Well, for all of you fans of tire discussions. Here is some perspective.My Goodyear Marathons were on my trailer when I bought it. The trailer is a 2004 model, 31 foot Gulfstream. The tires date from 2011. They had about 90 percent of their tread. I have towed the trailer over 9056 miles in more than 14 states and over 1100 miles in Baja California. I have taken those tires over every kind of road from the highest passes to below sea level in the US and even on part of the Baja 1000 Off Road Course between San Felipe and the junction of Mex Hyw 5 And Highway 1. Many miles of some of the toughest Dirt tracks out there. The rocks are the size of small cars and the holes and drop-offs are truly BIG.And I have had not one bit of trouble from those tires. No flats..no nothing. I check the air regularly and it never varies.So for those of you that continually bash Goodyear Marathons. It's time to be just a little more fair. These are excellent tires. And they STILL have most of their tread.I am expecting that after I leave the Baja this spring these Marathons will take me all the way to Alaska.I am sure that many other tire makers make similarly good ST tires that will perform for years over all kinds of terrain. But I would certainly buy another pair of the Goodyear's.

Have you heard of murphys law? Lets hope he didn't hear you say that! :)

"4X4Dodger" - is dodging the bullet.Congratulations Mr. Phelps!BTW - "Fast Eagle" would be proud...:W~

I have had good luck with Goodyear Marathons as well. Never had a flat with them. Just lucky I guess. I did buy a used trailer that had damage from some cheap Chinese off brand, they replaced the tires with Goodyear MArathons.

My 14 year old FW had Marathons on it when I bought it. I wanted 16 inch Firestone HT's so I sold the Marathons on Craigslist to a guy who put them on an equipment trailer carrying a bobcat. I haven't had any bricks through my window.

The Baja and my Goodyear Marathons | Good Sam Community

15 Replies

blofgren
Explorer
Nov 29, 2015
We had a 2005 Citation 30' fifth wheel that we bought new and it had 16" Marathon Load Range D's on it from the factory that were made in the US. The trailer weighed approximately 12k lbs loaded.

We didn't have any trouble with those tires at all and we likely put on 20k miles over 8 years. They still looked perfect at that time but I was getting a bit nervous about age and replaced them with BF Goodrich Commercial T/A Load Range E's. I also had Marathons on 2 smaller trailers prior to the Citation and didn't have any issues with them either.

My understanding is that the Marathons were actually a decent tire when they were made in the US (I think some were made in Canada as well which were good), but they went downhill after manufacturing was moved to China. Hopefully they are on the upswing again, although our current trailer is much too heavy to run them anyway.
Puddles
Explorer
Nov 29, 2015
ol Bombero-JC wrote:
"4X4Dodger" - is dodging the bullet.

Congratulations Mr. Phelps!

BTW - "Fast Eagle" would be proud...:W

X2

~
All_I_could_aff
Explorer
Nov 29, 2015
Just my opinion here, as the only Marathon I've ever owned was the spare on my hybrid and I've only used it for about 250 miles total. I think the quality control is hit or miss, varying greatly by the plant and lot they were from. We hear of fellow campers who head out on a long trip and loose 3 out of 4 tires on the way. Then we hear a few like this where they just keep going like the Energiser Bunny!

My boss always had Marathons on his open and enclosed race car trailers in the 1990's and no problems... But he rarely went more than 75 miles away, and always kept speed around 50-55 mph

His son had then on his 6x12 single and 7x14 tandem axle band equipment enclosed trailers and they were often loosing tires on the road. But they were also traveling hundreds of miles at a time, and with 4 young men likely driving a bit faster.

Their dinner table discussions must hsve sounded a lot like this forum sometimes!
wilber1
Explorer
Nov 29, 2015
Replaced my first set of Marathons at 8 years and have 4 years on my present set which I took off my old fiver with 16" wheels and put on my new one which came with 15's, Never had a failure with any of them.
parkmanaa
Explorer
Nov 29, 2015
4X4Dodger, you tell it like it is. The short tire life scare tactics is nothing but tire MARKETERS trying to sell more tires. Why people believe MARKETERS and not TIRE MANUFACTURERS is beyond me. Have not seen a single manufacturer's site say replace at 5 to 6 years.
Based on my 40 years in the tire industry I have been preaching this for years, but still people see those "alligators" beside the freeways, thrown from cheap radial tires, and automatically cry "old tires".
MFL
Nomad II
Nov 29, 2015
My 7x23 enclosed snowmobile trailer is now 10+ years old. It has the original GY Marathons on it. It has seen many long hard runs to the Rockies, with speeds 65-80 mph, with no ill affects. I am sure the tires run cooler in winter.

I would not risk 10 year old tires on my FW, due to the damage possible, and the heat of course. I had good luck with Marathons on my previous FW too.

Jerry
4X4Dodger
Explorer II
Nov 29, 2015
prichardson wrote:
Is that 2011 date code on tires or when they were installed? Either way they are pushing 5 years or better of age. I would not trust any brand of ST tire that old on a trip like that.

According to the Tire manufacturers themselves tires have a useful shelf life of between 8 and 10 years before you need to replace them simply on the basis of their age. This is published data from the very folks that stand to benefit by having that number as low as possible.

I trusted the tires and had NO reason not to. It seems that so far my confidence and judgement has been vindicated.

AND even if they should all blow out tomo. they will have served me and the previous owner very well indeed.
Dave_H_M
Explorer II
Nov 29, 2015
I just knew that somewhere in the world someone would have marathons that were reliable. :W

I have personally been there, done that, and will never go back.

have fun out there and good luck on that trip to the Great Land.

I drove the AlCan back in 1980, will be there this June but am taking the big bird. Hope it does not have the marathons on it that I thought were thrown away. :B
4X4Dodger
Explorer II
Nov 29, 2015
"Dodging the bullet" "Tempting fate" and "Luck" are all the same thing. They are 10th century superstitions brought forward into our modern world.

I believe you make your own "luck" and tempting fate is an oxymoron.

I prefer reality, experience and science over superstition.

Sooner or later they will wear out...and fail. Just like everything on this planet. Will it be FATE or BAD LUCK when they do fail? No it will simply be that they have exhausted their useful life span given to them by the engineers and designers and the fact that everything deteriorates.

What is important is that they have gone many thousands of miles of hard use, are 5 years old and still going strong.
prichardson
Explorer
Nov 29, 2015
Is that 2011 date code on tires or when they were installed? Either way they are pushing 5 years or better of age. I would not trust any brand of ST tire that old on a trip like that.