Weird Marathon Picture - what happened?

[Rich W]

I keep hearing that GYMs are bad but I've always run GYMs on my '94 bass boat trailer. I've had 1 blowout on a 14 year old tire. My AS runs GYMs, original owner put 4 new ones on before he sold it to the guy who sold it to me. He had it for 2 years before selling it to me. Again, no problems while I've had them. I always check the pressure, store them on wood planks, make sure I exercise them by taking the AS out of storage to warm the tires on a 50 mile round trip. I cover them with tire covers.

I know this is anecdotal evidence but as long as a product gives me good service I'm going to stick with it and GYMs have not given me any reason to switch. Good Year is a good company, makes a good product. I'm happy.

[ghaynes755]

Very strange but looking at the photo it appears the tire was place into the back of the car (floor mat in the passenger compartment). Can't imagine the reaction/destruction/carnage if it had blown while the car was driving to someplace to have the tire checked...

[m.hony]

Trailer tires in general seem to last only 3-4 years before tread separation. I have never had a tread separation on P-rated or LT tires, which seem to last 5-7 years before they dry-rot/begin to crack ob the sidewalls. This is my reason for the switch to LT tires and 16" wheels.

[r carl]

Originally Posted by PKI

Are Marathons time or millage limited? Originals are possibly 2 years old. We believe they have about 20K on them. They show generally as new with no wear. We will replace them with 15s, the question is when? Now, or after this year's travels? Most folks seem to say they have 3-4 years service at a minimum. The exceptions are the folks who say they have had new tires fail on their first trip, which sounds like a manufacturing defect or bad road hazard damage. Does good initial service indicate proper manufacture, a couple years off normal GM life, or just a couple of lucky spins of cylinder on the GM roulette wheel? And thank you all for posting your experience and upgrade solutions. Pat

I blame the engineers of the cheap tires.

[Rich W]

There is an extensive and interesting article at the Modern Tire Dealer site:
Service trailer tires - Commercial Business - Modern Tire Dealer
Overloading seems to be a prime cause of failures. It's very good reading if you have a few minutes

Here is a paragraph on the difference among ST, P and LT tires:
ST vs. P vs. LT: How trailer tires are different
Passenger tires are not built for the higher load requirements, duty cycles and special demands of trailering, according to Carlisle Transportation Products. The company describes the differences between special trailer (ST), and passenger (P) and light truck (LT) tires:

• Polyester cords in an ST tire are bigger than in a comparable P or LT tire.
• Steel cords used in ST tires have a larger diameter and greater tensile strength to meet additional load requirements.
• ST tire rubber compounds contain chemicals to resist weather and ozone cracking, particularly conditions resulting from extended storage and the unusual duty cycles of trailer tires.
• The slightly shallower tread depth of a trailer tire reduces sway and rides cooler, which adds to tire longevity.
• ST tires generally offer approximately 10% more load capacity than a similar LT tire and nearly 40% more than a P tire.
• ST tires feature stiffer sidewalls, especially in the lower section, which:
  • reduce sidewall flexing causing the trailer to track straighter
  • diminish the risk of trailer sway, and
  • lessen the risk of sidewall puncture and blowout.

Trailer tire facts for your customers

• Trailer tires must endure more demanding conditions than passenger or LT tires.
• Tread does not indicate when a trailer tire wears out. Because a trailer tire is used less often than a car, age, not mileage, determines when it needs to be replaced.
• Overloading is a major cause of trailer tire failure. The actual weight of the load is everything under tow, including gear, food, water, equipment, toys, and the trailer.
• Proper air pressure keeps the sidewall stiff for straight tracking behind the tow vehicle. An underinflated trailer tire may not sag due to its stiffer sidewalls.

There is a lot more information in the article.

[Tireman9]

Did I miss the posting of pictures of the interior of the tire at the location of the bubble? or the official engineering response from GY on reason for the bubble?

[cwf]

Yeah.. This is why my "ST" tires from Towmaster failed... And of the 6, they were all deemed "manufacturing defect" by the Manufacturer! Yes, I paid to Send All 6 back for review and they deemed
"Defective!!!"

6 defective out of 6. How unusual.

[batman]

Originally Posted by m.hony

Trailer tires in general seem to last only 3-4 years before tread separation. I have never had a tread separation on P-rated or LT tires, which seem to last 5-7 years before they dry-rot/begin to crack ob the sidewalls. This is my reason for the switch to LT tires and 16" wheels.

Were you using those "P" and "LT" rated tires on a 30" dual axle trailer?

Here is a really great tire info site. RV Tire Safety: Flex Failure

I believe most separation problems occur from under inflation and higher speeds than anything else. multi-axle trailers add considerably more stress when turning as well. which will add to separation failures.

I am interested in the LT change, to see if there is a significant difference in separation issues and other failures. Especially when under inflated.

