Goodyear Marathon tires

[threegr8katz]

Does anyone have input on these tires?

I have ell cheapo tires on my new TT and this past weekend got a screw in one that made it nonrepairable. So I went to Walley world on sunday and was told the good news that I had to buy a new tire. They told me that they had a Goodyear marathon 205 75 R14 instock....

I thought great, thninking maybe I would get the rest of the set,

However now I am finding it hard to find these tires and there is talk of a silent recall.

Does anyone have a thought or two

[Fl-wolfpak]

A friend of mine had them and two out of four blew out. We all went with the maxxis trailer radial. I feel its one of the best tires out there.

[SaskCampers]

I have the 15" ones on my 18 ft flat deck and had 4 flats this summer, lucky for me I did not destroy the tire but I am unimpressed with them.

[nailit]

Stay away from the Carlisle tires and the Goodyear Marathons, they both are Chinese tires and they are worthless and dangerous. And I would switch to a LT tire instead of staying with the ST tires that the Marathons are.

[MotocrossCamper]

Plus almost all the tires Wally World sell have some sort of factory blem. I would not trust them on my RV or TT.

Just my 2 cents

[donn]

Check the country of origin. Anything made in China run as fast as you can in the opposite direction. I understand that GY Marathones are now made back in China of some other third world country with no quality control.

[threegr8katz]

what does lt mean ?

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by nailit

Stay away from the Carlisle tires and the Goodyear Marathons, they both are Chinese tires and they are worthless and dangerous. And I would switch to a LT tire instead of staying with the ST tires that the Marathons are.

Not true in all cases.
My Goodyear Marathon ST tires were made in Gadsden Alabama in July 2010. I went up one grade (to D) when I replaced my 1 year old Carlisles.
ST tires have much stronger side walls than LT tires and are designed to hold up better under the twisting that happens to trailers while backing that the truck's tires will never experience. If LT tires were better for trailers, tire manufactures would not make ST tires at all.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion here; just not their own facts.

[MotocrossCamper]

Originally Posted by herk7769

Not true in all cases.
My Goodyear Marathon ST tires were made in Gadsden Alabama in July 2010. I went up one grade (to D) when I replaced my 1 year old Carlisles.
ST tires have much stronger side walls than LT tires and are designed to hold up better under the twisting that happens to trailers while backing that the truck's tires will never experience. If LT tires were better for trailers, tire manufactures would not make ST tires at all.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion here; just not their own facts.

Facts are that ST's do not hold up as well as LT's do. If your TT weighs more then 10,000 LBS and you ever drive over 65 MPH then you have 4 bombs behind you waiting to go off. I'm ok with using ST's on my flat bed car trailer but you would never see them on a camper.

FACTs-

• All "ST" tires have a maximum speed rating of 65 mph.
• As heat builds up, the tire's structure starts to disintegrate and weaken.
• The load carrying capacity gradually decreases as the heat and stresses generated by higher speed increases.
• With all the chemicals used in ST's to prevent damage from weather they basically disintegrate the load capacity from the heat every mile you drive.

You can say whatever you want about Forest River or any other company, about how wonderful their quality is. Truth of the matter is that every RV company uses ST's because they are made in bad molds and are a lot cheaper to purchase and keep final cost down. Most brand new RV's come with tires that barely go over the MAX weight of your camper. Once you start throwing in all your supplies, extra tv's, pictures, clothes and everything else you need, YOU ARE MORE THEN LIKELY OVER WEIGHT!


All I can say is to go out there and do your homework before you decide what tire is best for you. It is a pretty pricey investment that you want to last and not damage your equipment or hurt your family in anyway.

[kbrown1075]

I went to a tire store the other day to replace a tire for a large boat trailer. The tire shop told me that, by law, they could only sell and mount trailer rated, marked, etc... tires when replacing a trailer tire. I have to agree with Lou's statement above. I would not put a non trailer rated tire on my TT because if it blew out and did damage to the TT or damage resulted in an accident to the TT, my insurance company may not honor the claim due to the fact that the tires were not rated for trailer use. That is not a gamble I am willing to take. JMO.

[MtnGuy]

Originally Posted by MotocrossCamper

Facts are that ST's do not hold up as well as LT's do. If your TT weighs more then 10,000 LBS and you ever drive over 65 MPH then you have 4 bombs behind you waiting to go off. I'm ok with using ST's on my flat bed car trailer but you would never see them on a camper.

