Tires?road prep

[lightng]

I have a 2001 25ft. Excella. I need to replace the dry rotten ones. I read some really bad reviews on Goodyear. What is a great tire to replace them with?
Currently has ST 225/75 R15

Also, it has been sitting for years. Do I need to service anything? I will be bringing it from Florida to Washington state. I can't chance any road problems.
thanks for any help

[n2916s]

One of the "third rail" questions on this forum.

Go to the tire forum and you will find a thousand posts on the subject. Some people use LT (light truck) versus ST (Special Trailer) tires. Some love Goodyear, hate Goodyear, love Maxxis.....

Read until your eyes water and then you must choose, grasshopper.

mike

[lightng]

Thankyou master. Grasshoppers eyes are watering. Only thing I have found so far may be Maxxis.
Still looking for cliff notes

[davidz71]

Originally Posted by lightng

I have a 2001 25ft. Excella. I need to replace the dry rotten ones. I read some really bad reviews on Goodyear. What is a great tire to replace them with?
Currently has ST 225/75 R15

Also, it has been sitting for years. Do I need to service anything? I will be bringing it from Florida to Washington state. I can't chance any road problems.
thanks for any help

Have the bearings checked and repacked. Check brake shoes and replace if necessary. Double check lugnut torque before leaving.

[lightng]

I will do that-thanks.
Any experience with Maxxis tires? Looks like I would have to mail order them. There are two that might work. One is 6 ply(not available) and 8 ply. Radials

[davidz71]

I had to put on a Maxxis ST225-75-15 D load after brake/bearing/tire failure on the way to VA. last October. The Maxxis has done well so I ordered 3 more and just had them mounted yesterday. One is on the trailer and the other 3 in the garage until I can get the other 3 drums turned. Maxxis M8008 radial tread design on left is very similar to GY Marathon on the right.

[overlander63]

Not that I am condoning one, or dumping on the other, but if you have to order Maxxis tires now at home, what will happen if, God forbid, you had to replace a tire on the road?
Now you should think about whether to order the Maxxis, that has less chance of problems, but still possible, or go to your local Goodyear store and get a set of Marathons that may be more likely to have a problem, but have a better chance of getting a replacement if needed.

[2airishuman]

hi lightning

welcome to the big dance.

i'm doing fine on gym cloud nine....

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f438...ons-27999.html

agree with terry, one of the nice features of gyms is traveling availability...

just recently traded 2 'pre china' gyms with lumps for brand new, nice tires without any hassle...

at 2 different dealers, neither of which supplied the original tires...

gy shops are all over like wal-warts.

Originally Posted by lightng

...Also, it has been sitting for years. Do I need to service anything?...

very likely the wheel bearings should be repacked with FRESH grease,

also brake bits inspected/serviced and the batteries, marker lights and propane systems checked before travel or use.

and IF u plan to USE the water systems on this trip (plumbing, pump, tanks and drains) ....

they should all be filled, flushed, sanitized and checked for drips, leaks or other issues.

florida to washington is a long way to not have operational systems,

and making 'first time' repairs in route is a buzz kill.

cheers
2air'

[davidz71]

Originally Posted by overlander63

Not that I am condoning one, or dumping on the other, but if you have to order Maxxis tires now at home, what will happen if, God forbid, you had to replace a tire on the road?
Now you should think about whether to order the Maxxis, that has less chance of problems, but still possible, or go to your local Goodyear store and get a set of Marathons that may be more likely to have a problem, but have a better chance of getting a replacement if needed.

Terry,
Guess where I got the first Maxxis tire while in Kingston Springs, TN. waiting for new bearings and Dexter drum? A Goodyear store about a mile down from the RV dealer doing the repairs. The other 3 were ordered and delivered the next day by a local dealer. I wonder if other Goodyear dealers have quick access to the Maxxis tires?

[AirsDream]

Mine doesn't. Told me five days to get Maxxis tires in; happy to order them for me. Checked with another dealer. Same story. Seems to me, as Overlander and 2Air say, that IF I need a replacement (and all human made things have their share of failures), that I'd rather not sit beside the road for five days waiting for a new tire. So I demanded NEW dated Marathons, hoping that the purported production problems are behind them. But as the man says, ya' pays yer money and ya' takes yer chances.

[davidz71]

I always carry a spare in the bed of my pickup. I'd rather change the tire temporarily with the spare than to travel at 40-45 mph to a tire store which I have done twice before). The last time it wouldn't have made a difference if I had a spare or not because the bearings and drum were shot in addition to the tire. The spare I have used over the last 4 years is a Marathon (C load) which I am going to replace with the newest Marathon (D load) tire that came off my trailer.

[Not Done]

Hi Lightng
Is that a move to Washington or a trip to Washington? Either way we'll have an umbrella here for you with your name on it.

