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Old 04-09-2016, 01:26 PM   #21
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Re: Tire Failure Data

Goodyear Marathon tire failures seem to peak in the third year of ownership (see data below, extracted from Airstream Tire Failure Poll):

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In the table above, I suspect that tire failures decrease after year #4, because most people either have other brands of tires (other than GYM’s); or the GYM’s have already failed and there aren’t many left on the road older than that.


Note: The above data is from 2013, and there have been very few additional poll entries since then. At the time, GYM's were in wide use due the Airstream factory shipping these as the OEM standard equipment tire; and the conversion to 16" wheels and Michelin LT tires was in its infancy, with few early adopters.

As of 2013, over 50% of AirForums members who participated in the tire failure poll reported problems, mostly with GYM's. With no follow-up poll for 16" wheels & LT tires, there is no data to support the supposition that tire reliability is improved with this conversion. However, anecdotal accounts seem to indicate that most are satisfied with the 16" wheel/LT tire upgrade, and there are very few reports of Michelin LTX MS2 tire failures.

Regarding my personal experience with LT tires, we switched to 16" wheels and Michelin XPS Rib LT tires (load range E, 80 psi max) in January 2011; and our 2005 19' Bambi has about 45,000 miles on them so far, with absolutely no tire problems. Before converting, we had two GYMs and one Maxxis fail with tread separation; and all three were 15" ST tires. We plan to replace the XPS Ribs in another year or two (tire age 6-7 years) even though they show practically no treadwear.
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Old 04-09-2016, 03:41 PM   #22
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Must have "rare" set of load range D 15s made in the USA last week of 2009.
With about 10K on the set of 4, no sidewall concerns and minimal, even, tread wear.
Presures checked and inflated between 45 to 50 psi prior to every run.
No problems with them on my last trailer, single axle Globetrotter, either.

Tom
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Old 04-09-2016, 04:09 PM   #23
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Chinese ST tires are somewhat reliable if they are Nylon bias ply .
Never Never Never run a ST radial by any manufacturer .

Just me ! :-)
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Old 04-09-2016, 04:34 PM   #24
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I have switched from Marathons to 16" Michelins - mostly based on info from this forum and the fact that AS now supplies them as an upgrade, and noting that quite a few other RV companies seem to be moving away from ST tires in favour of LT, I will say that my own experience with Marathons was not all that bad.

I did have Marathons on a previous "Award" make trailer, and had one throw off a chunk of full width tread over a foot long near Fort Stockton Texas when on our way to Tucson.

I felt vibrations before things got really bad, and when I examined the situation, I found that two other tires were just starting to show separation of the tread as well!

We were able to limp into Fort Stockton and had four new tires put on.

However, I would really blame myself for that one!

At that time I had thought that as long as tires had decent amount of tread left, and there were no signs of sidewall cracking, all was good to go - I have since learned that might not be so, irrespective of whose tires you were using.

I think the Marathons were probably around ten years old at the time so I suppose they didn't owe me anything!

The replacements I had put on (all I could get in ST tires in Fort Stockton on short notice were some obscure brand I had never heard of!) were still on the trailer a year or two later when I sold it and bought the Airstream.

The Airstream that I bought (used) came with Marathons - they were quite old and also showed weird bulges all around the sidewalls, which I have since learned is not necessarily indicative of a problem.

I changed them due to age - I think they were maybe 5-6 years old, and Ibought the next class up in load capacity as a safety margin (in my mind!)

I believe they were called Towmaster. I got those at Jackson Centre when there for other work.

I ran those without problem for perhaps three years or so - they did however seem to wear very quickly.

I then decided to bite the bullet and move to the 16" Michelins. So far, an excellent experience. After 3 or 4 years, they still look brand new and hardly lose one psi over a year. No issues at all.

Brian.

PS - When people condemn tires just based on country of origin, I often wonder how fair that is.

Is it not possible that any country is capable of producing both products of high and low quality?

Is it reasonable and right to think that anything coming from China must be crap?

A awful lot of products come from China these days, and admittedly I have had some crap oit of China over the years, I have also bought some items that have served me very well indeed!

