My GY Marathon experience

[Whiskey_River]

I have always read the various debates & arguments over the Marathon tires and was mostly neutral and not sure what side of the fence to be on. That has changed.
I always kept the tires covered, psi at 80, and would move the rig a foot or so if sitting over 3 or 4 months & monitor with tpms when traveling. The 09 Keystone came with Marathon's and I had no problem with them. Changed them in 2013 with new Marathon's even though the originals showed no sigh of any ware. Probably 8/10k miles on them.
Left Pittsburgh on 12/21 heading to Fort Myers, Fl with temp at 21 degrees and tp at 80psi. Drove to Rock Hill, SC approx. 500 miles and no problem. Next morning the temp was 48 degrees and tmps said tp was 83/84, so I took gage and reduced all tires to 80psi and headed south. 350 miles later just inside the Fla line, running 60/62mph Boom... Right Rear exploded. Coach Net came and put spare on & was on my way. Now I am concerned as the spare is 9 years old and never been on the road before & was the RF tire compromised any when the rear blew. So I kept speed at 50mph and crossed rt 301 across Fla to get to I-75 south. Stopped for fuel about 150 miles from my destination and everything looked good, but I was still concerned about my 9 year old spare and the RF tire. Headed south and now about 8 o'clock and dark. At 8:15 running 50 mph in the granny lane another Boom. I thought the spare blew, but no, it was fine as was the right front that I was concerned about. It was the left front.
Different side and different axle. The 4 Marathons were just over 4 years old and probably 8/9k miles on them.
Called Coach Net again and they brought a tire & mounted it there along I-75 with traffic flying by like a freight train passing a bum and the rig rocking like a 2 ticket ride at the county fair. I then limped into a rest area and stayed till daylight & made it to Ft Myers next morning but was waiting all along for the next "shoe" to drop, talk about "gun shy". Tires have been shipped to Goodyear in Akron along with claim & estimate to fix fender on right side. Left side no damage as I was only running 50 max. So hope they step up and pay to fix it. They don't make Marathons anymore so I won't be making that mistake again.
Can't remember the last time I had a flat tire, and never had a "blow out", but had 2 in one day, so it can happen.
Just my story and not looking to start a tire war post...

[JIMNLIN]

Ah yes, the internet is the place to find all the answers!

"GY is the ONLY tire manufacturer that will pay for damages."

This is simply NOT true. I had a blowout on a new trailer running Carlisle tires. They paid for me to replace all 4 with a different brand and asked about any damage done to my trailer.

Yeah I have to laugh every time that bit of fallacy is posted. Its certainly not a claim from Goodyear.
Looking around the net at other rv and non rv trailering websites shows Goodyear doesn't have that good of a rep for honoring warranties or paying damages. I've been a rv.net member since and remember many member getting the shaft by Goodyear on damage or warranty claims. These tires were used on trailers.
I would say that after the Marathon ST .....OEM LT Wranglers on trailers in the late '90s and early '00 ..... and '90s up to around '08 G614 debacles they have tons of experience in dealing with damage claims.

[Cummins12V98]

aftermath wrote:
Ah yes, the internet is the place to find all the answers!

"GY is the ONLY tire manufacturer that will pay for damages."

This is simply NOT true. I had a blowout on a new trailer running Carlisle tires. They paid for me to replace all 4 with a different brand and asked about any damage done to my trailer.

Another issue I have are with those who continually bash tires made in China. I had a set of GYMs that were made in America. I had trouble with them and replaced them before one blew. It is the company that manufactures the tire, not simply the location where they are made. When a company moves, they do so to save money. If Goodyear maintained their quality control, quality manufacturing practices and quality materials I doubt would see the kinds of problems we see. If they simply turn over this tire line to a different company with only the minimal of supervision, you will get some poor results.

We need to hold Goodyear responsible. They put their name on these tires so they own the issues. I do think that they, along with other makers, are producing some much better products. We need to keep the pressure up.

Nice they stepped up! You are the first I have heard of besides GY. GY has stepped up with the U S Made ENDURANCE.

[aftermath]

Ah yes, the internet is the place to find all the answers!

"GY is the ONLY tire manufacturer that will pay for damages."

This is simply NOT true. I had a blowout on a new trailer running Carlisle tires. They paid for me to replace all 4 with a different brand and asked about any damage done to my trailer.

