Your Input on Marathon Tires

[jwedell]

I have a 09 3400rl with the Marathon tires. I see a lot of posts from members that have problems with these tires. I would like to hear from members that do not have problems with them. Like mileage and driving habits (speed, weight, etc.) i'm driving to florida from New York and i'd like to keep them. They have very low mileage. Thanks in advance, John

[grampachet]

We have a 2008 300RK with 15,600 miles on the original Marathon tires. I tow between 60 and 68 but sometimes have been know to go 70 for short distances. Always travel with holding tanks nearly empty and not more than 20 gallons of fresh water. The only problems we have had was when I ran over a truck mud flap at less than 100 miles, and put a hole in both tires on drivers side. Sears plugged and patched them both and never a problems since. I do use TST tire monitors to keep me informed.
Having said this I must add that most everyone will say I am crazy to not change out these tires.
We traveled from Portland Oregon to LA last March, down 101 and back up I5. Then from Portland to Fields Oregon (West to East of Oregon) the end of August. Most other trips have been up and down I5 from Vancouver BC to Portland and west to coast and East to Yakima.
This said to let you know we have traveled in hot and cold weather both and up to 10 hours a day.

Your rig is heaver than mine which can make a big difference.

This is only info to what we have done, not what we recommend to any one else. There have been too many reports of blow outs and extensive RV damage. We have been fortunate, safe travels.

[bigskyjimmy]

I have been fulltiming for 2 years now and Never had a problem with them Myself I have a 13000 lb. 2012 3402 ,I ALWAYS keep a eye on the pressure and do not overload the rig,never go over 65mph,always travel with empty tanks also it helps that we live in the NW and it never gets too hot like Arizona etc......

[MIMF]

jwedell, our '05 unit has them on now, I put them on in the spring of 2009. Since then, the unit has made round trips to Mackinaw City, MI, Elizebethtown, KY and Marion, NC. I keep the weight of the unit well under 14,000lbs and is basically the same floor plan you have. Before each trip, I adjust the tire pressure when needed to 78 psi.....the exact same amount as the tires on my truck. I too, have the tire monitoring system, it is the back side of my hands. When we have been doing 62mph for more than 2 hours and make a stop, the first thing I do when I step out of the truck is to place the back of my hand on the side wall of all 8 tires. I have never detected a higher temp on the Marathons vs the Michelins on the truck. If I do, then I know I have a problem. As long as I see no wear, these Marathons will stay on for awhile yet. I do carry a 3 gallon 120 psi air compressor. When we get ready to leave our destination to head back to the house, it gets used if any tire needs air. Just that simple.

[oldelmer1]

I have them, date code of 3609. But my weight is 10,700 on the camper axles, so I am way under weight and I never go over 65 MPH.

But, I am going to replace them in the spring probably with BF Goodrich Commercial AT's or Bridgestone Duravis R250 tires.

[nosticks]

I have a lighter Mountaineer, 6000lb axles, lightly loaded and way under the max for these tires. I tow at about 62mph, just because it is just over the shift point thus lowering the engine rpms. I have a tire pressure monitoring system, a digital tire gauge, and a compressor in the truck bed. I'm very diligent about the tires and have had no problems. Having said all of this, I am paranoid about the tires and must admit a huge sigh of relief comes over me when I'm finally parked. I'm reluctant to pony up for replacements at this point, but the next big purchase will be a set of LT's either Michelin or BGF.

[Tom S.]

John, our new trailer came with them on it, and I will say that I'm not happy, especially since the dealer had to fix a flat before we even picked up the unit (NOTE: Keystone - Please clean up the &*$#^ screws in your parking lots!). Having said that, I'm not going to run out replace them. I'll continue to use my tire pressure monitoring system and keep an eye on them, along with not doing any crazy driving. After all, I got over 6 years on our Missions (another tire with a crappy reputation)before replacing them.

[rhidalgo]

Have about 8000 miles on the Marathons with no problems yet. I do have one of the lightest units in the Montana family however. I tow generally at a max speed of 65 for durations up to 16 hrs.

[CORattler]

Edit: No problems with the Marathon tires on my 3150RL for 300 miles.

[Metamorphosis]

We have a 2013 3000RK and no problem with the Goodyear Marathon tires after only 2 months on the road. Question... When they do eventually need replacement, can I go to G rated tires on the stock aluminum rims and run 110 psi on with the new "G" rated tires?

Hans and Lisa
2013 Chevy HD 3500 Duramax SRW

[Parts Ed]

They came new on our 2011 and have put maybe 7500 miles on them. With all the talk about them blowing out I am replacing them next spring with G614's when I pack the wheel bearings.

