Why do GY Marathons have such a bad reputation?

[Atlee]

I don't want to start another tire war, but I'm still trying to wrap my hands and head around a vexing, to me, question.

First some background information. I've had 3 TT's in my life, and they were bought used, but the 1st 2 were keep only 1 year each. All three came with GY Marathons. The 1st had Canadian built Marathons. They were several years old, when I got the trailer, and I had no problems with them the year I owned the trailer.

The 2nd trailer was a 2009 model HiLo. Two of the Marathons that were on the ground were American made, and two were Chinese made. Again, I had no trouble with any of the tires. I did several Richmond, VA to Orlando runs down I-95 with the trailer.

I just traded the HiLo in on a 2012 Koala in my sig. The Koala also came with Marathons, all built in China. These tires were built in late 2010. The reason I want to change out tires now is in the next year, I will be putting about 14-15 thousand miles on the tires, and I'd like to have brand new tires when I start the grand adventure. The grand adventure including 8 or more college football games this fall (including a trip to Atlanta in two weeks), and a cross country trek beginning February 2014.

Now the question. Why would Goodyear, a well known and long established tire company here in the US, ruin its reputation by intentionally putting garbage Chinese junk on the American market.

With the proper quality control, I believe a good tire can be built in China. Wouldn't GY provide the proper quality control?

All this said, I have a little more than 1 week to get 4 new TT tires installed. My first choice would be Maxxis, but it will take nearly that long just to order and get the tires and then I'd still have to find a local tire dealer to install them. My 2nd choice would be Kumho 857 Radial in 195R14 size, if any local Kumho dealer has them in stock.

It seems as if the Marathons are my 3rd choice now, also assuming any local tire dealer actually has relatively new Marathons in stock.

Another question on the GY Marathons. Do Marathons have the extra nylon cap that Maxxis have, and the new style Carlisle have. I know TowMax have started using the nylon cap, but only for 15 & 16 inch tires. They don't use them for 14" tires yet.

I do know the stock 205/75R14 LR-C tires that are on my trailer give me plenty of margin since the combined weight rating of this size tire is over 7k pounds, and my trailer, even with max weight load is 4950#.

[gmw_photos]

Atlee wrote:
Thanks for your reply.

I don't understand this paragraph so much. I do understand that we aren't talking about static load, that while pulling the TT, forces will apply more that the static load on the tires. However, it seems like the 42% margin I have, 7040# weight load for the tires, compared to the 4950# GVWR of the trailer, I should have enough margin for the non static forces on the tire.

Also, you mentioned 85mph. I do not do 85mph in my trailer. I don't do 75mph with my trailer. I drive between 60 and 65 mph, or the speed limit, which ever is lower.

That said, on a few occasions I could get above 65 if I were forced to pass someone. I like to get by as quickly as possible.

And I will not put another 10 psi in any Marathons I own, in order to drive 75.

I wouldn't drive 85 mph in my Fusion which has Michelin Pilots with a very high speed rating.

CapriRacer wrote:
Atlee,

And lastly - doing the math: You may think 4950# is well away from 7K - BUT - if we consider side to side and front to rear weight variation and a 15% un-used over-capacity, AND factors to raise the speed limitation to 85 mph, then the axle loads need to be less than 7900# - which is well over what your trailer is capable of handling. I think trailer manufacturers have a role to play in this as well. They need to provide tires of adequate size to cover ALL the things that make for good tire performance.

A corollary might be, "would you run your engine constantly, all day long at redline? "
ST tires are speed limited ( redlined ) at 65 mph.

I suspect the answers to your original question lies in something Barry said ( design and possibly older production equipment ) regarding problems in ST tires, and I agree also fla-gypsy's comment about chinese production.

So I go back to what I have said in other threads on this subject: I do not buy ST tires. I do not buy chinese tires. A chinese ST is a double whammy, so there is no way at all I would buy them.

I use LT tires.

For what it's worth, TireRack will have tires to you in a couple of days. I'm sure there are other online tire dealers that could ship just as quick.
I would replace your valve stems with metal stems and have them balanced.

[steelpony5555]

They don't have a bad rep so much with TT's, it's when you put them on a 5th wheel or get up close to their weight limits that they like to go booom...then tear up the side of your rig.

[spanielrage]

I have GY Marathons on my 2008 JayFeather 19H (3700# dry) and have had no issues with them.

I just had an axle/wheel/brake service & inspection done earlier this week and everything came up A-OK. The trailer has about 10K km's on it.

Maybe the tires are fine on the smaller TT's?

Derek

[Atlee]

Thanks for your reply.

I don't understand this paragraph so much. I do understand that we aren't talking about static load, that while pulling the TT, forces will apply more that the static load on the tires. However, it seems like the 42% margin I have, 7040# weight load for the tires, compared to the 4950# GVWR of the trailer, I should have enough margin for the non static forces on the tire.

