Marathon Goodyear tires ST 235 80 r16 defective?

Ronsimmons · 06-17-2013, 12:08 PM

Has anyone experienced problem with these tires? I had one blow out with damage to my 5th wheel. The tire had about 5000 miles on it. Purchased on new cardinal 2012.

golfmedik · 06-19-2013, 04:54 AM

Lots of things come into play with tires, especially nowadays. First off, were they less than 6 years old, were they showing any signs of uneven wear, were they inflated to max pressure, were they rated enough for the axles they were on, is the camper heavier than what is recommended and did you have a tire pressure monitoring system?

All of these things can be asked each time we have a problem with tires. The other thing and the main thing in my mind is, where were they made? I've seen GY products made in Mexico, Canada and the USA that are all very decent tires. Then I've also seen GY tires that have been made in China that are not near as good of quality as any of the others.

**Herk7769** · 06-19-2013, 06:20 AM

Has that tire ever had a curb strike or hit road trash?

For years I blamed my year old China Bomb Carlisle tires for the damaging blowout I had, and as I learned more about tires I found out that the most likely villain was me.

I had climbed a curb with the camper going around a tight "in town" circle and most likely broke a belt. It took a few hundred miles for that wire to poke its way out and blow the tire. Of course it happened "at speed" on the belt around Washington DC.

Having said that, when I switched to GY Marathons (which I totally love), all 4 of those Carlisle tires were showing signs of severe cracking/checking within 18 months of manufacture date. (Included between the treads).

golfmedik · 06-19-2013, 03:48 PM

From all I have read, GY is decent to work with on claims. I personally have the GY G614s on my camper now. They are far and above the 'bombs' that came on both of mine!

Ronsimmons · 06-20-2013, 01:14 PM

Thanks for feed back. The tires were original equipment on cardinal 5th wheel. Camper is kept inside and the tires have less than 5000 miles on them. I did not have monitor system, but will get one now. I understand these tires were made in china. Dot code is 0211 . I did not over inflate them and check before trip and on return.Once claim is settled I plan to upgrade the tires.

jmcgriff19 · 06-28-2013, 01:29 PM

I buddy of mine had the Goodyear Marathons on his boat trailer hauling a 22' Cobalt ski boat. They were the original tires that came on the trailer. He had numerous blowouts within the first 3 years before he swapped to a different tire. The last one tore up the fender pretty bad. I don't remember what tire he swapped to though.

OldCoot · 06-28-2013, 02:03 PM

Have run GY Marathons since 1976 and never had a blowout or flat. Had the tread literally fall off of 2 on our racecar trailer, but they were 16 yrs old and still had 40# air in them. BTW, trailer was loaded and pulled from Anchorage, AK to Concord, NC when the tires were 10ys old.

Randyman · 06-28-2013, 02:45 PM

I had a similar problem on my 2011 Cardinal with approx. 4500 miles on them. Got lucky and found it had broken cords and went flat overnight in the campground. I have read on the Cardinal forum about all the troubles with the Marathons. Goodyear warranted mine and then I upgraded to 17.5 wheels and Goodyear G114. They are rated at way more than what I need and give me great peace of mind when towing. The new wheel and tire weighed in at 133lbs and the old Goodyear Marathons weighed in at 81lbs. big difference in quality. Steel belted and really make the 5ver handle nice.

OldCoot · 06-28-2013, 02:49 PM

Broken cords/belts are usually caused by either pot holes or curbs. Sometimes you can't avoid either and suffer the consequences a few miles or days later.

Randyman · 06-28-2013, 03:04 PM

I agree Old Coot, don't know what the transporter might have hit delivering it, but I know I hadn't hit anything. The other advantage is that these tires can be run above 65 mph. I like to run 70 on the interstate and was doing that prior to this tire failure, (maybe that was what caused it?). So glad it didn't come apart and damage the camper.

OldCoot · 06-28-2013, 03:12 PM

Would be nice if we could remember to log any pot holes, etc we hit and see how long it takes for a problem to present itself. Have thought about it several times, but never do it.

golfmedik · 06-28-2013, 05:18 PM

Funny thing is while traveling down the interstates are normal speeds, you don't notice how big the cracks/holes in the concrete/pavement are until you get slowed or stopped. Some of them are huge.

tosh99 · 07-01-2013, 01:18 AM

I have one trip lasting three days on my new 2014 Wildwood and on the road coming home, one of my trailer tires lost the sidewall. There was a loud bang but didn't feel anything wrong.

I have two boats, one trailer has regular car tires and the other trailer tires. Two spare trailer tires are about three years old and the sidewalls are already cracking (brand new and never used). My local tire dealer said that all trailer tires are now made in China.

golfmedik · 07-01-2013, 02:17 AM

Lots of RVers are having this problem but no one is listening. Makes me think that the insurance industry would be on our side as well, but to them it's probably not worth fighting.

MC9 · 07-01-2013, 08:25 AM

The fact that it was a 235-80-16 tells me everything I need to know. CHINA...

acadianbob · 07-01-2013, 08:34 AM

Never had a problem with a Chinese tire in 50,000 miles of towing. Carlisle, Goodyear Marathon. Nearly every RV ST tire is made in China, so guess it is logical that any problem would be with a Chinese tire. How do you know you didn't hit a road hazard and run the tire low on air to the point it failed?

OldCoot · 07-01-2013, 08:38 AM

None of the st trailer tires are built in the US, they are all made in either China or a Far East country so everyone should just quit bitching about them. None of the manufacturers are going to change mfg locations.

KDEL1970 · 07-14-2013, 07:58 PM

What size tires are most of you running? The sticker on the corner of my TT shows 22575R15 as the tire size. After a recent blowout I realized that it came from the factory with 20575R15's. I was wondering why they diverted from the required size?

Ronsimmons · 07-28-2013, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acadianbob

Never had a problem with a Chinese tire in 50,000 miles of towing. Carlisle, Goodyear Marathon. Nearly every RV ST tire is made in China, so guess it is logical that any problem would be with a Chinese tire. How do you know you didn't hit a road hazard and run the tire low on air to the point it failed?

Because I heard it blow.

Ronsimmons · 07-28-2013, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KDEL1970

What size tires are most of you running? The sticker on the corner of my TT shows 22575R15 as the tire size. After a recent blowout I realized that it came from the factory with 20575R15's. I was wondering why they diverted from the required size?

I think most campers, 10,000 lbs or more come with under sized or low quality tires. Marathon Goodyear is good example. I am changing all of mine to a 10 ply Michelin truck tire. Really shame on Forest River for installing cheap tires.

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