[Irlpguy]

Metamorphosis wrote:

quote:
Question... When they do eventually need replacement, can I go to G rated tires on the stock aluminum rims and run 110 psi on with the new "G" rated tires?

You ask if you can go to the higher “G” load rated tires on your stock rims Metamorphosis. How do we answer that question other than to take a wheel off the 5er and read what it says on the back of the wheel.
I must be some kind of masochist or something to do this just to read what it says on the back of my stock rims. But I did it today and it gave me a chance to check out my 8 ton bottle jack. If you jack on the frame as suggested, you need lots of blocking, my wife thought I had lost my marbles.

Well here is the scoop/markings on mine: (MaxLoad 6h/3200 lbs & 8H/3750 lbs @ 110 psi) They are 16x6J rims. Guess what folks!!! There was a very small sticky backed tag that said AC49TT China. Don’t we make anything in North America anymore. I was unable to find out the meaning of the 6H and 8H and different load rating.

I phoned a large tire dealer that has stores across Canada (Kal Tire) and was told my rims would handle “G” rated tires at 110 psi. I guess it depends if you have the same rims as I do, and if the dealer is honest and not just wanting to sell you new rims as well. The 2012 Big Sky came with "G" rated tires, I wonder if they used a different rim.

My 2012 – 3402RL came with the Goodyear Marathons. I estimate the factory put 2200 miles on the unit delivering to the dealer. I have put an additional 2800 or so miles on them since purchasing the unit. A trip to Yuma and return over California highways in terrible condition as well as the constant bump, bump, bump of the concrete sectioned portions of Washington and Oregon I5, and another trip over to the Oregon Coast.

There has been mention of changing to Bridgestone Duravis R250 tires in these forums. The LT235/85R16 is a load range “E” tire with a load capacity of 3042 @ 80 psi. It does have a higher speed rating (99 mph) than the Marathons as most if not all trailer tires are rated at 65mph.
Other than the speed rating, that is no better than the Goodyear Marathons, and I am told that Bridgestone has factories other than in the US so you could get a China built Bridgestone.

I am going to run my Marathons until I have to change them, I will monitor them closely and see what happens.

[sreigle]

We put a lot of miles on Marathon and Mission tires and had many problems with them. We were not over the load rating and did not drive excessive speeds. Usually I tow at 60 to 62 mph because that's where I get the best mpg. I also regularly check the psi in the tires and kept them at the max 80 psi.

The final straw was the final blowout. And I'd checked those tires less than an hour earlier. Here is the result.. We have now had the Goodyear G614's for 2 1/2 years without incident. Not one. We never went more than a year before a problem with the Marathon and Mission tires and usually not even a year.

This is a $2200 blowout, by the way.

[DonandJudy_12]

The Marathon brand is an ST design- There is much less reserve capacity than an LT of comparable size- ST tires are for trailer use only- LT tires are for use on pickups and commercial trailers- The reserve capacity is greater than an ST tire- We went to LT tires on our trailer in 1992- Prior to that, we replaced 7 or 8 Marathons in our first year of fulltiming- We have not had any failures since we installed LTs- Incidentally, I am retired from Firestone so I think I have some knowledge of the products out there- JMHO- Don

[jwedell]

Many thanks to everyone who replied. We were going to keep the Marathon tires and take our chances but finally decided to install the Firestone Transforce HT tires for safety. The guy at Firestone thought I was crazy. He said the Marathon tires were very good tires and I should keep them. I said that was good to know; CHANGE THEM!

[mhs4771]

That's funny, was just taking to a Goodyear Truck Tire Dealer and asked if he had heard anything of GY bringing the Marathons back to the US for production, he didn't know, but did comment that pretty much every tire coming out of China was Crap.

[Desert RVer]

I'm dealing with the same tire issue on our 2006 3400RL. First had Mission tires which started having tread separation in about 10,000 miles. TireCo, Missions US distributor replaced all 5 tires with Freestar which last about 10,00 more miles until one shredded this month on the way to AZ for the winter. Did about $1500 damage to the 5th wheel.

In the process of trying to find replacement LT tires have looked at Firestone Transforce HT's and Michelin ribs which are highly recommended by other 5th wheel owners. However, neither tire comapany will warranty then on a 5th wheel and some of the local tire dealers are reluctant to put on 3040 lb rated tires when the original tires were rated for 3500 lbs. I don't think independant tire dealers will have a similar issue.