Just my thoughts!
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Old 04-09-2016, 05:36 PM   #25
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[QUOTE=richw46;1774130]
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Originally Posted by tjdonahoe View Post

Off topic but Taiwan is an island off the coast of China. Taiwanese consider themselves as independent from China. China considers them as a rebel region and wants to reunite them, by force if necessary, to mainland China.

I have written Goodyear and received a response that the GYMs made in China are exactly the same formula, process, components etc. as when they were made elsewhere. Goodyear says they have plants all over the world and shift production as necessary. Goodyear said that most tire failures are the result of under inflation. I asked them what their market share of ST tires was, thinking that if you make more STs than anyone else you're probably going to have more failures. They said that was proprietary and wouldn't tell me.

I have never had a problem with the GYMs on my boat nor the ones on my AS, which are now 6 years old. I will be replacing those this year and I will be buying more GYMs. I've had a LOT of blowouts on Carlisle tires, changed to GYMs. So far, so good.

As with anything else, your mileage may vary.
Rich, tomorrow I'm replacing my GYM with Maxxis E rated. My AS has 3k miles on it. Message me I'm selling them cheep plus shipping .
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Old 04-10-2016, 07:58 AM   #26
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Never had a problem with GYMs and always replaced in pairs for 10 years, Current trailer has Chinese Knock-offs. I'll be watching them but so far 4000 miles and no issues. I also have Michelin off brand tires on the truck. Chinese get to use the last generation of Michelin molds and make tires on them for private label.
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Old 04-10-2016, 10:26 AM   #27
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[QUOTE=Mrjkq;1774316]
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Originally Posted by richw46 View Post

Rich, tomorrow I'm replacing my GYM with Maxxis E rated. My AS has 3k miles on it. Message me I'm selling them cheep plus shipping .
Thanks, Joe, I appreciate the offer, but I don't buy used tires.
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Old 04-10-2016, 12:30 PM   #28
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[QUOTE=Mrjkq;1774316]
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Originally Posted by richw46 View Post

Rich, tomorrow I'm replacing my GYM with Maxxis E rated. My AS has 3k miles on it. Message me I'm selling them cheep plus shipping .
You should read the post from rtaylor 537 about twainese maxis tires.....
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Old 04-10-2016, 01:52 PM   #29
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[QUOTE=tjdonahoe;1774700]
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Originally Posted by Mrjkq View Post

You should read the post from rtaylor 537 about twainese maxis tires.....
From what I read at Wikipedia, Maxxis is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cheng Shin tire manufacturer, which made only bicycle tires until 2009 when they started making tires for other applications, including Maxxis brand tires.

Like most things in life, your mileage may vary with the products you purchase. I have always tried to research as much as I can before I buy anything of consequence, for quality, safety and price. My own personal experience with a product determines if I am a repeat customer. I've run Goodyear tires on my cars and SUV for years, never had a problem. I've run GYMs on my boat trailer and now the AS I purchased a couple years ago. The AS had GYMs purchased by the original owner as replacements.

The only problem I've had so far was a GYM on my boat trailer, it blew out when I was going 75 on a 95 degree day and the tire was about 12 years old, maybe more. It was not a Chinese made tire but the new ones are.

If these GYMs give me a problem I will probably switch, but the ones on the AS are due for replacement this year and I've not had any issues, neither did the original owner. No problems on the boat trailer either. Maybe it's the size that is the issue. At NHTSA the majority seem to be 16" where mine are 14" and max inflation is 50 psi compared to 65 for others. My boat GYMs are about the same size and they are also max 50 psi.

I think to have any kind of meaningful comparison of ST tires you need to have more than just anecdotal data and more than a single survey from a single trailer manufacturer that put mostly the same brand/type of tires on all of its products. You need researched data about the tires manufactured for a specific application, like ST tires. You can't have a comparison among LT and ST tires because not all LT tires are used on trailers, most are used on light trucks. You'd have to compare only ST tires, you'd have to determine the number of failures per some figure of manufacture to determine a failure rate, like 1 out of 1,000 tires manufactured. You'd have to do the comparisons by year and note any change in the process, such as Goodyear moving production to China. There are so many things that would need to be included in a REAL research project for it to be meaningful.