If you are towing a 10,000 lb. trailer, why would you want to do over 65 miles per hour??? Slow and easy does it. The powers that be just raised the speed limit here in VA. to 70 (bad idea IMHO), but nothing prevents me from traveling in the slow lane at 65 mph.....and I am not the only 1. I think some transport companies much regulate their drivers to 65 for fuel mileage concerns, as there are still plenty of tractor trailer drivers still doing 65.

Originally Posted by MotocrossCamper

FACTs-

• All "ST" tires have a maximum speed rating of 65 mph.
• As heat builds up, the tire's structure starts to disintegrate and weaken.
• The load carrying capacity gradually decreases as the heat and stresses generated by higher speed increases.
• With all the chemicals used in ST's to prevent damage from weather they basically disintegrate the load capacity from the heat every mile you drive.

Where did this list come from ?? Other than the 65 mph maximum speed limit, I haven't seen the other "facts".

Originally Posted by MotocrossCamper

All I can say is to go out there and do your homework before you decide what tire is best for you. It is a pretty pricey investment that you want to last and not damage your equipment or hurt your family in anyway.

That is why I restrict my speed to 65 mph....my families safety and those around me are a priority.

[crocus]

mtnguy, there is a lot of misinformation posted under the heading of "Fact". If a poster sounds questionable, it's probably a good sign that those comments are to be ignored.

[nailit]

Originally Posted by herk7769

Not true in all cases.
My Goodyear Marathon ST tires were made in Gadsden Alabama in July 2010. I went up one grade (to D) when I replaced my 1 year old Carlisles.
ST tires have much stronger side walls than LT tires and are designed to hold up better under the twisting that happens to trailers while backing that the truck's tires will never experience. If LT tires were better for trailers, tire manufactures would not make ST tires at all.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion here; just not their own facts.

I dd do my homework and the selling point for me was the fact the ST tires do not hold up well when it comes to temperature and speed. I also saw and heard that the ST's speed range is from 55-65mph and you can actually fine this information on the Tire Rack website. Some (not all) of the LT tires do roll (sidewall) more than the ST's, but the LT sidewalls have the same number of plys that the ST's have for that particuler tire size. Again, all of this information can be found on the Tire Rack website.

But, this does all depend on what type of rig you have and how many miles and where you go with them. In my case, alot of highway miles to get to the backwoods and/or deserts to camp.

Yesterday morning I had LT tires installed on our 13000 lbs 5er toy hauler, which replaced the Chiese tires that came with the 5er because they started to crack around the rim and one tire already started to develope a bubble on the sidewall.

I have seen to many Chnese tires (a few Carlisles and two GY Marathons) explode on the highway and these are friends that I camp and hunt with. Plus the damage that these tires (any tire) did to these rigs. I'm totally with MotocrossCamper, safty comes first.

[donn]

Originally Posted by kbrown1075

I went to a tire store the other day to replace a tire for a large boat trailer. The tire shop told me that, by law, they could only sell and mount trailer rated, marked, etc... tires when replacing a trailer tire. I have to agree with Lou's statement above. I would not put a non trailer rated tire on my TT because if it blew out and did damage to the TT or damage resulted in an accident to the TT, my insurance company may not honor the claim due to the fact that the tires were not rated for trailer use. That is not a gamble I am willing to take. JMO.

Have you talked to your insurance agent, and asked him his opinion on this? If and this is a big IF ST tires are so superior, why is it that they are limited in sizes and many RV manufacturers use LT tires on their large trailers?????
My 13,750 GVWR fiver came from the factory with LT tires under it. When it comes time to replace them I would never consider downgrading to an ST tire. Instead I will install a LT tire that IS rated for trailer service. Michelin XPS Rib, BF Goodrich Commercial TA, and Hankook are three that come to mind.
ST tires weigh less, have a lower speed rating and are more expensive to buy than a comparable size quality LT tire. So how can they be better for anything? Except maybe for leaving parts of themselves all over the highways.

[rockwood06]

Originally Posted by nailit

Stay away from the Carlisle tires and the Goodyear Marathons, they both are Chinese tires and they are worthless and dangerous. And I would switch to a LT tire instead of staying with the ST tires that the Marathons are.

