I bought Maxxis trailer tires in 2010 for my trailer. I even went with one load range higher to be safe. In 2012 I had two sidewall punctures in 150 miles and my only option for two new tires were Goodyear Marathons.One of those Goodyear Marathon tires failed badly yesterday. The tread was worn all funny and the tire had a large hole in it with the steel belts exposed. I have TPMS on the trailer tires so they never ran low on pressure and I stopped right away when the TPMS went off. The tire only has like 12,000 miles on it so the tread shouldn't be so worn. The three remaining Maxxis tires still look practically like new with twice the miles on them. I don't see anything wrong like a bent spindle, bad suspension, or hot hub that would cause the tire to wear funny.I may have hit something, but still, the tire shouldn't look like the tread is nearly gone with the relatively low miles. I'll see if my road hazard will cover a new tires. If not, I will be getting another Maxxis trailer tire.

It takes a lot of miles to run the tread off until belts are exposed...just saying. I think this situation is aggravated by the TPMS systems. An owner doesn't have to look at the tires, just believe that the TPMS is going to save your bacon. In this case it did but there is little to go on to diagnose why the tire failed or when the unusual wear started. I'd bet a buck that any new tire mounted in that position will experience the same wear.

belfert wrote:I bought Maxxis trailer tires in 2010 for my trailer. I even went with one load range higher to be safe. In 2012 I had two sidewall punctures in 150 miles and my only option for two new tires were Goodyear Marathons.One of those Goodyear Marathon tires failed badly yesterday. The tread was worn all funny and the tire had a large hole in it with the steel belts exposed. I have TPMS on the trailer tires so they never ran low on pressure and I stopped right away when the TPMS went off. The tire only has like 12,000 miles on it so the tread shouldn't be so worn. The three remaining Maxxis tires still look practically like new with twice the miles on them. I don't see anything wrong like a bent spindle, bad suspension, or hot hub that would cause the tire to wear funny.I may have hit something, but still, the tire shouldn't look like the tread is nearly gone with the relatively low miles. I'll see if my road hazard will cover a new tires. If not, I will be getting another Maxxis trailer tire.Switch to LT Goodyear tires:)

belfert wrote:Goodyear Marathon tires are not good tires?That is your experience.My experience, however, is that I have not had 1 problem with the 4 Goodyear Marathon tires I had installed in 2011, granted I was able to confirm these are USA built tires (might have been some of the last USA made at the time). There is still a lot of tread left on all four tires. I have maintenance done on the wheel bearings, repack, and the brakes inspected and changed. I have about 8k miles on this set and they look almost new.Moral of the story... my experience is very different from your experience with Goodyear Marathon tires.

djgarcia wrote:belfert wrote:I bought Maxxis trailer tires in 2010 for my trailer. I even went with one load range higher to be safe. In 2012 I had two sidewall punctures in 150 miles and my only option for two new tires were Goodyear Marathons.One of those Goodyear Marathon tires failed badly yesterday. The tread was worn all funny and the tire had a large hole in it with the steel belts exposed. I have TPMS on the trailer tires so they never ran low on pressure and I stopped right away when the TPMS went off. The tire only has like 12,000 miles on it so the tread shouldn't be so worn. The three remaining Maxxis tires still look practically like new with twice the miles on them. I don't see anything wrong like a bent spindle, bad suspension, or hot hub that would cause the tire to wear funny.I may have hit something, but still, the tire shouldn't look like the tread is nearly gone with the relatively low miles. I'll see if my road hazard will cover a new tires. If not, I will be getting another Maxxis trailer tire.Switch to LT Goodyear tires:)X 2 The "made in China" Marathons are not so good. We have Good Year LT tires on our RV now and they're made in USA. :EDan

Bought a new trailer in 1995 with made in the U.S.A. Goodyear Marathons.Sold the trailer in 2003 with the original tires still on it. Not even a flat in 8 years.

Goodyear Marathon tires are not good tires | Good Sam Community

JIMNLIN
Explorer III
Oct 06, 2015
op wrote:
The tire only has like 12,000 miles on it so the tread shouldn't be so worn.

Thats actually pretty good service miles for a ST tire. Like Carlisle says;
Time and the elements weaken a trailer tire.
– 3 to 5 years is the average life expectancy of a trailer tire,regardless of mileage.
– It is estimated that in approximately three years, roughly one-third of a tire's strength is gone
– After three years, depending upon storage and conditions of usage, consider replacing trailer tires even if they have tread depth remaining.

– After five years, trailer tires should be replaced in all cases.

I ran several sets of 15" Marathons on smaller enclosed trailers (tool trailers) and tri axles with 15" wheels. The treads on some went away in the 15k-18k mile range worn flat and smooth. Most simply came apart some where down the road well before 15k miles.
Finally upgraded to LT tires. No more tires coming apart and milage jumped into the 50k-55k range per set. 'course that was in a 12-14 month range but it sure beat the heck out of 3 sets of ST tires in the same time/miles frame.
ol_Bombero-JC
Explorer
Oct 06, 2015
4X4Dodger wrote:
Sorry but the idea that Goodyears are bad tires is just unsupportable.

There is altogether too much superstition, Myth, misinformation and personal bias to say nothing of the wild unsupportable anecdotal accusations like the OP's about ST tires.

Hmmmmmmm.....superstition, myth, personal bias, and wild
unsupportable anecdotal accusations were put to rest - a LONG time ago!

The misinformation was ruled to be from Goodyear and their expert witnesses! (Sounds like you could have been one of them!)

The tires in question included Marathons.
(see 5th paragraph, under "The Human Toll").

