sorry tires again - Montana Owners Club

hill · 07-27-2009, 08:14 AM

We have a 2006 2980RL with mission tires on it . I have not seen any problems yet, but with all the chatter about them I am concerened. I did find a store that has Goodyear Marathons tires, does anyone have them and have you had any problems?( size 235/80R/16 "E" )Also saw DOT 1099 on my tires, not sure if this is a date code.Please help do I change or keep on running them.

Art-n-Marge · 07-27-2009, 09:48 AM

I thought the DOT code had eight numbers. After DOT the first four characters are the location of manufacture and the next four at the date code.

I have had Missions and within 2 years I replaced them because tire separation caused a flat and I didn't want to risk it. I replaced them (and the spare) with Goodyear Marathon ST235/80R16 "E" and have had no issues, but it has only been a year. There are others in the MOC that have had problems with them, but I believe from what I have read, they are definitely an improvement.

I am sure others in the MOC will comment further or even recommend a different brand or tire type.

bncinwv · 07-27-2009, 10:21 AM

That is a very loaded question that unfortunately leaves only you to make the decision. Speaking from personal experience, we had Missions, never had a problem, until one decided to shed a chunk and the other decided to pop out a blister like defect that looked like a softball inside the side wall!! We were very fortunate that no rig damage resulted from this. Now, having said that, there are other members who have ran their Missions for 12-15,000 miles without a problem. The only thing that I will recommend is that if you leave them on, get in the habit of regular inspections (read every time you stop). This inspection should include a visual on the inside edge of the tire (under the rig) as well as the readily visible side and monitoring air pressure and temperature (Pressure-Pro or similar). Now having said all that, we can discuss this in much more detail with others if you are interested in trekking up I-77 to Wytheville and joining us Aug 6-9 at Fort Chiswell RV Park for the 2009 Virginia Mid-Atlantic MOC rally. Sorry, had to insert a small advertisement there!!

Bingo

sreigle · 07-27-2009, 01:52 PM

Wow, I'm not sure there's a good answer for you. We've had several fifthwheels with Goodyear Marathon tires and I will never again allow one of those tires on any rig I own. But I'm sure there are others who have had good experience with them. So don't take my experiences as anything more than one person who had bad luck with lots of those tires.

There are many who had problems with the Mission tires. We did, too, eventually. But we got quite a few miles out of them before they went bad. Unlike the Marathons we had, the Mission tires never went flat or blew out on us. They just wore through in spots until the steel belt showed through. We were able to get them replaced at no charge by Tireco. They sent us the Freestar brand, which, so far, have been fine. They are considerably heavier than the Mission and have a rating a few hundred pounds higher, even though they are the same load rating.

In other words, in my opinion, swapping the Missions for the Marathons is not gaining you a thing and may actually put you in a worse situation. But, that is purely my opinion.

If I were in your shoes again, I'd do as I decided to do last time and keep the Missions until they showed me I should no longer keep them. But, first, I'd call Tireco and tell them you have no confidence in the tires because of so many problems and see if they will replace them for you with another brand. They will want the DOT numbers off the tires. Be aware, the recalled tires may be in a range of build dates that does not include your tires, or whatever the DOT number tells them. But it can't hurt to ask. 800-227-8925

HughM · 07-27-2009, 02:45 PM

Art, the date code has only four characters. The first two numbers are the week it was built that year (1-52) The third and fourth number are year of build. So 1099 would be second week of march 1999.
Way past time to get rid of those tires if that was the date code numbers.
Hugh

hill · 07-27-2009, 03:12 PM

Thats all that I saw on the tires DOT 1099 and if that means 1999 the only question left is what kind to get as replacement. Talked to the local Montana dealed and he said he thought Goodyear Marathon is on then now. The strange thing is why was a 1999 tire put on a 2006 in the first place.

thanks for the response. Larry

bncinwv · 07-27-2009, 03:22 PM

We have had this discussion many times, I think there is a link on the main page that descibes where to get the date code. Missions were not made in 1999, so that is not the date code.
Bingo

Art-n-Marge · 07-27-2009, 03:25 PM

Yup Hughm, I concur, the date code is the last four numbers following the DOT, but if that is the code, then these tires are over 10 years old and should not have been installed by ANYONE. Maybe LonnieB or Glenn can confirm that it is illegal to sell tires that are more than a particular age - I forget the restriction but I think it is 5 or 6 years.

DOT 1099 would translate to 10 week of 1999 but WOW, that's old!!! Too old for a 2-3 year old Monty. Did someone pull a swap on his rig? Or do we not have all the numbers?

Some DOT number are 10 or 11 or 12 digits. Here's some links to try and decipher it:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=11
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire#DOT_Code

Hill - Are there more numbers that you left off? Please make sure you are providing us the whole code because from the numbers you gave us, your tires are over 10 years old! I am hoping there are more numbers. If you see ONLY DOT and four digits, that would be an abbreviation of the full code. Please look on the OTHER side of the tire for the DOT nomenclature and check for more more digits.

hill · 07-27-2009, 03:46 PM

On the first tire I looked at there was only DOT 1099. But after crawling under the camper to look at the back I found DOT 1099 619 3705 So I guess that maks my tires 4 years old . Still may be old enough to think about replacing.Learn someting new every day.
Larry

Art-n-Marge · 07-27-2009, 03:58 PM

Whew... that's much better! But you are on the right track.

mail2us · 07-27-2009, 04:47 PM

I had DOT 1099 then 2407 in a square on our Missions for 24th week of 2007, so the DOT and date are different set or group of numbers. I had two Missions with good size bubbles on them, caught them from inspection, and scrapped all 5 tires. New LT tires, much beefier and Bridgestones...a great tire! Lt235/85/16's , balanced and steel stems. I just wish Keystone would have done a better job on their tire selection. The Goodyear Marathon's maybe better but still made in China!!

**Carl n Susan** · 07-27-2009, 06:48 PM

If you look at the documentation for the DOT codes, you will see that prior to year 2000, the Date Code was THREE characters (WWY). Therefore 1099 could never be a valid Date Code. You have to crawl underneath and find the whole character string that includes the Date Code. It is only on one side of the tire.

mail2us · 07-28-2009, 03:22 AM

I'm confused Carl, I thought hill indicated he had a 2006 unit??

Art-n-Marge · 07-28-2009, 08:14 AM

Hi Dennis,

"hill" has a 2006 trailer but that does not necessarily mean the tires are of the same year. "hill" originally reported a code of DOT 1099 (but he was not sure it was his date code). With many subsequent posts on what to look for, now hill knows how to find his tire date code and reported tires were from 2004. Carl was stating that even if one thought 1099 was a date code, that if a tire HAD been from 1099, it would not be a 4 digit code, but a 3 digit code, therefore it is NOT possible that 1099 can be interpreted as a date code.

This topic is about the Mission tires on "hill's" 2006 Monty, not the Monty itself. I hope this clears things up.

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