Goodyear Marathon tread separation ... and our solution

[InsideOut]

Not just Marathons - several brands & sellers are mentioned in this clip.

how old are my "new" tires?

Sure supports the "change your tires every 4-6 years" and "know what you're buying" therories!

Shari

[Roger S]

Goodyear Marathons are scary! We just returned from a trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota (we live in CA) in our 2007 20' Safari. On the way up, a GM on our friend's trailer came apart (65 mph on Rt 15, outside temp 85°). On the way back, one of our GMs tore open so that there was a hole the size of a quarter just to the side of the tread (60 mph, rt 80, outside temp 80°). Inside the tire, it looked like the rubber had pulled away in several strange directions (even the tire guy was surprised). Fortunately, our Doran pressure meter gave us sufficient warning. To top it off, our partnering trailer blew another GM, this time, the tread coming completely off the tire, but he could ride what remained to a stop. I don't know if Michelin's are the answer, but clearly Goodyear Marathons are deadly. The Goodyears are coming off my trailer - and everyone in our WBCCI unit will learn about it. Can't imagine why Airstream mounts them on our trailers, let alone why no one at Goodyear cares!
RHS - Atascadero, CA

[ZoominC6]

Doran PP gave early warning that our four year old Marathon, made in China, was losing pressure. As it turned out, the tread was separating. We made it to camp just fine but changed the tire prior to departure. We replaced all four tires this week with Carlisle "E" rated manufactured this year and kept the newest Marathon as a spare.We inflated the Carlisles to 75#, they're rated to 85#, and took out on our trip yesterday. Nothing inside the trailer seemed to be bounced around any more than with the Marathons inflated to 65#. We'll look for any unusual outer edge wear on the new tires due to the lower inflation pressures. Since our rig is a bit heavy anyway possibly there will be no difference.

[drm101]

We just put new marathons on our old A/S recently and have had good luck so far. They have about 4000 miles. Our's are made in USA. Single Axle 70 Safari at around 4000 lbs. They sure ride nice compared to the old bias plys.
Regards,
Dean

[SilverRanger]

After 4+ years and tens of thousands of miles, and a variety of road and weather conditions, we just changed out our original Canadian made Marathons with a set made in the U.S.A. The old ones were still in good condition. and showed only some tread wear, as could be expected. We have between 3-4,000 miles on the new set with no problems to date.

[moosetags]

My experience with Lucy's OEM Goodyear Marathons within 12,000 miles is such that I won't be buying any Goodyear tire any time soon. Three of Lucy's OEM Marathons ended up as shown below. I am now on my second set of Maxxis without incident.

Maybe the new US Made Marathons are good, but I will have to see how they play out before I could trust Goodyear again.

Brian

[Beginner]

Observation: The heaver a tire load is the more trouble you have with the ST tire. 31FT, to 25 ft seem to have the most trouble. The 34 FT dont seem to have as much trouble as the double axle. This can be attributed to tire loading in my mind. It seems that when you approach 50% of the ST tire's load carrying capacity at highway speeds you have failures.
Fact: The ST class of tire is a 65 MPH tire. 65 MPH is all the NHTSA requires them to be tested and type certified to.

Fact: Tire companies are not going to put expensive high temperature (99mph+) compounds in a tire that they only have to build to withstand the NHTSA 65 MPH testing. To do so would not maximize profits.

Fact: Elevated temperature is what causes the rubber compounds to loose their integrity and release (melt and come apart). Remember NASCAR and their tire debacle a couple of years ago? Wern't those Goodyear tires?

Fact: Those who put the Load Range E tires on their trailers usually put higher air pressures in them. The sidewalls flex less and generate less heat and so they seem to last longer. Truth is any pressure over 60 PSI in the 31 ft trailer is producing a ride that is damaging their trailer. Reffer to the inflation tables for the proper pressure for the load the tire has to carry.

Fact: The higher the Speed Rating of a tire the more heat it can withstand and not disentegrate.
So,
We dont need higher load range tires, just tires that will withstand the heat of 65 MPH on a hot summer day, inflated to the PROPER pressure to carry the load on the tire.

Even simpler, we dont need higher capacity tires just better tires.
Beginner

[RossFam05BH]

Hey All,

It's summer and the GYM stories start appearing. We originated this thread and it is about time that we bring everyone up to date with our experience with Michelin XPS ribs. We now have 22,000 miles on the tires after 3 years, which includes one trip to Florida and 2 cross country trips to California from our home in North Carolina. During this summer's trip we spent a day driving across Oklahoma where the temperature reached 109 degrees. I do not see any appreciable wear (at most 1/32") on the tires. Sidewalls are in perfect shape. This next statement may seem heretical to most Airstreamer's, but I expect to get over 150,000 miles and 20 years of use per set of XPS ribs. The reason I believe this is that I have a 12000 pound utility trailer which has 10 year old XPS ribs. The tires look brand new, even though the trailer sits outside unprotected on my log yard, ready for use whenever I need it. A couple years ago one of the tires on the utility trailer went flat. I found a 3/8" bolt stuck in the tread. I took the tire in for a plug/patch, thinking at the time that the tire was probably ruined. To this day, the tire still keeps air and rolls true. One of our WBCCI unit members followed our lead and installed XPS ribs on his 2005 30' Classic after 2 out 4 of his original GYM's separated. After 2 1/2 years, he reports no problems or wear. The quality of this make of tire convinced us to spend the money and buy a set of 245's for our new tow vehicle, a 2002 Ford Excursion. They run quiet and show no wear after 8000 miles. Yes, we do pay a lot of money up front for these tires, but a separated GYM destroying the galley in our trailer would be much more expensive. Let me now step down from my soapbox.