Another issue I have are with those who continually bash tires made in China. I had a set of GYMs that were made in America. I had trouble with them and replaced them before one blew. It is the company that manufactures the tire, not simply the location where they are made. When a company moves, they do so to save money. If Goodyear maintained their quality control, quality manufacturing practices and quality materials I doubt would see the kinds of problems we see. If they simply turn over this tire line to a different company with only the minimal of supervision, you will get some poor results.

We need to hold Goodyear responsible. They put their name on these tires so they own the issues. I do think that they, along with other makers, are producing some much better products. We need to keep the pressure up.

[keymastr]

Lots of people ignore the punishment trailer tires take. I have seen tires folded sideways when someone is turning sharply and dragging one axle. An LT tire with stiffer sidewalls may pop off the bead completely with one of those maneuvers. I think if you get 4 years and 10,000 miles out of a trailer tire you can take every mile after as a bonus.

[myredracer]

Whiskey River wrote:

Not sure where you got the 15% on load capacity & axles? Where does that come from.

RVtiresafety.net, a blog run by a retired tire engineer and avid RV-er. Tons of other good info. there. You can find recommended reserve load capacity from other reputable sources on the internet. We have about 30% reserve capacity on our LRD TT tires (OEM was LRC). Sure, some potholes can't be seen in time, but you can slow down on a bad stretch of road. If you do hit enough of them hard enough, don't ignore that they could be damaged internally. Settlement between concrete slab sections on highways can also be bad. I destroyed 3 tires on a car and a truck years ago in NorCal on I-5 before they fixed it up that had a large drop between sections. One set of tires got replaced under warranty (car was pretty new). Something like that would be really bad on trailer tires.

[Cummins12V98]

"Bottom line Goodyear stepped up and paid & I am not sure if other tire manufactures would do that with 4 1/2 year old tires.
Thank you Goodyear.... "

GY is the ONLY tire manufacturer that will pay for damages. They recently replaced 3 of my 4 GY "H" tires because one lost part of the center tread and the other two showed signs of coming loose. They pro rated them . My 4th tire started showing signs and since I had been in contact with their CA rep about the three I spoke to him about the 4th. He arranged for me to take the tires to a local GY Dealer and have it replaced for free.

FYI these GY "H" tires do not blow they only loose part of all the center ribs. I think I just got "LUCKY" and got a bad set. I don't run trailer tire monitors because these just have no record I have heard of for blowing.

First pic is what the tires start looking like.

[SoundGuy]

Whiskey River wrote:
Just heard back from Goodyear and they are paying the full amount to fix the fender and bracing that the tire ripped up when it blew, and paying for 75% the tire as well.

Bottom line Goodyear stepped up and paid & I am not sure if other tire manufactures would do that with 4 1/2 year old tires.
Thank you Goodyear....

That's a great outcome BUT with so many past Goodyear Marathon failures being reported over the years and the company now having entirely discontinued production of the Marathon it may be that Goodyear isn't addressing your particular claim individually but as a matter of corporate policy. If so, that would suggest the company has recognized the problem(s) with this tire and has made the decision to not fight any claims related to Marathon failures so any potential "bad press" won't affect sales of the new US manufactured Goodyear Endurance which replaces the Marathon. Count yourself lucky as this isn't the usual response when 4 1/2 old tires fail. 😉

[Whiskey_River]

Just heard back from Goodyear and they are paying the full amount to fix the fender and bracing that the tire ripped up when it blew, and paying for 75% the tire as well.
myredracer to answer some of your questions. The date code on the new Marathons were 19/13 & I bought them the middle of July, 2013. So they were made in early May, couple months old. Actual weight, Keystone spec sheet says 12,500 shipping & 1763 carry capacity for a total of 14,263. I scaled at the cat scale at the Pilot in Ft Myers last spring before leaving Fla. The trailer was 10,900 & the pin was 2,600 for a total of 13,500. That was leaving Fla after over 3 months & you leave Fla with a lot more "stuff" than you brought down with you. Also this was the 4th trip to Fla with these tires. "Should not hit potholes" I certainly agree but show me 1 person that drives that has not hit a pot hole. You can add bridge expansion joints to that thought as well. But there is no way around it.
Not sure where you got the 15% on load capacity & axles? Where does that come from. If you have 6,000# axles, you can bet the manufacture has a built in safety factor on the 6,000# so why would you need another 15%. Another 15% off the 6,000# is 900#. So are you saying 5,100# should be the limit on a 6,000# axle?
And psi, if you read my original post I explained that I adjusted the psi the next morning when the ambient air temp was 30 degrees higher than when I departed.
I did everything I could to maintain the tires, ie not speeding, psi at 80, covering them & moving them periodically so as not to flat spot them & still had a blow out.
Bottom line Goodyear stepped up and paid & I am not sure if other tire manufactures would do that with 4 1/2 year old tires.
Thank you Goodyear....

