Is it time to buy new tires?

[aliner]

I realize there's been many threads on Marathon tires, mostly negative but some positive. I'm on my 3rd set of Marathons thinking it's time to upgrade to Endurance. I've been running these tires with centramatic balancers since Jan. 2015 with no issues. They have about 20000 mile on them. The DOT on them is Nov. 2014. I'm planning a 5000 mile trip in March and would like some input on weather I should change them out or go one more season. The tires look great but going on year 5. Any thoughts would be appreciated.


Lynn

[rmkrum]

Personally, given my experiences with Goodyear Marathon tires, it’s time to change them out. So far the GY Endurance appears to be causing less problems and may be a better built tire.

You can’t tell by how they looked. Ours looked just fine, had proper air pressure, etc. When the tread peeled off and did $3,000 worth of damage that was the first and only symptom of any issue. Don’t push your luck, IMHO.

[SeaLevel]

The last thing I would want to happen on a trip is to have one or more tires fail, so I plan to replace my Endurance tires after 5 years. I only went 2 years on the Marathon tires that came with it. Something (road hazard) could also happen with new tires, so you still need to be prepared, but I think you'd lessen the chance of having a problem if you switch to Endurance tires before your trip.

[Tater]

Five years and out. Never use "good" tread as the determining factor. IMO

[aliner]

Good advice! Thanks everyone for you input. New tires it will be!


Lynn

[KK4YZ]

Originally Posted by aliner

good advice! Thanks everyone for you input. New tires it will be!


Lynn

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[SteveSueMac]

I’m swapping out 5 year old Michelins this spring for a new set of sneakers (GYEs). 5 years on a trailer, even with relatively low mileage, seems like enough to me. Good luck!!

[Bill M.]

4 years for me. I would rather not have one fail on the road that could have been prevented.

[PKI]

IMHO, by 2015 the China built GYMs had improved to reasonable quality. However, you got your use out of them. Do not roll another mile. Replace them now. Pat

[Mollysdad]

If you're wondering, yes.
Blowouts do a lot of damage to the trailer.
So far, I've been very happy with GY Endurance and a TST TPMS.

[KK4YZ]

Originally Posted by PKI

IMHO, by 2015 the China built GYMs had improved to reasonable quality. However, you got your use out of them. Do not roll another mile. Replace them now. Pat

The Endurance is a much heavier tire than the Marathon. I compared two unmounted tires. The Marathon felt like a water balloon next to the Endurance.

[Airtream]

Yes! If it's even a question, yes! Before traveling from El Paso to DC, I wanted to worry about as few things as possible. Long trips like this have enough risk without the added stress of worrying about tires. It was an easy choice to go to Sams and swap them out, even though I had to take the wheels off and put them back on the AS myself.

[Action]

Replace the existing tires. And Marathons are no longer available.

>>>>>>>>>>>>Action

[Dal Smilie]

A properly inflated 3 year old Marathon, blew on our very light 1949 Curtis Wright Clipper. No weather crazing, lots of tread, reasonable speed. Tore up belly pan, blew off closet door, tore up plumbing.

I don’t use them any more. And change any trailer tire by 4 years. No matter tread or miles

[pappy19]

You should get Michelin LT tires in E rated. After having very bad experiences with GYM, I invested in 16" wheels and Michelin Defender tires.

[ROBERT CROSS]

We have been on GY's since new...one nail, one curb rash 'failure' oop's.🥴
Swapped out last Spring...well pleased!

Bob
🇺🇸

[Sharon Rose]

Recently the repair manager at an Airstream facility told us never go by how the tires look and never go five years. Better to spend the money and feel safe than to have a blow out and risk damage to the trailer. It could easily happen especially if traveling some of the roadways of this country in serious need of repair. We had a negative experience in that vein last fall and trust me, it's traumatic. Good luck!

[Action]

Originally Posted by Dal Smilie

A properly inflated 3 year old Marathon, blew on our very light 1949 Curtis Wright Clipper. No weather crazing, lots of tread, reasonable speed. Tore up belly pan, blew off closet door, tore up plumbing.

I don’t use them any more. And change any trailer tire by 4 years. No matter tread or miles

This could have been from a road hazard. Which no tiree is immune from. And the older more worn a tire the more suspetable to road hazard damage.



>>>>>>>>Action

[RamRider]

When in doubt - change them out. I made "one last trip" on our GYM's last spring before a planed tire change and paid the price. One GYM separated which was bad but we were lucky as the second tire on that side was also noted to be separating when it came off of our unit.

I put on GYE's and the FC spent a month in the shop, after $2,200 of body work we were back on the road.

Another way to describe this problem is "turn around don't drown" or in your case replace and don't repair.

[gypsydad]

Agree with consensus...you don't want a blowout with the GYM's (or any tire)! I chose to stay with 15" wheels and went with the new GY Endurance last summer with only 10K on my original GYM's. No issues but pay close attention to the PSI recommendation on the GYE chart for your AS weight. The installers filled my tires to 70PSI...way too much air and caused loose rivets and door hinge issues inside. Get your AS weighed at the scales and adjust tire pressure according to the chart. For me, ~50 PSI is in the range and recommended...no more issues inside. Also, recommend getting a TPMS set up to help you monitor should something happen. So far I am very happy with GY Endurance tires.