In the meantime, I'll do like I've done all my life, stick with the good products and reject the ones that have caused me grief. I think that's all that any of us can do.
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Old 04-10-2016, 02:01 PM   #30
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GYMs from China or not?

Careful using Wiki as a source of fact. It can be almost as unreliable as Airforums. 😜
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Old 04-10-2016, 03:20 PM   #31
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[QUOTE=richw46;1774624]
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Originally Posted by Mrjkq View Post

Thanks, Joe, I appreciate the offer, but I don't buy used tires.
Don't blame you Rich, I wouldn't either. Funny thing, this morning I had the GYM's switched out & the dealer/installer could not believe that I actually switched out new (looking) tires for new tires. I asked him what brand of ST tires he sell's most of, he said Goodyear Marathons. Maybe it's just me but since day 1 I've had a thing for these tires, probably from having had a blow out with Carlisle tires on a previous trailer and reading about GYM's on this forum.
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Old 04-10-2016, 03:41 PM   #32
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Quote:
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Careful using Wiki as a source of fact. It can be almost as unreliable as Airforums. ��
I misunderstood, Maxxis has been around since 1967, but was acquired by Cheng Shin Rubber. [https://torquepost.wordpress.com/201...who-owns-who/]. It is a wholly owned subsidiary.

The Wikipedia article has its references linked to the article:
http://www.dealernews.com/dealernews...n-rebrands-cst
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Old 04-10-2016, 03:59 PM   #33
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[QUOTE=Mrjkq;1774805]
Quote:
Originally Posted by richw46 View Post

Don't blame you Rich, I wouldn't either. Funny thing, this morning I had the GYM's switched out & the dealer/installer could not believe that I actually switched out new (looking) tires for new tires. I asked him what brand of ST tires he sell's most of, he said Goodyear Marathons. Maybe it's just me but since day 1 I've had a thing for these tires, probably from having had a blow out with Carlisle tires on a previous trailer and reading about GYM's on this forum.
I've always had good luck with tires.... except with Carlisles on my old boat trailer. Other than the Carlisles, I can recall only 2 blowouts in my entire driving career. That one on the Ranger boat trailer and a Yokohama on my '91 Camry. I owned an '89 Toyota pickup (new) until 2003 and never even had a flat in 193,000 miles. I sold that and bought a 2004 4Runner and had a flat on the first day I took it to work. I've had 2 tires with slow leaks since then, same SUV. I had 2 Dunlops (Goodyear) that developed tread separation bulges but held together for over 800 miles, towing my Ranger boat in summer heat. They were pretty old, 10 years at least, with 60,000 miles on them.

Maybe I'm just "Tire Charmed"???

Peace of mind is worth a lot. If someone doesn't feel comfortable with a particular brand of tire then every mile is torture. Might as well change them out for something that puts your mind at ease so you can enjoy your travels.
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Old 04-10-2016, 04:07 PM   #34
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Who owns Whom

Found this while poking around the Interweb this afternoon:
https://torquepost.wordpress.com/201...-who-owns-who/

The following is a list of major tire companies. There are many many other tire brands in existence, however these are some of the more common ones and the other most common brands that they own. The list also features the country and year of founding.
  • Bridgestone – Japan 1931 – also owns Firestone, Fuzion, and Uniroyal Australia.
  • Cheng Shin Rubber Ind. Co. Ltd. – Taiwan 1967 – owns Maxxis Tire
  • Continental Corporation – Germany 1871 – also owns Dunlop Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, General Tire, and Uniroyal (outside of NAFTA region and Colombia, and Peru)
  • Cooper Tires – USA 1974 – also owns Avon tyre.
  • GoodYear – USA 1898 – also owns Dunlop.
  • Michelin Group – France 1889 – also owns BFGoodrich and Uniroyal North America.
  • Sumitomo Rubber Industries – Japan 1909 – also owns Dunlop Japan, Falken Tire, and GoodYear Japan.
  • Toyo Tire And Rubber Company – Japan 1943 – also owns Nitto Tire
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Old 04-11-2016, 09:05 AM   #35
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I have had GYM ST tire failure on the twin axle Harley hauler of my past as well as the current single axle rail motorcycle trailer. Even though the spare tire was covered from the sun on the rail trailer, the spare just delaminated the tread and it had never been on the ground.