[DSDP_Don]

I'm a big fan of replacing trailer tires with LT tires when you can find a matching size and weight. They just don't have the issues. Our friends bought a new Cameo fifth wheel and blew two of the four tires in the first 12 months. Cameo replaced them and those blew. He finally put the LT tires on and now....6 years of service and no issues.

I don't think sideways movement has any impact on LT versus trailer tires. When I bought my new 4500 pound SeaRay boat and trailer in 1990, I immediately replaced the trailer tires with steel belted radial, passenger car tires. The trailer handle better, drove smoother and didn't bounce like it did with the trailer tires.

[myredracer]

What was the date code on the new Marathons? What is the actual scaled weight on the tires? What is the reserve load capacity of the tires? Is the TT heavier on one side as determined by going to a scale?

When it comes to ST type Marathon tires, besides maintaining the psi, you also cannot tow overloaded or over 65 mph. Internal heat buildup from being overloaded, under-inflated and/or towing over 65 kills ST tires. Also should not hit potholes or speed bumps hard at speed, should stay off road shoulders and never "curb" the tires. Without knowing if all the ST "rules" were followed, the tires shouldn't be automatically blamed.

Some of the tires I've seen on Keystone TTs have little reserve load capacity (same with axles). You want 15% or more. Going to one load range higher can help a lot. When replacing tires, should include the spare. When tires get to 5 years old or 6 years max., they should be replaced even if they look new. Make sure tires are fairly new per date code and not old stock laying around for a couple of years. Having a TPMS is a good idea.

When we bought our TT we opted for their LRD Marathons (standard was LRC). They're now 4 seasons old and have about 20K miles on them and have had no issues. Will be replacing them at the end of the next season with GY Endurance. There's a lot of Marathon owners that have had many miles on them and long service life without issues. There is no doubt tho. that some Ch*nese made ST tires are poor quality.

[allen8106]

Your problem is that the frst set of tires were likey U.S. made. The second set were likely made in China. My 2010 Jayco had U.S. made Marathons on it for 6 years with no issues.

[tinner12002]

1320Fastback wrote:
I swear when my trailer is due for tires, more a spur of the moment thing than actually needing them I am going to LT tires. Forget these trailer bombs.

That's easy to do on a lighter RV because you can match tire weight rating, not so much on a tri-axle toy hauler. Personally wouldn't switch anyway as I don't believe LT tires are designed to be drug sideways as they have to be on a tri-axle. Not debating just my opinion. Run what you want.

[Whiskey_River]

drsteve, I am sure glade I knew nothing about Mission Tires, or saw that post about the Mission tires. I was definitely concerned about it blowing, but only because it was never on the ground and never flexed, or heated up or do what tires do, not the fact there was a major recall several years ago.
It looks like Keystone and who knows who else took what ever Mission tires they had in stock and used them for spares. So I think the moral of this story, you should at least look at the spare and see what brand it is. Spares have a different rim, as mine are aluminum rims on the rig and the spare is mounted on a white spoke wagon wheel, so you would never rotate it with the rest and I don't think anyone rotates their trailer tires anyway. And who buys and replaces a spare tire. So then maybe the moral of this story is do not look at what brand or make of spare you have, just hope it holds up if you need it to get to where you are going.

[drsteve]

Whiskey River wrote:
parkmanaa you might be on to something.
My spare is almost 10 years old. Code date is 0308 and is a Mission Tire, not a GY Marathon. I have no clue who makes Mission tires. I bought the 5er new and never paid any attention to what brand it was, just assumed it was a Marathon as that was what was on it. I just added air if needed over the years as it was under the trailer and dark and enuf pain in the butt just to get air in the tire.
Keystone must of had a pile of mission tires in a warehouse somewhere and just used them as spares. Probably cheaper...
The tire they brought to replace my second blow out is an Advant. Never heard of them either. But along I-75 on a Friday night at 10 o'clock on a holiday weekend I would have taken a wooden wheel off of a Conestoga Wagon if it would fit.....

Mission tires were recalled, and Keystone replaced a bunch of them, according to this thread from 2008.

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