Goodyear Marathon (Chinese) Yea or Ney?

[rubble express]

I know these have been talked about before but I would like a review from anyone who have used them. I was at a dealer today and all his heavier units had them. He swore they were better than Missions but the data on the side of the tire was exactly the same as the Missions as far as number of plys in the tread, sidewall, etc. I noticed alot of the tires on these units had "bumpy" sidewalls (and these had next to zero miles on them). I'm thinking all these tires are about the same but if you want to stick with "ST" tires you have very little choice. This dealer said that he couldn't recommend "LT" tires as they are not designed the same as "ST" tires and therefore are not recommended for the heavier units. He pointed out that "LT" tires have directional tread and thinner sidewalls whereas "ST" tires have unidirectional tread and more plies in the sidewall. He did say that he thought American "LT" tires where better than foriegn "ST" tires in overall quality, he still didn't recommend them for heavy trailers like the Montana. I'm looking to replace the Missions soon but am not sure higher quality "LT"'s are better than Chinese "ST"s. Yea or Ney????

[LonnieB]

LTs have directional tread and thinner sidewalls?? Thats a new one on me. The only LT tires with "directional" tread are a few of the mud grip type with a chevron tread pattern. As far as the sidewalls go, the ST has 2 plys polyester cord, the LT has 2 plys polyester cord, except in the Michelin XPS and a couple of others that have steel sidewall cords. The LT has THICKER sidewall rubber than the ST.

Go to a tire dealer that carries both the LT and ST, stand them side by side and mash around on them. It won't take long to see the difference.

Your main question was, "I'm looking to replace the Missions soon but am not sure higher quality "LT"'s are better than Chinese "ST"s. Yea or Ney????". IMHO, YEA, hands down.

[Exnavydiver]

If the dealer doesn't know jack about his rigs (and most don't) then how can he even begin to know jack about tires??

[MacDR50]

The Good Year G614 RST is an LT sized/rated/named tire specifically designed for trailers. It is made in NA.

[OntMont]

This whole LT vs ST tire thing is a puzzle to me. My two Montanas, an 02, and now an 05, both came from the factory with Tacoma brand LT tires. It is only sometime since 05 that ST tires came into the picture. Maybe in response to some regulatory change? For whatever reason, all current brands of trailers with load range D or E seem to come with ST tires. (including boat trailers). The few trailers I have seen with G range tires were LT.

I can see that there are good reasons to produce a tire specific to trailer applications, but why do they have to be so troublesome, if it is not poor design? If LT tires were OK up to a few years ago, what changed? This does not seem to be just a Keystone thing, it is common across the trailer industry. Where did this idea that LTs are not suitable for trailer service come from, and what about all the trailers out there that came with LTs? There has to be some background story behind this that we don't yet know about (yet).

I replaced my Tacomas because poor axle alignment had caused uneven wear, not because there was any fault with the tires. I replaced them with Yokohama Geolander LTs of the same size as the Tacomas, and so far after a year, and several thousand miles, they are performing well.

Sorry for the rant, but this has been bugging me for a while.

Oh, and to get back on topic, I think we are just going to have to wait and see on the Goodyears. I don't think that there is any reason the Chinese can't make a good tire, I think it is mostly a matter of what the customer (Goodyear) specifies, and is willing to pay for.

[LonnieB]

OntMont said;

I think it is mostly a matter of what the customer (Goodyear) specifies, and is willing to pay for.

and hit the nail on the head.