However I think it will be hard to quantify due to the inflation, mileage, UV, singe vs multi-axle, Loads, road conditions, etc. and other usage factors on each persons particular trailer.

Another great thread.

-Dennis

[m.hony]

I have always used P-rated tires on my ancient 5' x 10' utility trailer. Never an issue.
Yes, I have LT tires on my 30' Classic.
My two-time experience with ST tires is that the are inferior garbage.
I will not have a 3rd ST tire incident.
We have about (25) 14,000# GVW cargo trailers at work with 16" wheels/LT tires.
If many forum users, Airstream corporate, and the very smart men who own the company I work for have jumped on the 16" wheel/LT tire bandwagon, there must be a reason why.
My money will never buy ST tires- unless I buy a huge fifth wheel with Load Range H tires-
On my previous trailer, I upgraded from Load Range D to Load Range E, but then traded the trailer after a couple of months with the new tires, so I'll never know if the tires were any better. I could have done that with this trailer, but why would I?


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[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted by cwf

Yeah.. This is why my "ST" tires from Towmaster failed... And of the 6, they were all deemed "manufacturing defect" by the Manufacturer! Yes, I paid to Send All 6 back for review and they deemed
"Defective!!!"

6 defective out of 6. How unusual.

I hope Tireman9 will back me up on this, as we both worked for a tire manufacturer (albeit different ones!), but NO tire manufacturer is going to admit to a "manufacturing defect". Not only does that open them to many forms of legal liability, but they don't actually phrase such things in that way.

Further, in the area of travel trailers, it is sooooo common for these to be under tired (tires too small) that I can not image any legal savvy tire engineer writing a letter and not pointing this out.

I doubt very much this happened.

[Rich Jenkins]

Well interesting thread.

As a new owner of a 2016 27' FC FB, I read the story here, as well as elsewhere, on the GYM.

As we don't quite have spare $ to replace brand new wheels and tires, we decided to air up to 65 psi, restrict speed to 65 mph, cover the tires in storage, treat the sidewalls with 303, and obtain a TST tpms. Oh, and practice changing a tire on the rig.

I sure hope I don't come back to this thread and post a blow out story. Knock on wood.

[m.hony]

Use the new tires and wheels for maybe 3 years, then upgrade.
I didn't quite get 3 years- 2 years and 10 months was all those China bombs wanted.


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[PKI]

So, 2 years and 8 months would be a good bet? Pat

[m.hony]

They're unpredictable.
You never know.
Some people replace brand new wheels and tires on brand new trailers or "upgrade" the factory order so it is built with 16" wheels and Michelin LT tires.


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[Alphonse]

Originally Posted by m.hony

They're unpredictable.
You never know.
. . . . . ..


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So I am getting the sense you don't like Marathons. Is that correct?

[m.hony]

Affirmative


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[Ampman]

Congratulations! When is the due date? For the baby shower get some Michelins LT's and forget those ST junk tires. I went the ST route when I first got our rig and got what all the research said was the best ST tire, the Maxxis 8000. Lasted a few seasons and cords gave up while returning from a long trip. Caught in time so no damage done. Never again will I buy imported ST tires no matter what the experts say.

[Andrew T]

As a new owner of a 2016 27' FC FB, I read the story here, as well as elsewhere, on the GYM.

As we don't quite have spare $ to replace brand new wheels and tires, we decided to air up to 65 psi, restrict speed to 65 mph, cover the tires in storage, treat the sidewalls with 303, and obtain a TST tpms. Oh, and practice changing a tire on the rig.

I sure hope I don't come back to this thread and post a blow out story. Knock on wood.
__________________
Rich

Hi Rich

For your 27' going to 15" Michelins P235/75R x 15" XL tires is a less expensive and better choice than going to 16's. The 15's are equivalent of a load range "C" tire so they ride much smoother than the Load Range "D" 16" tires. On the 27 you can tow with these at 45 PSI instead of the 65 you are running now. This is much friendlier to the Airstream. We have put on a couple of thousand of these now, absolutely no issue with them.


Andrew T

[xrvr]

Thanks for the confirmation about sticking with 15 inchers from an expert.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by Llando88

Well interesting thread.

As a new owner of a 2016 27' FC FB, I read the story here, as well as elsewhere, on the GYM.

As we don't quite have spare $ to replace brand new wheels and tires, we decided to air up to 65 psi, restrict speed to 65 mph, cover the tires in storage, treat the sidewalls with 303, and obtain a TST tpms. Oh, and practice changing a tire on the rig.

I sure hope I don't come back to this thread and post a blow out story. Knock on wood.

IMO one thing that will definitely improve your chances to avoid Run Low Flex Failure i.e. "Blowout" and that is monitoring your inflation all the time. So get a TPMS and mount on metal bolt in valve stems.