The new ST tires. Fact or fiction (marketing)

RinconVTR wrote:
The Goodyear Endurance series looks alright so far too, and it too has a speed rating well over 65mph. But its much too new to have any real feed back.

I have no idea how or what govt testing may be applied to ST rated trailer tires but it's not like there a lot of choice anyway if you want a manufactured in the USA ST tire as is the Goodyear Endurance. ;) When my own Endurance tires were installed last week I had the opportunity to compare a brand new left over Marathon to one of my Endurance, before it was mounted ... and there was no comparison. The Endurance is a far more rigid tire, when I put my entire weight on it the tire hardly deflected, the Marathon sagged noticeably, not surprising considering it's 8 ply construction compared to the Marathon's 6 ply. Inflated, my new Endurance runs a LR D 65 p.s.i. compared to the Marathon's LR C 50 p.s.i. Obviously not a technical test but certainly an indication this new Endurance is not anywhere near the same tire as the previous Marathon and a far better alternative to the originally supplied China bombs, one of which simply disintegrated of it's own volition even though it was less than 4yrs old, had plenty of tread left, displayed proper wear pattern, was always properly inflated, and was never overloaded. :M

It will be interesting what GY does with the Marathons. I question why they still produce them if the Endurance is that much better.

My understanding is that production of the Marathon has been discontinued, at least for distribution here in N America. I do know that the distributor my own dealer here in Ontario buys from has discontinued the Marathon entirely and only sells the Endurance, leaving only unsold Marathons already sitting on dealer shelves still available for sale.