Goodyear Marathon Failures

[Surman1322]

I replaced two tires on 8/24/2006. the date codes were 1006 on both. On 11/25/2006, one of the tires failed when the sidewall separated from the tread. The local Goodyear dealer could find no reason for the tire to go flat and separate. He refused to replace the tire under the one year warranty.
This is just the latest of the ongoing saga of Goodyear Marathon failures.
My next tires will be Greenball or Maxxis.

Chuck Surman
WBCCI 1322

[Silvertwinkie]

I was going to follow the guideline made here that RV tires should be replaced at or around 3 year intervals.....even though is seems to be expensive.

I had considered replacing my Marathons since the ones I had have not, so far given me any problems....so I went to the web and did a search. Looks like more problems than positive exp.

Here is what I found in what took about 5 minutes to dig up by simply doing a Google search for Goodyear Marathons:

http://www.epinions.com/Goodyear_Mar...splay_~reviews

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....arathon+Radial

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fu...d/16532310.cfm

http://www.wmi.org/bassfish/bassboar...ing/T10278.htm

http://www.casitaclub.com/forums/ind...=ST&f=2&t=7258

[Condoluminum]

Chuck-

Sorry to hear of failure, and treatment by local dealer...

Two thoughts..

1. Go up chain above dealer to Goodyear distributor or regional customer service rep... That is lousy service, and while it is good to vent and publicize here, you should also try another round of getting satisfaction from Goodyear..

2. We put Carlisle ST tires on from Americas Tire/Discount Tire chain.. So far so good, so that might be another alternative brand to consider...

John

[Blu_Hwy_Lady]

A Marathon with less than 3000 miles on it blew on our maiden voyage. It was a total separation of the tread from the sidewall that did serious damage to the wheel well and even burned a crescent in the plywood subfloor. Of course it happened in the middle of nowhere in Montana. I certainly don't trust them any more, especially after what I've read here. Maybe we should all get together and see just how common this is.

[2airishuman]

hi chuck

is this the same tire or different tire than in this post from august?

http://www.airforums.com/forums/258661-post8.html

same position on the trailer?
any issues with alignment or balance or other things?

so you replaced 2 not one?

i agree with john...press the warranty issue.

cheers
2air'

[bhayden]

Be careful about the distiction between manufacturers and retailers. Companies like Greenball do not manufacture tires. They contract with people who do. For years they were Goodyear Marathons with a different label. From Greenballs company website:

"From 1976, when Greenball Corp. first began, to 1993, Greenball Corporation dealt with a single source as the vendor; that vendor was Cheng Shin Rubber Co. in Taiwan. In 1993, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Inc. was added as a domestic source. After 1994, responding to evolving needs of the company, Greenball developed more than ten (10) supply sources over the next few years."

Maxxis is the name Chen Shin now markets their trailer, bicycle and motorcycle tires under. They seem to be quality oriented. Sort of the progression of how the low cost producers evolve as new sources of cheap rubber start to supply the world market.

Probalby the most important thing about brand name is warranty service. My experience with Goodyear service centers has generally been good in that regard. Independent retailers of Goodyear tires may be different. Discount Tire has always been helpful but after a couple of experiences of having to go back to get the job done right I've avoided them. They do have a good stock of trailer tires and are nation wide. I may have to give them another chance.

-Bernie

[Beginner]

Sorry to read about your tire failure.
Beginner

[scottanlily]

Im going to go ahead and say it loud and clear! go with the greenball tire .
The towmaster is a very good choice ,they come on alot of boat trailers new.
They are china and so what ? They are working out very well .I ran a set of
towmasters on the tradewind ,no problems ,herculese now (china) 7000 miles
not alot ,but so far ,great .The goodyear workhorse rib is another good bias tire ,but you want radials and I would buy another brand and the china tires,
sold in America buy the way are good .go ahead and don't worry its OK to buy another tire if you want to .I looked at acustomers fifth wheel tandem
trailer ,huge thing ,came with some off brand china radial on it ,been to the
east coast and back no problems so far ,i was actually surprised that they
were not marathons ,but even the manafactures are trying somthing else.
Cannot hurt to give somthing else a try .

Im not going to argue with anyone either ,just a good idea at this point

Scott

[mustang]

I will let everyone know that you should stay as far away from goodyear tires as you can. They are on strike and the tires that have been made are not up to snuff if you will. By the way the reason they are on strike???
The guys are trying to protect the retired peoples benefits, and have givin up there raises to do this. The compnay is terribly miss managed just like the rest of corporate america

[Surman1322]

Thank you all for your comments. I am aware of the 65mph and 65psi specifications on the ST225/75R15 load range D Marathon and did follow them. I replaced it with a Maxxis M8008 ST225/75R15 load range E.
I will get 3 more as needed. Test results are down the road.

