Joining China Bomb Club

[Snowbirds]

We were returning home to Tennessee from Titusville, Fl and blew two Marathons within 50 miles of each other. Tires were all aired to 80psi and the temp was around 75 deg. The manf date on the tires was 0310 and was mounted on a 2011 Montana 3465. We've run Marathons on our last two Montanas with no problem. I had weighed the Monty previously and the trailer weight on the 4 tires was 10600 seemingly withing the 12,000 capability of the four tires. By the way, both blowouts were the rear tires??? I guess our next move will be going to LT vs ST....

[drsmart]

Sorry to hear about that. We have the same model and I changed the factory tires over to G614's within the first week of receiving the unit new.

Dave

[WeBeFulltime]

I'm very happy with my Michelin LTs running very close to same weight.

[Clemson1881]

Amazing Marathons are still installed on new rigs. One would think the lesson would be learned by now.

[F3fifty]

Tomorrow morning my Marathon's are coming off Found a good buy at America's Tire for the R250 Bridgestone's 235 85R 16. The marathon's have less than 1,000 miles not counting the trip from the factory and they will be listed on CL soon.

[F3fifty]

quote:Originally posted by Clemson1881

Amazing Marathons are still installed on new rigs. One would think the lesson would be learned by now.

Went to the Portland Oregon RV Show last month and I noted only one 5ver with G14's and that was a 3150 Montana and the salesman said it was ordered with the 14 ply tires as an option. yes it is amazing that so many manufacturers are installing Marathon's.

[DQDick]

Not your fault on the Marathons blowing. They have no reserve capacity. If you would like to read an article on reserve capacity that's been going around the internet for the last couple of years, just email me and I'll send it to you.

[GreatWhite]

I guess this sounds like a "follow the money". Bean counters rule everything. Makes no sense, but they do. We saw a couple of things in our new, yet to be picked up, 5er.. and from an engineering standpoint.. I'll bet $$$ to donuts that the engineer said it looked on paper and never stepped into the rig.. much less used it for a run or two.

[Art-n-Marge]

When I briefly towed professionally I picked up a brand new Arctic Fox from their factory and to be shipped to a Dealer customer in Fairfield, CA. At the factory in La Grande, OR I hitched it up late in the day, checked the torque (all needed tightening) and air (all needed air) then drove to Biggs Junction, OR 162 miles via I-84 to spend the night. It was a tough tow in that it was a 20mph to 30 mph headwind the whole way coming off the beautiful Columbia River. The trailer handled well since it a lightweight trailer and had a very sloped front design.

Then the very next morning the rear driver's Marathon had an all too familiar bump! Ah crap, a Marathon ST235/80E. But this is brand new tire and I'm not driving over 60 mph (probably the only professional who stayed under 65). When I called into the main office for consultation and recommendation, they confirmed to "change the tire from the spare and save the spare" which I had already done. I asked back, "I have 600 miles more to go, what about a spare since one had already developed a bulge?" and few more minutes of waiting, then my supervisor reported back, "Northwood says this is the first problem they've ever seen so drive on without one". Reluctantly that's what I did. I drove the 600 miles, finished the delivery with no spare and the receiving dealer thanking me for the trailer, and signed things off knowing they'd be getting a new replacement from Goodyear. Got paid per the plan and nothing for changing the tire since I didn't spend anything since I did the tire change myself. Well, lucky for me I had the wrenches, jacks, compressors and all the tool changing stuff but it's part of the job.

Note this is much lighter travel trailer and uses the same size tire our larger heavier fiver. It might work well in some places. Sure seems to match DQDick's reserve capacity comments.

[mhs4771]

Just to give a quick example, our SOB has a gross of 16.5K and comes from the factory with the same exact Marathons unless you order the optional G614s.

[Kimo]

My brother is a regional VP at Discount Tires (Americas Tire Store) and he highly recommended the Carlisle 235 85 R16 Radial Trail RH Tires. They are F-12 ply with a load rating of 3960 pounds. They are priced right and I have not experienced any problems with them.

[RJI47]

I have the same Carlisle tires and up till now am very pleased with them. Will be headed about 1400 miles with them next week, so I'll keep a close eye on them. I couldn't wait to get the Marathons off.

[Flymutt]

quote:Originally posted by Snowbirds

We were returning home to Tennessee from Titusville, Fl and blew two Marathons within 50 miles of each other. Tires were all aired to 80psi and the temp was around 75 deg. The manf date on the tires was 0310 and was mounted on a 2011 Montana 3465. We've run Marathons on our last two Montanas with no problem. I had weighed the Monty previously and the trailer weight on the 4 tires was 10600 seemingly withing the 12,000 capability of the four tires. By the way, both blowouts were the rear tires??? I guess our next move will be going to LT vs ST....

We have seen many posts like this and I was reading somewhere that the manufacturer is not getting specific information back about these blow-outs (I think it was RVtravel.com). The report here seems to be very specific so my question is; who should he send this information to so maybe the Montana folks will take notice and not use them? Maybe he should send the tires back also???

[southern thunder]

I hope the blowouts didn't cause any damage to the unit. I just installed a tire pressure monitor on mine, so at least I will know when they go.

[millerwr]

I highly recommend you contact Goodyear Consumer Assistance at 1-800-321-2136 and file a claim with them. When one of my Marathons blew on my 2011 3400RL Goodyear paid me $180 for the tire and paid my insurance deductable. Others have filed claims with Goodyear and Goodyear has paid for all the damage and given them a very good credit on the purchase of four or five G614's. Good luck and let us know the results. Sorry about your blowouts.

[clarkandsheila]

For reporting blowouts look up the RV Tire Safety blog by Roger Marble. He had an issue dealing with this and what is required to register a report. He is/was a tire engineer.

I'm guily of not following the requirements. When I had a problem just a few weeks ago all thoughts of the required info, actually simple, escaped my mind[???] untill far too late.

http://www.rvtiresafety.com/

[Marty79]

I also recommend contacting Goodyear. They bought back my Marathons after I had replaced all four on a long trip when I blew out one of the originals that had very low mile on it. All you have to tell them is, that you have become scared of them due to the poor service history that is being reported from others.

[Snowbirds]

We've finished the forms etc that Goodyear sent us, forwarded the pictures and the tires have been shipped to Goodyear. Now we're just waiting on the word from Goodyear. Hopefully they'll stand up the the plate and do me good. Thanks guys for the suggestions and info.

[Doberman]

quote:Originally posted by Snowbirds

We've finished the forms etc that Goodyear sent us, forwarded the pictures and the tires have been shipped to Goodyear. Now we're just waiting on the word from Goodyear. Hopefully they'll stand up the the plate and do me good. Thanks guys for the suggestions and info.

The day after they received my blown tire, they sent me a Release Form to sign and send back. I sent it back (emailed) the same day and 7 days later I received the check for damages and money to replace the blown tire. During this 7 day lag between, they authorized me to purchase 4 new tires and they prorated the Marathon tires on trade. Overall, I was pleased with their timely handling of my claim. I got the RV back yesterday from the Collision Center and all is well.

[Snowbirds]

We received the Release Form today and Goodyear is paying for the tires and damage to the trailer. Sure is refreshing to see a company in our great Country stand up and face their responsibilities.

Doberman: Which department did you work with to get the deal on the tires?

Thanks guys/gals. Tom.