Also, you mentioned 85mph. I do not do 85mph in my trailer. I don't do 75mph with my trailer. I drive between 60 and 65 mph, or the speed limit, which ever is lower.

That said, on a few occasions I could get above 65 if I were forced to pass someone. I like to get by as quickly as possible.

And I will not put another 10 psi in any Marathons I own, in order to drive 75.

I wouldn't drive 85 mph in my Fusion which has Michelin Pilots with a very high speed rating.

CapriRacer wrote:
Atlee,

And lastly - doing the math: You may think 4950# is well away from 7K - BUT - if we consider side to side and front to rear weight variation and a 15% un-used over-capacity, AND factors to raise the speed limitation to 85 mph, then the axle loads need to be less than 7900# - which is well over what your trailer is capable of handling. I think trailer manufacturers have a role to play in this as well. They need to provide tires of adequate size to cover ALL the things that make for good tire performance.

[fla-gypsy]

Inconsistency in Chinese tire production is the real issue. Some folks have had some success with Chinese made tires. I did not. There are many factors that affect the end quality of a tire and there is a lot of science in their construction. I am certain GY has not had any more issues than others that moved production to China and maybe less. Considering the amount of tires produced by GY the actual failure rate may be very small but when it's your TT any failure is too much.
Some folks have reported failures with Maxxis tires too but the overwhelming opinion of Maxxis tire owners like myself is that they are good quality tires. I have had two Maxxis tires damaged out of 16 purchased over my 15 years of owning a TT. Both instances were the result of contact with curbs or obstacles on the road and the tires did not blow out. Maxxis tires got me home on damaged tires both times and that is important to me. My first TT I purchased used and it had non-Chinese GY Marathons which served me well. My last set of Maxxis ST tires were in service for 6+ years which is excellent. My one and only encounter with Chinese made ST tires were OE Duro's which were total junk on my current TT. They disintegrated in 18 months. I am certain folks have used other brands of Chinese tires with some success as well but I will not be experimenting with them as I value my safety and cash greatly.

[chevor]

I dont like them. Too soft for a travel trailer tire. Have a bubble gum feel to them.

[CapriRacer]

Atlee,

First, I think the trailer tire market is such a small and isolated market that what happens there doesn't change the perception of the marketplace as a whole. Goodyear's reputation is NOT appreciably affected by the failures in the Marathons.

Second, I think "people" have short memories. Witness the Firestone situation a few years back. It did not take very long for "people" to forget what happened and rank them highly in surveys.

Third, I think the problem is one of design - what materials are used where and how much - and NOT a "Quality" issue - as in either consistency from individual product to individual product or a flaw in the manufacturing process -in other words, a "defect". Because trailer tires are such a niche product, it is likely the tires are NOT being produced on the latest equipment. That equipment is reserved for LT and other high volume tires where the profit margin and the overall impact on image (as you alluded to) are greater. That limits what technology level can be used.

I note with great interest that only 2 out of the top 10 tire manufacturers produce ST tires. I think this says something about the niche itself - either the profit margin is too low, or there are fundamental issues that keep manufacturers from entering. I suspect both.

Fourth, I don't think Goodyear is intentionally putting "garbage" on the market, it's just that the expectations have been raised over the years and these tires haven't kept pace. The level seems to be acceptable to the greater market - ie, trailer manufacturers, the ones who buy the bulk of them - and that doesn't apply pressure to tire manufacturer to step up.

But there is good news. Goodyear does have a system in place to track the performance of their products - the warranty system. They examine every tire returned to them and catalog it in a database for their engineers to examine.

But if a person with a tire failure doesn't report it, how is Goodyear supposed to know? EVERY tire failure should be reported to NHTSA and to the tire manufacturer.

And lastly - doing the math: You may think 4950# is well away from 7K - BUT - if we consider side to side and front to rear weight variation and a 15% un-used over-capacity, AND factors to raise the speed limitation to 85 mph, then the axle loads need to be less than 7900# - which is well over what your trailer is capable of handling. I think trailer manufacturers have a role to play in this as well. They need to provide tires of adequate size to cover ALL the things that make for good tire performance.

[gbopp]

Goodyear Marathon

Goodyear Marathon Tires

GY Marathon

GY Marathon Tires

Marathon Tires

[ata3001]

Reputations don't just suddenly happen. They are the result of a track record over any given time & are earned based on time & experiences, good or bad.

[cmack]

I think it has to do with failure rate but I don't know of any compiled chart comparing that of all the brands; mostly word of mouth on forum like this one. My first two trailers both came with Duros and I never had a problem with them and got 6 years out of them. Having said that, I just replaced my 6 year old Duros with Maxxis tires. Since you'll be mounting new tires, put on metal valve stems if you are (or might be) mounting external TMPS sensors. I had mine originally mounted to the rubber ones and they would flex and hit the rim (rub marks were found). When I had the new tires mounted I went to the short metal stems.