SP Times: "Goodyear Kept Tire Problems Quiet"

GY rep, Chuck Sinclair: "In every case customers were at fault, etc."

Former senior trial attorney for the NHTSA Alan Kam: "That's so absurd, etc.".

For personal experiences, the following is a great long-running thread, which began in 2006 to present - from the Airstream forums....

"Goodyear Marathon Failures"

Lots of folks with *supportable* accusations - or GY wouldn't be repairing damage caused by their tires (to avoid further legal actions)...:S

Kinda like Russian Roulette, (but) - if you like 'em - run 'em!..:C

~
tegu69
Explorer
Oct 06, 2015
belfert wrote:
I bought Maxxis trailer tires in 2010 for my trailer. I even went with one load range higher to be safe. In 2012 I had two sidewall punctures in 150 miles and my only option for two new tires were Goodyear Marathons.

One of those Goodyear Marathon tires failed badly yesterday. The tread was worn all funny and the tire had a large hole in it with the steel belts exposed. I have TPMS on the trailer tires so they never ran low on pressure and I stopped right away when the TPMS went off. The tire only has like 12,000 miles on it so the tread shouldn't be so worn. The three remaining Maxxis tires still look practically like new with twice the miles on them. I don't see anything wrong like a bent spindle, bad suspension, or hot hub that would cause the tire to wear funny.

I may have hit something, but still, the tire shouldn't look like the tread is nearly gone with the relatively low miles. I'll see if my road hazard will cover a new tires. If not, I will be getting another Maxxis trailer tire.

I don't understand why you didn't get the other tires with the higher load range in 3 years. You had to get the GY in 2012. 3 other tires and 2 GY = 5 tires.
wilber1
Explorer
Oct 06, 2015
Grit dog wrote:
For those defending GY Marathon tires, you're solidly in the minority!
Marathons for some reason are about the shattiest tire you can put on your trailer. For years it was , age, dry rot, China bomb or us made, etc.
Turns out they just generally suck and are a good way to practice road side tire changes and trailer fender bodywork!
I've only had 5 de-lam on me to learn my lesson! I'm a quick learner though. 3 in the same week same trailer!
Same results with no less than 4 friends on their boat trailers too. More than a coincidence.
Odds are high that your Marathkn will de lam especially if it's a few years old, even if it's in otherwise new condition.

I don't know what you do with your tires or how close you are running them to their rated load but I can only go from my own experience. I got 9 years out my D rated US made Marathons that came on my 2002 Titanium. Not worn out, just old. In 2011 I changed them over to E rated Chinese Marathons. When I bought the rig in my sig, I switched them over because it came with 15" wheels and my old ones were 16's. 13 years with two sets of Marathons and no failures, US made or Chinese. Of course that could change but any tire can fail.
belfert
Explorer
Oct 05, 2015
This trailer took two trips in the past two weeks. One was 4,000 miles and the other 1,400 miles. I checked and set the the tire pressure at 65 PSI before each trip using a Milton tire gauge. The TPMS sensors are only installed during trips to save battery life. The tires have to be set at the correct pressure before putting the sensors on.

If it matters, this is an enclosed trailer pulled behind a diesel pusher and is not an RV trailer.

I took the tire to Walmart today and they are replacing the tire under the road hazard coverage. I will still need to pay half because of the tread wear. No, I don't normally buy tires at Walmart, but it was my only real choice at the time in the middle of nowhere.
goatrancher
Explorer
Oct 05, 2015
I have Marathon tires on my TT. They were put on in 2014. They have been from Texas to Tennessee and back, to Niagara Falls, to New Brunswick and back, then to Colorado, Utah and back. So far so good.
belfert
Explorer
Oct 05, 2015
smkettner wrote:
What is the Marathon date code?

2012. Tires purchased 9-24-2012. (I checked date code and didn't just go by date on receipt.)
belfert
Explorer
Oct 05, 2015
westend wrote:
It takes a lot of miles to run the tread off until belts are exposed...just saying. I think this situation is aggravated by the TPMS systems. An owner doesn't have to look at the tires, just believe that the TPMS is going to save your bacon.
In this case it did but there is little to go on to diagnose why the tire failed or when the unusual wear started. I'd bet a buck that any new tire mounted in that position will experience the same wear.

It wasn't worn to the belts. The large hole in the tire exposed the belts. I took the tire back to Walmart and they said it had about half the tread left at best.

The trailer gets tons of maintenance done to it. The bearings are checked every year before going on a big trip. Before the next big trip the hub will be torn down to be sure nothing is going on that could be causing tire issues.
dspencer
Explorer
Oct 05, 2015
I have had 2 sets of Goodyear Marathons and got 5 years out of each set. Now I am anal about checking tire pressure each time before the camper heads out on a trip and once I arrive at the destination. You can have a bad tire in any tire. Hopefully your not relying on your tpms to determine the tire pressure.
myredracer
Explorer II
Oct 05, 2015
Another ST tire quality thread. Oh joy...

Without knowing the true and accurate history of external damage, towing under-inflated, towing in excess of 65 mph, etc, which is essentially impossible, there is no point in blaming the brand or place of manufacture. One problem is, when someone buys an RV with ST tires on it, nobody explains to them how they really need to be treated and it may not be until they go onto an RV forum that they find out.

As mentioned above, it does sound like the tire was flat-spotted from locking up the brakes.

I wouldn't use a TPMS in lieu of a pressure gauge. You should be using an accurate gauge to regularly check psi.

We are on our 2nd season with Marathons and approaching 10K miles and have no concerns about inferior quality and expect to get a lot more service from them. I treat them with respect including religious checking of tire pressure before heading off on each leg of a trip. It's surprising how much pressure can change.