Substitute Goodyear with Keystone, or any of the other RV mfgrs, and you'll have the reason these cheap tires are standard equipment on most trailers. JMHO

[MacDR50]

IMO it all comes down to quality control or lack thereof. From my research, GY owns and operates the Dalian plant in China but sources much of its supply from other plants. The challenge becomes one of ensuring both its own plant and other suppliers maintain material and manufacturing standards in the face of stiff competition from low cost producers. The rapidly expanding Asian markets, competition from hundreds of smaller Asian plants as well as bigger competitors and the sheer volume of tires being produced means that there is always a push/pull taking place between quality, quantity, unit costs and prices both wholesale and retail. In some cases we are as much to blame for poor quality when we let price alone guide our purchasing decisions. If price is the deciding factor that's what manufacturers will compete upon not quality. China has built an industrial revolution based upon that premise and has had double digit economic growth as a result. If you are a global company like GY that lesson is quickly learned after you see red in the income statement. The result in many cases has been an overall reduction in quality based on the premise that it is more profitable to produce cheap and let the consumer be your quality control by simply replacing any defective products that are reported. More rather than better is the mantra now.

[Ozzie]

I talked with the local Goodyear store about this very thing..even though the tires are made in China, they are made to Goodyear's specs...whatever that means...to me, it means the tires are covered under the national warranty and should be able to be serviced by any Goodyear store.

Of course, I also carry Good Sams ERS...I would think between
these two I should be able to get things taken care of.

[skypilot]

It is bad enough to be stopped while either changing a tire (if you are still able to do do so) or waiting on ERS to show up for those of us who can no longer manhandle those things --- but what really gripes me is the amount of damage our trailers also suffer that then has to be covered either by our insurance and/or our wallets. Goodyear, Cooper, whom ever, can make good on their warranties but they don't cover that ancilliary damage that I've seen on too many units with flat tires.... Just a rant and I apologize for it but the cost isn't just the time and tire, too dang often it is thousands more in trailer damage and loss of camping time.....

[exav8tr]

Skypilot, while not a complete answer to the tire manuf covering damages done to our rigs, A tire pressure monitoring system will give you an early alert to tire problems and possibly prevent horrendous damage to our rigs as you talk about. I have the Pressure Pro system and have had two flats on my rig and NO damage to the trailer. Might look into one of these.

[mail2us]

I was at our Montana dealer recently waiting on some warranty work. I visited some new units while waiting and noticed that the Montana models had Goodyear tires stating "Made in China".

Ozzie (Bruce) raises a valid observation that he was told Goodyear (some tires, but not all) are made in China but to Goodyear specs.

I have often felt that not only has product gone to China to be made but while on the way to China the "specs" also changed. Hopefully I'm wrong! We could be getting a product of lesser quality, by design, that was previously made in US or North America.

[Glenn and Lorraine]

Besides the manufacturers specs, all tires SOLD in the USA for hiway use must meet NHTSA regs.
The problems we, including myself, have experienced with Mission tires could very well be a batch problem. When a small single manufacturer is picked to supply all the tires for a company as big as Keystone they had to swing into high gear to fill the orders. Remember Keystone has many different brands and the are all towables and so far as I know they all switched to Mission STs at about the same time. Keystone very possibly overwhelmed the Mission plant and therefore the quality control went by the wayside.

Why did Keystone switch from LTs to STs? Only Keystone knows but I would be willing to bet it came down to price. I have been unable to find if any US tire company owns the Mission line. If not than Mission has there own specs and builds a tire that just barely meets the NHTSA and therefore can keep the cost of materials to a minimum.

Back to the original subject..

quote:This dealer said that he couldn't recommend "LT" tires as they are not designed the same as "ST" tires and therefore are not recommended for the heavier units. He pointed out that "LT" tires have directional tread and thinner sidewalls whereas "ST" tires have unidirectional tread and more plies in the sidewall. He did say that he thought American "LT" tires where better than foreign "ST" tires in overall quality, he still didn't recommend them for heavy trailers like the Montana. I'm looking to replace the Missions soon but am not sure higher quality "LT"'s are better than Chinese "ST"s. Yea or Ney????

Your dealer is an IDIOT and I would strongly suggest that you find one that knows what he is talking about ASAP and never talk tires with anyone but a reputable tire dealer. Afterall you wouldn't ask a pharmaceutical salesman whether or not you need heart surgery would ya?