Sorry to say this, i changed out my Carlisle tires that came with the camper to Goodyear Marathons and mine are made in Canada, not China. I have no problem with Goodyear Marathons, as a matter of fact the Carlisle ST are 6 ply tires, when i put the Goodyears on i increased the size and the Goodyears ST are 8 ply......

There are other issues with tires on camper besides where they come from. one thing i suggest is to have your tires on your camper Balanced and done forget the spare. In my mine this is a good starting point, think about how an unbalanced tire reacts at 65 mph, a tire will tell you that it is not balanced correctly at speeds over 25 mph and to think that some people travel at 80 mph, sorry you got to be nuts. The problem with a camper is that it is hard to tell because you are not riding in the camper when it is moving and you can not see the tires in action.

[nailit]

Originally Posted by rockwood06

Sorry to say this, i changed out my Carlisle tires that came with the camper to Goodyear Marathons and mine are made in Canada, not China. I have no problem with Goodyear Marathons, as a matter of fact the Carlisle ST are 6 ply tires, when i put the Goodyears on i increased the size and the Goodyears ST are 8 ply......

There are other issues with tires on camper besides where they come from. one thing i suggest is to have your tires on your camper Balanced and done forget the spare. In my mine this is a good starting point, think about how an unbalanced tire reacts at 65 mph, a tire will tell you that it is not balanced correctly at speeds over 25 mph and to think that some people travel at 80 mph, sorry you got to be nuts. The problem with a camper is that it is hard to tell because you are not riding in the camper when it is moving and you can not see the tires in action.

It's just my opinion, if it even means anything, I'm just stated what I have seen before from what friends have experienced concerning ST tires compared to LT tires...don't mean to stir the pot, but safety comes first.

And for sure about having the tires balanced...makes a big difference.

[Jeff Carey]

I replaced the Goodyear Marathons that came on my trailer after 5 years and no trouble as long as i have had it. Replaced with Maxxis 205/75/r14-6ply for $80.00 each with 2010 date code. Happy Holidays ! Jeff

[MotocrossCamper]

I don't want to cause any problems on here and this seems to be a hot bed topic.

Just do some research before buying your next set.
Just to a simple LT vs ST Tires search and you will find the general facts about the 2 tires.

Take in consideration YOUR needs, not everyone elses. How much does the trailer weigh? How much more to you load into it? How fast do you drive? and most important, How safe do you want to be?

I have done my research, I have read the federal guidelines on how the 2 types of tires are tested and the LT's go through a much more intense testing then the ST's do. I have owned several car haulers, pop ups, TT's and a 5'er, now I have moved on to motorhomes, I know was has worked in the past and what hasn't. I myself will never buy any tire made outside of this country and it will never say ST on the side of it.

[crocus]

Motorcross, you stated that "I myself will never buy any tire made outside of this country". Does that mean you wouldn't buy tires made in Canada?

[Herk7769]

Hard Data is easy to come by but we seem to rely more on anecdotal stories and forum posts to support our view of the world.

Attached are pamphlets by:
Carlisle tire, NTSC, Goodyear, and Maxxis

Here is what Basspro has to say about this topic:
http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/st...0001&langId=-1

"A word of warning: Light Truck (LT) and Passenger (P) designated tires should never be used as trailer tires. Special Trailer (ST) tires are built tougher than P and LT tires to withstand the abuse that causes tire bruising and blowouts. The ST tire's stronger side wall also helps alleviate trailer sway problems."

Of note is an addendum in the Goodyear pamphlet regarding ST speed ratings.

IMPORTANT OPERATING INFORMATION
Industry standards dictate that tires with the ST (Special Trailer) designation are speed restricted to 65 mph under normal inflation and load conditions, unless a different speed restriction is indicated on the sidewall of the tire.
Based on industry standards, if tires with the ST designation are used at speeds between 66 and 75 mph, it is necessary to increase the cold inflation pressures by 10 psi above the recommended pressure for the load.
• Do not exceed the maximum pressure for the wheel.
• If the maximum pressure for the wheel prohibits the increase of air pressure, then the maximum speed must be restricted to 65 mph.

• The cold inflation pressure must not exceed 10 psi beyond the inflation specified for the maximum load of the tire.