Bye

Paul

[mwells4654]

I am going to replace my axle/rims/tires in the near future - I am really interested in the outcome of this thread. I was going to replace them with ST 225/75/15 on new rims, but am unsure now. Might have to upgrade to 16's.

[StingrayL82]

It sucks that the XPS doesn't come in a 15", because I don't want to go to a 16", given that I like the look of the original wheels on our Sovereign. From what I read, Maxxis seems like a good tire to put on. We have had Carlisle tires on, since the day we bought the Sovereign and have never had a day's problem with them and we easily have 20,000 miles on them, in the last four years.

[JimGolden]

Man that is a scary picture of those Marathons!

I guess I'll stick with my Maxxis UE-168 LT/ST tires. I've had them for two years, nary a problem at all. I've pulled them at over 80mph. I like my triple axle

[StanandLynn]

I once had a fifth wheel with faulty Carlisle tires that came apart. Then I had a 40' Holiday Rambler DP with Goodyears that were bad. After reading this thread I just went out to see what kind of tires that are on my '09 Flying Cloud that I just bought and found Goodyear Marathons, made in China. Now I have to make a decision whether to take off brand new tires and replace them to keep from tearing up my new AS. Seems to be a pattern here.

[JimGolden]

If it gets to where I can't find these Maxxis tires anymore, I'll do the wheel swap and run 16" BFG Commercial TA's. That really is the right route to go. Wheels aren't cheap though, and I need six of them.

I've never had a bit of trouble with either BFG or Michelin. Actually, I believe that Michelin owns Goodrich now.

[StingrayL82]

Originally Posted by JimGolden

....Actually, I believe that Michelin owns Goodrich now.

Jim, they do own BF Goodrich now. Where did you get your Maxxis UE-168 LT/ST tires? I was only able to find Maxxis 8008 trailer tires...didn't see the others on their site.

[Steamy1]

After two years since I converted to 16" wheels, and Michelin E rated tires, I continue to be pleased with the results. The comfort in knowing that the tire is not going to fail is priceless.

Alos, as an FYI, a couple of weeks ago I heard the CEO of Carllisle on CNBC say that they were moving their production back to the US from China.

Pictures of tire and wheel below;

[pagoff]

I recently removed my marathons from my 19ft Bambi--3.5 years old, about 15,000 miles--in preparation for a trip to Alaska. The tire guy and I noted blistering or separation of the inner liner of the tire from the tread. This clearly is abnormal and may represent one of the steps in the failure of these tires--made in China.

Replaced with E rated Maxxis. So far so good. No problems in Alaska.

[JimGolden]

Stingray,

I got six of my UE-168's from Go Forth Tire in Knoxville, TN, when I bought the trailer (it had Michelns on it but they were 15 years old and dry rotted). Nobody where I live carries them, but you can mail order them.

Here's a place that carries them. I run the 235/75 15 in a Load Range D.
Where I got mine had the 235's in 8 ply (D), and the 225's in 10 ply (E). But, it looks like you can get the 235 in a 10 ply as well.

Here's a place that has them for $123 each. Not too bad...I paid about $98 for mine two years ago. Unser Tire used to carry them and that's where I got my spare and mounted it locally.

Gripston - Search

Hope this helps. See ya on the road,

[SilverRanger]

Originally Posted by Steamy1

... I converted to 16" wheels, and Michelin E rated tires, I continue to be pleased with the results. The comfort in knowing that the tire is not going to fail is priceless.

As the owner of a single axle trailer, I'd sure like to know what that feels like. Would you please tell me what brand wheels did you get, and at what PSI do you run the load range E tires?
Thanks.

[StingrayL82]

Jim,

It helps a great deal, thank you so much. The biggest question I have relates to Load Range. I've always heard that, if you bump up to a higher Load Range, the ride is going to be much harsher. True?

According to all of my original literature, our Sovereign is supposed to ride on 7.00x15 LRC tires...what we have on there now are the Carlisle 225/75 ST15 LRC. I just measured inside the fender and I have 2" of clearance on either side of the tire (to the fender and to the frame), and I have 4.75" to the top of the fender.

I wonder what the largest 15" tire I could get away with would be?

Originally Posted by JimGolden

Stingray,

I got six of my UE-168's from Go Forth Tire in Knoxville, TN, when I bought the trailer (it had Michelns on it but they were 15 years old and dry rotted). Nobody where I live carries them, but you can mail order them.

Here's a place that carries them. I run the 235/75 15 in a Load Range D.
Where I got mine had the 235's in 8 ply (D), and the 225's in 10 ply (E). But, it looks like you can get the 235 in a 10 ply as well.

Here's a place that has them for $123 each. Not too bad...I paid about $98 for mine two years ago. Unser Tire used to carry them and that's where I got my spare and mounted it locally.

Gripston - Search

Hope this helps. See ya on the road,

[doorgunner]

Stingray

check this out
csgnetwork.com/tireinfocalc.html