's when the seeds of failure were sewn.

As noted in many threads that I have posted in, I've become a firm believer in not overloading, maintaining proper air pressures, maintaining speeds at or below the tires ratings, and regular replacement regardless of tire appearance or depth. With that in mind I've lost one tire in 28 years of towing and that was my fault due to under inflation where I broke the bead on the tire during a back in to my driveway.

Needless to say maybe I'm lucky, maybe I haven't hit that pothole yet. Bottom line as noted earlier we need to understand that the most recent towing experience may have nothing to do with the cause of a tire to fail.

Jack

[niknas]

Originally Posted by Silvertwinkie

So if given the choice, what tire would you replace with now if not Marathons?

I have not a clue as to what tire brand I would go to. What is disturbing to me is the massive failure of the Goodyear tire. In 40 some years of driving, cars, trucks, towing, motorcycles (road and dirt), I have never had a tire fail to the extreme the Marathons failed me.

Because towing a rig 2000 miles down and back in Baja is not without risk. Risky in the condition of the road, a road that can smooth one minute and broken up, full of potholes the next minute., Also encountering washed out vados, bumpy detours, and thousands of topos. Because of the condition of the road and no AAA to call, I take my rig very seriously. I do check my tire pressure daily before leaving camp. I weight my trailer and tow rig before leaving home to check my CGVW. My truck is Superduty one ton PowerStroke Van. The trailer is a "small" 21 foot Sovereign. The trailer comes in at 5000#, 500 pounds under its maximum weight. The van come in at a little over 9600 pounds, 400# under it's gross weight. The Vans' CGVW is 20000#, I am always quarter ton under that.

Stuff happens...... I have no doubt the tire was damaged at some point in it's past. To have a tire fail catastrophically with out warning and to damage my trailer at the same time is what angers me.

Nik

[Silvertwinkie]

Originally Posted by niknas

I have not a clue as to what tire brand I would go to.
Nik

That's my problem....I'm going on 3 years (36 months) and I gotta think of something before March. I did year that the Goodyear strike is near over or over....not sure what that will mean by March......

[davidz71]

I was bringing back my 31' Excella 500 from AZ and had a catastrophic failure of a P rated tire the PO put on the trailer. It bent the outrigger almost parallel to the ground, bent and tore aluminum more than a foot behind the wheelwell. I limped into Amarillo, TX. and had 4 new Carlisle D rated tires put on at that point. It was maybe 2 years later that one of the Carlisles had a sidewall blowout. It could have been due to low pressure since I didn't check the pressure after arriving at Hiawassee, GA. and then making it almost 10 miles back to the house in TN. I could bad mouth Carlisles but then it might have been my fault if the one tire had lost some pressure and I didn't check it prior to leaving. I ALWAYS check tire pressure now before leaving on a trip and when I have stopped for any length of time. A simple thing such as a valve stem loosening could lower pressure and then the tire would start heating up.

I'll need new tires on the Sovereign within 2 years so I will probably go with aluminum rims at the same time. Whether it will be Marathons, Maxxis or BFG Commercial TA in the 16" size I just don't know at this point.

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by davidz71

I'll need new tires on the Sovereign within 2 years so I will probably go with aluminum rims at the same time. Whether it will be Marathons, Maxxis or BFG Commercial TA in the 16" size I just don't know at this point.

And after this season, my 4th with my Marathons, I'll be also at the replacement point and at the same point of decisions. This is my third trailer with Marathons, all which up to this point have been flawless. So the question becomes is the reports of bad Marathons enough to sway me?

I don't know since we have also noted that the Marathon is probably used as OEM by most travel trailer manufacturers. So are we going to hear about failures more often? Yep, and that in itself becomes the dilema since we have many fewer reports of problems with other tires. In many cases this is truly due to the much smaller universe of these tires. So what carries more weight, a couple of reports on lesser used tires or higher reports on higher used? That's where we really need to be careful about judging a product as defective or not.

My assumption is that most of us will probably use our direct experience as our guide. If I had Marathon failures like some have described, then I would most likely look at a different brand. Those of us having no problems but being first time users might be on the fence, and then others like me with many years of trouble free use will probably stay with the Marathons.

Jack