[RedBlur]

I had two GYM shred on the road two summers ago in Nowheresville SC. The little tire shop there had 4 D rated Maxxis tires in stock, and I was on my way several hours later. I don't know that I would have made that choice under different circumstances, but the tires have been fine. My Dad had to order a set of GYM from the local dealer in a large city, since they didn't carry them. Doesn't seem to be rhyme no reason to availability.

Carry a good spare, check tire pressure, and run at reasonable speed. Always pull your wheels and check bearings, grease (high temperature), and brakes after storage.

Good luck!

[moosetags]

Welcome to the Forums. We're glad to have you with us.

We have a 2005 25FB that we bought new in 2006. On a trip to Wyoming in June, 2006. we had three separate blow-outs on the the OEM Goodyear Marathons (laod range D). One in Texas and two in Wyoming. These tires had about 14,000 miles on them, and appeared to have plenty of tread life left. We are good about checking the tires and their pressure. We are guessing that we got some new old stock tires from the factory.

After talking to a truck tire dealer in Gillettte, Wyoming, we decided to go with a set of four new Maxxis (load range E) tires for our beloved Lucy. The dealer told us that he sells a lot of these tires to ranchers who use them on goose neck stock trailers. He said that the ranchers like them because they're bullet proof. The ranchers overload them, don't maintain them, and drive them way too fast on really crappy roads.

We run our Maxxis tires at 70 psi, and have now got 15,000 miles on them without any problems.

[lewster]

Originally Posted by moosetags

Welcome to the Forums. We're glad to have you with us.

We have a 2005 25FB that we bought new in 2006. On a trip to Wyoming in June, 2006. we had three separate blow-outs on the the OEM Goodyear Marathons (laod range D). One in Texas and two in Wyoming. These tires had about 14,000 miles on them, and appeared to have plenty of tread life left. We are good about checking the tires and their pressure. We are guessing that we got some new old stock tires from the factory.

After talking to a truck tire dealer in Gillettte, Wyoming, we decided to go with a set of four new Maxxis (load range E) tires for our beloved Lucy. The dealer told us that he sells a lot of these tires to ranchers who use them on goose neck stock trailers. He said that the ranchers like them because they're bullet proof. The ranchers overload them, don't maintain them, and drive them way too fast on really crappy roads.

We run our Maxxis tires at 70 psi, and have now got 15,000 miles on them without any problems.

Hey 'moose',

Why do you run your LRE tires at 70 PSI on a dual axle trailer? You are probably giving your '25 a harsher ride than necessary.

I have BFG 227/75-16 LREs on the 19CCD and run them at 65, which still has headroom on the weight capacity.

[lightng]

Originally Posted by Not Done

Hi Lightng
Is that a move to Washington or a trip to Washington? Either way we'll have an umbrella here for you with your name on it.

I moved to the Longview area a little over a year ago. I didn't have the resourses to ready and bring the Excella with me. I'm going to focus on getting this thing up there with me by winter. Looks a lot more complicated then I thought. I'm a green horn, but not for much longer.
Regards

[lightng]

So far, I'm going with the Maxxis. I would rather buy 2 extra spares on rims than to travel under the impression of "when" the blow out will happen-- not "if" it would happen. Thanks to everyone for their input.
I have to put this trailer up on jacks today as I am flying out of Tampa tonight. No time to mail order tires now. The roll down jacks I have that are factory are pure crap. The first time I used them They bent under the weight. The dealer said they were only there to level a little bit-Not hold the weight. I sure don't know much about Airsteams, but that just seems totally ludicris
regards

[Silvertwinkie]

I have a 25er and I had no issues with my Marathons, but even though there are more Marathons out there which could be why more issues are seen, I went with D rated Maxxis tires for my 25er. I thought long and hard about the E rated ones, but felt it was overkill since my weights are far, far less than the max rating of the combined D rated tires and a less harsh ride. I have now driven about 700 miles on them and they have performed to date, as well as I could have expected. I ordered mine right from Maxxis and they were only about 2 or 3 months old based on the tire codes.

JCanavera, who is very good about being on top of tire pressures and overall maint, had a tread peel off one of his Marathons after a long trip. For him, he was lucky, it peeled off as he was backing back into his driveway. He has a slide out, so for him to go to E rated tires made sense due to his extreme weight additions of the slide out.

Also, the Maxxis tires have a nylon cap. I don't think the Marathons do. If you do some research on the web about what nylon caps do for tires and tread seperation, I think you'll find the Maxxis to be a better tire, by that's just my opinion.

[lightng]

Originally Posted by Silvertwinkie

Also, the Maxxis tires have a nylon cap. I don't think the Marathons do. If you do some research on the web about what nylon caps do for tires and tread seperation, I think you'll find the Maxxis to be a better tire, by that's just my opinion.

yes. I'm looking long and hard into this.Thanks