Now am looking at Maxxis ST tires. Really wanted to go to LT tires. Goodyear G614's require 110 psi and the rims on our unit are probably not up to handling that. The deluxe aluminum rims we have show only a weight rating of 3,040 but no PSI rating. Apparently these rims were re-rated higher in 2007 but some developed cracks at the higher loads. So am reluctant to gamble on that.

Montana really did us a disservice by installing very low quality Chinese Bombs with weight ratings that are not realistic on our 3400RL. 6000 lb axles/suspension and 3,040 lb rated rims and 3500 lb rated tires are not a good mix for this particular model 5th wheel. In 2007 Montana changed to 7,000 lb axles on the 3400RL.

[Irlpguy]

quote:
That's funny, was just taking to a Goodyear Truck Tire Dealer and asked if he had heard anything of GY bringing the Marathons back to the US for production, he didn't know, but did comment that pretty much every tire coming out of China was Crap.

I quote this comment not because of what Michelle (presumably it was Michelle and not Ann) said but the comment by the Goodyear Tire Dealer.

China makes all kinds of tires branded with names that have no connection to any manufacturer in the US or Canada. I have used a couple of these Chinese tires and had reasonable life from them on my trucks over the years. My present truck came with Michelins and with 165,000 miles I am now on my third set with about 70% tread wear left. I will replace them with Michelins again.

There is constant reference in these and other forums that GY Marathons are “China Bombs”. In case we should forget the “Brand Name” here is Goodyear, not Yokohama or some other “Chinese” brand name. If there is a problem with these tires or any others made in China that carry a major North American manufacturers name, then the problem is with the US company that has set up a factory in China and is not properly demanding quality and standards they should expect no matter where the tire is built.

Don’t blame the Chinese made tire, blame Goodyear, blame the US and other governments for allowing the Chinese to artificially maintain a valuation of their currency related to the US dollar which gives them a huge advantage in pricing. Blame manufacturers like Keystone, Dexter and others for putting these tires on their top of the line units.

quote:
Montana really did us a disservice by installing very low quality Chinese Bombs with weight ratings that are not realistic on our 3400RL. 6000 lb axles/suspension and 3,040 lb rated rims and 3500 lb rated tires are not a good mix for this particular model 5th wheel. In 2007 Montana changed to 7,000 lb axles on the 3400RL.

One must realize that the load rating on the Marathons is no different than any of the other Load Range E tires that are being mentioned as replacements. Going to a G rated tire @ 110 psi which is rated at 3750 lbs, (G614’s) increases the total CC of the tires to in excess of the 14,000 lbs of the two 7000 lb axles on the current model Monty’s.

When you consider the sheer numbers of tires, would we be seeing the same issues if all the recent Keystone products in particular the Montana’s came with a North American manufactured load range E tire, rather than the Marathons.

Food for thought isn’t it.

[DonandJudy_12]

More food for thought- Our 2000 Montana 3555RL came with U.S made 235/85R16E Uniroyals on Chrome faced steel wheels- JMHO- Don

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by Desert RVer

I'm dealing with the same tire issue on our 2006 3400RL. First had Mission tires which started having tread separation in about 10,000 miles. TireCo, Missions US distributor replaced all 5 tires with Freestar which last about 10,00 more miles until one shredded this month on the way to AZ for the winter. Did about $1500 damage to the 5th wheel.

In the process of trying to find replacement LT tires have looked at Firestone Transforce HT's and Michelin ribs which are highly recommended by other 5th wheel owners. However, neither tire comapany will warranty then on a 5th wheel and some of the local tire dealers are reluctant to put on 3040 lb rated tires when the original tires were rated for 3500 lbs. I don't think independant tire dealers will have a similar issue.

Now am looking at Maxxis ST tires. Really wanted to go to LT tires. Goodyear G614's require 110 psi and the rims on our unit are probably not up to handling that. The deluxe aluminum rims we have show only a weight rating of 3,040 but no PSI rating. Apparently these rims were re-rated higher in 2007 but some developed cracks at the higher loads. So am reluctant to gamble on that.

Montana really did us a disservice by installing very low quality Chinese Bombs with weight ratings that are not realistic on our 3400RL. 6000 lb axles/suspension and 3,040 lb rated rims and 3500 lb rated tires are not a good mix for this particular model 5th wheel. In 2007 Montana changed to 7,000 lb axles on the 3400RL.

Earlier I said that $2200 blowout was a Mission tire. That's wrong. We had so many problems with Mission that tireco replaced all five with Freestar tires, like they did for you. The tire causing the $2200 damage was a Freestar, not a Mission. Your post reminded me of that.