Chuck Surman
WBCCI 1322

[wingfoot321]

Surman1322,
You need to go to their website and get a telephone number for sales and get the district manager's telephone number. Also, find another dealer. That guy is not doing his job. I bought four new marathons this spring before I left on a caravan. I asked three tire dealers whether they would know me if I had a problem with a tire (even uniformity, balance, etc) and it took three dealers to find one that knew how to run a business.
Also, the strike will have no effect on tire quality. Actually, the people working during the strike are supervisors, managers, engineers, etc. and they are the most motivated, committed employees you will get to build a tire.

[scottanlily]

Surman1322,

I did forget to say yes on the maxxis as well ,Ive heard good things on those also ,seems people are happy with them too.


scott

[68 Overlander]

Quite a bit of controversy on Marathons versus all the others and the fact is none of them admit or gloat about the lowest failure rate. It comes from forums like ours and personal opinion/experience. For instance if Airstream uses them, some will automatically assume they are the best because they make the "Best" RV trailer, right?
The only stats the government keeps is that up to 85% are from under inflation or overload and you have to prove it wasn't if you want to make your case to the tire manufacture.
Here is an actual testimonial from that small 15 percent when you had nothing to do with it.

I'm still very grateful for my PressurePro TPMS! We had a sudden blow out of one of our rear dual tires this summer (in Montanna). Because of PressurePro, I was able to prove that it was not because of under inflation (in other words not my fault) and therefore the manufacturer replaced the tire (at a prorated cost). I'm certain that had it not been for my PressurePro, there would have been an attempt by the manufacturer to put the blame on under-inflation and therefore on me (it was their first suggestion). When I explained that I check the actual pressures every morning (and that this tire was fine when I checked it) and that the monitor was still working (on the replacement tire) they didn't have a leg to stand on.

Rod Atkins

Call it a plug, yes it is but regardless of manufacture, catastrophic tire failures are overwhelmingly preventable. For those 15% blowouts that aren't preventable, you can prove their tire failed like he did unless you ran over a rake or something.

[ZoominC6]

The Pressure Pros are definitely a good 'early warning' device and coupled with Centramatic wheel balancers, have given me peace of mind on the highway. Having said that, I've learned from experience that the best way to extend tire life is to SLOW DOWN, dump the unecessary weight inside and run at max air pressure, especially in the summer months. Thank goodness I was running Pressure Pros while going to this 'School of Hard Knocks' or damage to my trailer would have been the result.

[boatdoc]

Originally Posted by scottanlily

Surman1322,

I did forget to say yes on the maxxis as well ,Ive heard good things on those also ,seems people are happy with them too.


scott

Hi Scott; I had 5 Marathons on order from my distributor and after hearing all this, I have changed the order to Maxxis. My distributor Keller Marine Service of Port Treverton Pa, has been supplying tires to my business for past 35 years. In that period we sold many different brands. We sold a lot of Marathons as well on boat trailers, without many problems. Some of the issues stemmed from curbed, bent spindles or bowing axles. Last couple of years I have noticed a decline in requests for Marathons which I contributed to sticker shock. For this reason I cannot comment on problems past two years because I did not sell more than a hundred of them. However, Keller Marine Service went to Maxxis bringing enormous stock into their inventory for 2007 Dealer show. I was assured that they are top shelf tires and that warranty is very good. Keller Marine has always been very keen on solving dealers problems, so for that reason I have restocked my store with Maxxis for 2007. My 26' Arg will not be ready till probably May of 2007 because I have not had a chance to proceed with any work, due to boat winterizing season. This tire issue seems to be growing larger every day, so there must be a lot of truth to those statements. Thanks, "Boatdoc"

No doubt, time will tell the whole story.

[Silvertwinkie]

I'd heard about the strike. I am glad to see alternate tires brand being discussed giving everyone options to the Marathons.

[Goin camping]

I have been in contact with Maxxis and their speed and temp ratings are the same as Marathons. 65 mph @100 degrees.

[Silvertwinkie]

You know, the more and more I think about this, the more puzzling I find it. In one hand, you have what I would consider a fair number of people having issues. Statistically small given the number of tires out there, but concerning nonetheless. OTOH, there are folks like me that may just be lucky. I check the pressures all the time, load carefully and my Safari is nowhere near the max weight rating of the tires combined.

Then I read about speeds, weight distribution of load, etc and can't help but wonder if some folks that have had issues (not all) simply don't check the pressures and drive faster than 65, regadless of outside temps.

[ticki2]

It seems to me that any tire , whether for auto , truck , or trailer , that is going to be used on our interstate highways , and has a max speed rating of 65 mph , is utterly rediculous . Something is wrong with the regulators and industry that has allowed this . Rant over .

[Beginner]

No something is wrong with us.
We keep buying these tires.
Well, at least some of us do.

You've bought the best, most durable
piece of RV equipment available.
Why take a chance on tearing it up
with tires that do not have the capability
of withstanding our present driving habits?
The choice is ours.
Slow down or go to different tires.
Its that simple.
Beginner