Dead Marathon - variation on a theme - Montana Owners Club

KathyandDave · 09-29-2011, 06:33 PM

On the next-to-last afternoon of the 2011 National Rally, while picking up the patio mat, I noticed shiny metal protruding from the rear curb side Marathon tire. It was part of the steel belt. Needless to say, a new tire was required. Since we had been planning to replace all of the Marathons, anyway, for all of the well-known reasons, we went ahead and got G614's and new rims on the way out of town. Thanks to Mike Taylor for pointing us to a reputable tire store, to Dave McNair for pointing us to Tim at Tredit and for critical assistance getting the spare onto the Monty for the trip to the tire store, to Jim Fischer for timely assistance and to Tim Ball and Jennifer Miller at Tredit for their extremely prompt and fair treatment.
Which leads me to the point of the story and some observations:
- Our Marathin failed, but it did not blow up and REALLY ruin our day. I wonder if this is because we never inflated it to the maximum rating of 80lbs. PSI - but only to 68lbs., so it failed gracefully.
- the Goodyear Tire inflation chart shows that the maximum load of 3000 lbs. for an ST 235/80R16 tire (i.e., the Marathon) is supported by inflating the tire to 65lbs. I conclude that anything past 65lbs. is not adding any benefit and may be stressing the tire. The stated maximum of 80lbs. is just that - a maximum. It's not a useful number for determining how to inflate the tire. 3000lbs. is still the maximum laod, no matter how much extra air pressure is applied.
-From notes I took at the 2009 rally, Tredit recommended airing the tires to the max when storing the trailer, i.e., not a dynamic application.
-the new G614's are mounted on new wheels, rated for 110lbs (giving 3750lbs. of load capacity), but we'll only be inflating them to 85 or 90lbs., which supports a bit more than 3000lbs, according to the charts. We'll appreciate the remaining 700lbs. reserve capacity. Jim Byrnes (JazB) has written about this on a recent thread.

Fire1 · 09-30-2011, 02:26 AM

Glad to hear that things went right for a change most of us have a bang up time with our tires

richfaa · 09-30-2011, 02:35 AM

The seminar by Tredit at the rally was very informative to those that heard it. In short Tredit provides what the manufacturers want and comfirms that 100& of the ST tires are from China. That is just the way it is...

Sheepdog · 09-30-2011, 04:43 AM

At the Fall Rally Tues at the icecream social I spoke with the Keystone Sales manager (can't remember his name) about the Marathon tire issue. He said G614s would cost about $1800 for us to get them on our rigs! I said someone was pulling the wool over their eyes, and that the retail difference is less than $100 if I were purchasing the tires. He said they would have to pay more for them than we could buy them retail at Sam's Club! I jokingly offered to buy them for him, and that the bottom line was that they should not install any more Marathons, period, and that he needs to find another purchasing agent with a "can do" attitiude!!! I said is it going to take someone getting seriously injured and a lawsuit to get action. He said that the tires were legal and met the load specs needed for the trailers. He was very sympathetic to our cause, but, if they put them on as standard, the cost of every Montana would rise, and that this may not be appreciated or acknowledged by their dealers who have SOBs on their lot with the less expensive tires.

But here is the BAD news. He said that the Goodyear G614s are made in two plants, and that one of them is in CHINA! So, if this concerns future 614 buyers, you might want to check each ones sidewall for the "Made in USA" mark. Looks like all the ST tires are doomed to be made in China. Fortunately we can still find good quality LT tires that seem to be holding up quite well.

racerjoe · 09-30-2011, 05:25 AM

didn't you think it is a little funny? That "he said" the guy from KEYSTONE that the tires are made in two different plants and one was in china??I would be checking with a Goodyear supplier for that answer. For one thing he is saying they cannot buy the tires at wholesale??? I would think they would buy in volume just like sams's club, Sounds to me like a used car salesman on your corner lot.Have I got a deal for you!!

bncinwv · 09-30-2011, 06:24 AM

On the DOT code on the side of your tire, immediately after the DOT is a two letter code that indicate the manufacturing plant location that identifies where the tires were made. The entire list of all tire plants listed by DOT can be found at:
http://www.harriger.com/tire3.htm
Just out of curiosity, I will double-check my 614's but I am pretty sure they say those sought after words on the side: "Made in USA".
Bingo

HOOK · 09-30-2011, 10:13 AM

Agree with Sheepdog. Send the purchasing agent to Sam's with a pickup and save $1300.oo. No brainer. After a few days of loading tires and unloading tires maybe he will be able to define purchasing agent. Larry

KathyandDave · 09-30-2011, 02:25 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Sheepdog

At the Fall Rally Tues at the icecream social I spoke with the Keystone Sales manager (can't remember his name) about the Marathon tire issue. He said G614s would cost about $1800 for us to get them on our rigs! I said someone was pulling the wool over their eyes, and that the retail difference is less than $100 if I were purchasing the tires. He said they would have to pay more for them than we could buy them retail at Sam's Club!

Ours cost $325 each (for five) retail at Monteith Tire in Goshen. That's $1625. However, it may be that Keystone and other RV manufacturers can't buy them through the same volume channel as retailers.

gr8330 · 10-01-2011, 06:25 AM

At $325 each ($1625 for 5) and then if you need new wheels, that puts you in the neighborhood of very good LT tires. Then if they are made in China (G614) to boot, makes me happy I went with LT's.

KathyandDave · 10-01-2011, 06:52 AM

Our new G614's are "Made In U.S.A.". Potentually a plus for Canadians buying them in the U.S.A. and bringing them home because they are duty-exempt if made in America, but not if made elsewhere. But, GST/HST is still payable.

scattershot · 10-01-2011, 07:39 AM

Repeat after me, boys n' girls...."Chinese tires are JUNK!"

jackel1959 · 10-01-2011, 08:20 AM

Everybody is talking about LT tires.....you need to look at the load rating of the LT tire to see if it is the right fit for your rig (JMHO). G614 or equivalent are the better choice depending upon your axle weight. Have you weighed your rig lately?

Jack

paperheart · 10-02-2011, 02:37 AM

Dave
Which set of wheels did you get at Tredit? The T02's or T04's. Did they give you the employee discount price like they said at the MOC rally? I think you made a good choice of tires. They should provide you with many years of safe travel. Phil

KathyandDave · 10-02-2011, 05:31 AM

To jackel1959, yes, we weigh it often. Many Ontario MOT weigh scales are left on with a visible display, so we drive through whenever possible. We have to keep the trailer tires below 3000lbs to keep our GCWR below 23,500lbs, the limit on my general operator drivers license.
To paperheart, we got T07's. I wasn't at the Tredit seminar, so I don't know what they said there, but we paid $65 each for snazzy-looking wheels. By the way, Dexter is the reigning ball retrieving champion. He smoked Cody chasing the ball and was a machine dropping it on the fly to land against my foot!

bncinwv · 10-02-2011, 12:00 PM

As a follow up, I double checked the 614's DOT code and the letters MJ were found immediately after the DOT. Translation, tires were manufactured in Topeka, KS. I would be very interested in knowing the codes of any 614s that are not "Made in U.S.A.", just for curiosity sake, of course.
Bingo

moutard2 · 10-02-2011, 01:07 PM

I suspect that the "not made in USA G614" is about as real as the "made in USA Marathon"!

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