I ended up putting 13" Michelin car tires on the single axle trailer since the loaded weight was under 1,300 pounds for the trailer with my Gold Wing aboard. The trailer does not bounce and rattle with the Michelin tires.
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Old 04-11-2016, 11:17 AM   #36
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I ended up putting 13" Michelin car tires on the single axle trailer since the loaded weight was under 1,300 pounds for the trailer with my Gold Wing aboard. The trailer does not bounce and rattle with the Michelin tires.
I've read that passenger tires on a trailer is not recommended because passenger tire sidewalls are soft for a smoother ride. They don't provide the lateral support to prevent swaying/fishtailing. It may not be an issue on your motorcycle trailer but I wouldn't put them on my AS or boat trailer.
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Old 04-11-2016, 07:59 PM   #37
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Our first AS 2007 25ft. Safari with GYMs, 60,000 miles no problem. Current 2014, 27 ft. Flying Cloud with 28,000 miles on GYMs- one tire down at the end of the first year - 6" bolt thru it.
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Old 04-12-2016, 10:37 AM   #38
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Originally Posted by richw46 View Post
I've read that passenger tires on a trailer is not recommended because passenger tire sidewalls are soft for a smoother ride. They don't provide the lateral support to prevent swaying/fishtailing. It may not be an issue on your motorcycle trailer but I wouldn't put them on my AS or boat trailer.
Have been running car tires on trailers since the sixtys , we ran P235/75R15 inch Generals on our 66 Airstream , and ran Cooper P235/75R15s on the 2005 Airstream for years including an 11,000 mile trip to Alaska and back . Have replaced them with the same size p rated Michelins 2 years back .
There is defiantly no problem whatsoever in the handling of these trailers and the shocks that are absorbed instead of being transferred to the trailer makes for a much smoother ride.
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Old 04-13-2016, 07:47 AM   #39
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I have towed my two Airstreams with the 15" Michelin LTX (P) 235/75R15 XL tires installed and set to 44 psi and both were attached to the Mercedes ML320 CDI diesel with a Hensley Arrow weight distribution hitch. I had no sway issues or was not blown around when the trucks passed going 25 to 30 mph faster than I was driving. There have been a couple of occasions where thunderstorms were generating significant cross winds and the trailer tracked true.

So the proper setup of the Hensley Arrow prevented the sway issues on the two smaller trailers and the ProPride does the same for the 31' Classic using 16" Michelin LT225/75R16/E LTX M/S2 tires as installed by the factory on the newer Classics and Eddie Bauer models and offered as an option at the factory service center.
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Old 04-13-2016, 08:19 AM   #40
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Our AS was delivered from the factory to CANAM with stock tires. On delivery we specified "Michelin HEAVY LOAD" P235/75 R15 LTX M/S with carry capacity at 50lbs (max) inflation of 2183 lbs. These tires have Michelin in white letters and are available from most if not all Michelin dealers in North America.

As we understand it, these tires carry a heavier load at a lower air pressure, which is said to improve the AS ride, stress on components and contents. We also hear these tires may have an improved ability to deal with "scrub" caused by turns.

In our opinion, these tires have a slightly different appearance, in that the sidewalls appear to be thicker. There will be other differences not known to ourselves, but we can say these tires have held 47 lbs air pressure without loss of even a single pound, over the past 8 months in Florida winter climate.

These tires are monitored for failure by USDOT and I have found no reported evidence as to failures. Needless to say, we are pleased so far with Michelin performance and enjoy not having to debate the merits of tire country of origin.
Clarification. USDOT or more correctly NHTSA collects complaints on tire failures. A significant issue with using the NHTSA complaint database is that a very small percentage of RV owners know they can file complaints. Another problem is that many ST type tires are made in batches small enough such that the MFG is not required to report failures to NHTSA. So if the only complaining done is on RV forums or around campfires there will be no data at NHTSA. With no data there will be no investigation and no investigation menas no recall or pressure on tire company to make a better tire.

We have identified the enemy and it is the failure to act on the part of the RV community.
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