Marabombs new poll

[Carole]

Thought it would be interesting to know how many rvers have had actual problems with the Marathons, did they have blowouts, when tire was made, how long before problem, and about how many miles were on them. We are waiting on our G 614s as we speak, haven't had a problem yet with Marathons that are on our 2013 Mountaineer but didn't want to take another long trip on them. Thought it would be interesting to see a fact sheet on these tires. This is probably beating a dead horse, but was just wondering.

[dieselguy]

Mine would swell up after about 50 miles of towing and look like Model T balloon tires. One had minor tread separation. I went with Uniroyal LT's

[BB_TX]

Can't speak from direct experience as we have never had them. But good friends we sometimes travel with had Missions on their '08 3295RK for about 4 years (with no problems) before replacing them with Marathons (because he wrongfully thought being Goodyear they were US made). He was not happy when I showed him MADE IN CHINA on the sidewall. Had one blowout on first long trip to Colorado. He passed away later that year. His wife, daughter, and son-in-law took the Montana to Colorado the next summer. They had two blowouts on that trip. So that was 3 out of the original 4.

Except for annual trip to Colorado they only made a few short trips per year, so miles on first blowout was less than 2,000 and on 2nd/3rd blowouts less than 5,000.

Now having said that, I have no idea how well he maintained the tires as far as keeping proper pressure. And I do not know the date code. I do not think they tended to carry so much stuff as to overload. I do know he tended to drive at least the posted speed limit, including 75 on Colorado interstate and across desolate TX panhandle and northern NM. And I can't say for a fact, but would not be the least bit surprised if he scrubbed a curb or two or three.

[DQDick]

We didn't have over 500 miles on ours when I noticed a slight bubbling on the inside sidewall of one. Tires were a year old when put on the rig and two years old when we bought the Monty new. Traded them all, including the spare for 614's immediately.

[bigskyjimmy]

You probably had never had a problem with your Marathons because you have a lighter Mountiainer the real problems happens when they are on the Big rigs ,I bet if you took a poll I would say the Majority of people have NOT had a problem with them like me on my last 2 Montana's, you only here people that Have BUT having said that Why take a chance???? you did the right thing for piece of mind and that is what I did as well

[bncinwv]

I had Marathons for a total of one day. After repeated failures with the Mission tires and their "Made in China" replacements, I instructed the dealer of our previous rig that the rig would not leave the lot with anything on the side that said "Made in China". In my opinion, regardless of the poll, if you have G614's coming, you made a wise decision, we have been running the G614's now (two sets - two rigs) for over three years without a hiccup and have never looked back and regretted the decision. Bottom line is that the reported failure rate was too much for us.
Bingo

[HOOK]

We had 4 fail in our 1st year. Broken belts , as Dieselguy described. Having been a trucker for years and accustomed to watching tires closely, I found all before blowout. Everyone began to swell out round in the flat part of the tread. Replaced ours with G614s . End of problem.

[nosticks]

Boom. Tire date 4209. Properly inflated. Tire Monitor. < 5000 miles on them. Well underweight. Sidewall blowout. Minor Damage.

P.S Unless you put this in poll form, there is going to be a lot of pages burned up.

[sambam]

My tires had an old manufacture date, 2008, but were new to the ground in March last year when we bought our camper. Sidewall bubble in less than 1500 miles of travel. Properly inflated and monitored (TST 507). Testimonials on this site had me keeping a close eye on them. Didn't matter.

[1retired06]

Enough bad history to put them in the nonstarter category for me

[WeBeFulltime]

I never pulled our Montana with the Marathons on it. They were replaced with Michelins before we took delivery.

[mtheo]

Lost two, one cost $2000.00 worth of damage to side of trailer, had a couple of years on them, got a free set of Freestars, but they started to go bad after a couple of years. So pulled them of and put on Toyo H/T's

[Recumbent]

Back in 2010 had Mara-bombs for our weekend short trip camping as we had not retired, all appeared well, in 2011 we took our first big long trip and then boom.

[Carole]

Well, G614's supposed to be here tomorrow, so have any off you had blowouts with these?

[jcurtis934]

Had two blowouts within a few days at less than 8,000 miles on the computer. Never towed above 60-65, most times at 60. Tires always aired to 80 psi. Would notice temps on tires in 140's F during towing. These tires were made in middle of 2012 and looked good before blowouts. John

[rwood]

We had 2 failures on recent trip from FL to TN. Both on street side, swelled out in tread area, excessive heat build up. Tires are less than 3 years old and less than 4000 miles on our 3400 RL. Will be replacing all with G614s.

[Phil P]

Hi

We got 3,000 miles and found sidewalls bubbled on all 4 so put the G614 on. Pulled them about 50,000 miles and then change them out when we put the 110Psi wheels on. I am still running the old wheels with the old G614 on an equipment trailer that my partner and I use to move antique engines with.

Phil P

[psomers]

I'm Carole's DH. When we took the rig to Wingfoot for tire exam there was a Pilot Truck stop with CAT scales right next door. I had rig weighed with and with out TV. By subtracting the weighs the 5 er weighs 12,840#. I'm sure not quite as heavy as a Montana but not far off. If Montana had had this floor plan we would have gotten a Montana as I like the rear cap and wood cabinets as opposed to wrapped ones. We loved this floor plan. Can't believe Keystone discontinued it.

[bigred715]

We had about 15,000 miles on ours when one blew. Tire separation and went flat with no damage. Went back to town and bought 5 new Michelin tires and will never own another Goodyear tire.

[scott-pati]

Didn't have problems, but replaced them after 3k miles with G-614 including the spare. I wasn't taking any chances!