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Old 07-14-2013, 05:42 AM   #1
snowbirds R us
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OK, my last post on tires

Okay, I am going to throw this out for some thought and understand I am not an advocate of Marathon tires. First off, I have been trying to find some affordable tires and ones that aren't necessarily made in China and Taiwan. Most are imported from what I am learning. Now, I am wondering, since these heavy trailers sit more than they move down the road and since tires will age over time, that these things might have the greatest impact on the steel belts breaking down and causing unnoticeable flat spots on the tires. Considering these factors, one might conclude that Towmaxx, Marathon, Greenball and even the G614's and others, might all suffer the same fate regardless of who makes them. I hope I didn't open a can of worms here, but I am looking to buy another set of tires and can't afford to $pend two hundred plus dollars apiece for new tires. I guess I am trying to justify my decision to buy 4 Towmaxx tires. EVERYTHING, always seems to involve mass quantities of cash. Thoughts?
 
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Old 07-14-2013, 05:50 AM   #2
Mrs. CountryGuy
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Tis not a cheap sport.

Your life and limbs and life style are riding on those hunks of round rubber, no fun dumping the ca$h there, but, your life and limbs and safety are riding on them.

For us, if we feel safe, that is so much!

And, yea, we blew one of the safe tires.

You take your best shot, spend what you feel is appropriate and then hope for the best. Trust your Maker to keep you safe.

Do what you can, the rest will happen.
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Old 07-14-2013, 06:16 AM   #3
richfaa
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Many good LT tires do not have the tire load capacity for the larger Montana's. Many of us spend more time on the road than others. One of the reasons we purchased the 13 big sky was the G6 14 tires that have the proper spec's for the heavy Montana
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Old 07-14-2013, 06:20 AM   #4
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Having suffered a catastrophic blowout with our Cougar TT in the middle of what was to have been a six week trip through Canada ($3500 damage had to cancel trip) I immediately switched out the Marathons on the 5 th wheel for G614s. Pricey, but now two years plus and about 20k miles in, I think the peace of mind is worth every penny. There are probably other options, but I will never put a China-made tre on any rig I own.
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Old 07-14-2013, 06:40 AM   #5
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I have to agree with Carol. We put the 614's on at a very bad time for us financially, but we felt it was a necessary expense. Yes they will rot before we wear them out, but few things on the rig are as important than what supports it. Everyone must follow their own way of looking at the world, but putting our home on cheap tires would be, for us, like putting a modular home on an unsuitable foundation.
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Old 07-14-2013, 07:59 AM   #6
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I don't know what RV you have, but several of us with the medium to smaller rigs have gone with LT tires with equal peace of mind. They are not as pricey as the 614's which we weight capacity wise don't need anyways. My first two Montanas came from the factory with LT tires ... sadly my third came with Marabombs. Assuming no alignment issues ... as eluded to in earlier posts, no matter what brand of round rubber donuts you get they'll wear out from age well before you physically wear them out ... that's just part of owning an RV.
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Old 07-14-2013, 08:10 AM   #7
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We were very very lucky when we purchased our 2008 because the original owner had replaced the tires with 614's. That being said, we would have immediately replaced them if the original ones where still on it, no matter the cost. Damage to the rig during a blow out is one thing, losing control on a steep grade or curve is another.
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Old 07-14-2013, 10:46 AM   #8
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We are fortunate because both tv and rv have the same size tires [ LT235/80R16E ]- My policy is to put new tires on the fiver every 3 years- The tires off the fiver are then put on the tv duals- This procedure has resulted in our having no tire problems for the last 13 1/2 years on the road as fulltimers- We have been fulltimers for 14 plus years- I think this gives us a less expensive method of keeping quality American made tires on our vehicles- The first 6 months on the road were an expensive education in tires, but that is another story [ a horrer story to end all horrer stories ]- JMHO- Don
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Old 07-14-2013, 11:33 AM   #9
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If your planning on putting on Towmax tires which are an ST tire I would suggest putting on Maxxis ST tires. Maxxis tires have an excellent reputation. I have Maxxis on our monty for 3 yrs and have not experienced a problem with them.
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Old 07-14-2013, 11:48 AM   #10
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Upgrade to 17.5" wheels and GY G114's.
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Old 07-14-2013, 01:07 PM   #11
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by dpam

If your planning on putting on Towmax tires which are an ST tire I would suggest putting on Maxxis ST tires. Maxxis tires have an excellent reputation. I have Maxxis on our monty for 3 yrs and have not experienced a problem with them.
+1 on the Maxxis tires. I and quite a few others have had excellent service with Maxxis M8008 tires.
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Old 07-14-2013, 01:09 PM   #12
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I also put Maxxis on my previous 5ver. No problems and reasonably priced.
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Old 07-14-2013, 01:36 PM   #13
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We put Bridgestone Duravis 250's on our Montana and we are very pleased with them. They are one of the few with steel belted side walls which I like.
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Old 07-14-2013, 05:35 PM   #14
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I have decided to put a complete set of Towmaxx tires on my RV. My RV is a 2008, 3400 RL with a weight of approximately 12,000 lbs, and the tires seem to have come as original equipment, thus about 5 years old. To my way of thinking tires should, like any other equipment, be maintained and inspected on a routine basis. However, this seems to not have been the case with mine. Today when I took off one of the tires, which had no noticeable defects, I spun the tire and noticed significant sidewall imperfections.* Had I done this two weeks ago, tire problems while travelling could have been avoided.* If, every year or two I took the time to jack up the wheels and at least spin them for a visual inspection, maybe failure could have been totally avoided. Maybe it is not necessarily the type/brand of tire you use but the maintenance thereof. Possibly replacement should be an ongoing part of owner maintenance, versus waiting for a failure. Just sayin……………
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Old 07-14-2013, 05:54 PM   #15
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We did all the necessary tire maintenance, pressure checks, temperature monitoring and still experienced tire failures on two separate "Made in China" brands. There will never be another set of anything on our rig that says "Made in China!" As many others have said, it is not a question of if, rather when!! The above is presented as my opinion based on my experiences only, the choice as always, is yours!!
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Old 07-14-2013, 06:11 PM   #16
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Years ago my cousin decided to take up scuba diving. Naturally he wanted to get the best bang for his buck when buying equipment. So, He went to the local dive shop and asked about buying low cost equipment. The shop owner summed it up by saying "I can get you down there for 50 bucks." The implcation was that he might not make it back to the surface. There is no guarantee that buying expensive $300 plus tires will ensure safe tires. On the other hand, you get what you pay for. IMO tires are not the place to cut corners.
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Old 07-15-2013, 03:13 AM   #17
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Marathons probably work for some folks who drive 75 miles to the local state park a few weekends a year. For serious highway driving, Marathons has a poor record with the weight of big rigs as reflected by failure rates. If ST tires are the choice over a good quality LT tire, MAXXIS is an excellent product.
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Old 07-15-2013, 03:56 AM   #18
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Hi

I had a set of G614 tires that developed the abnormal wear pattern. Goodyear agreed to give me a free set if I upgraded my wheels to the 110-PSI wheels. I purchased a set of used wheels from a MOC member that had installed the IS suspension. They came with G614 tires that had newer date codes than the tires the dealer had in stock. So I didn’t get my free tires. I now have over 10,000 miles on them and they are wearing very well.

The most cost effective way to go is 17.5 steel wheels and the Goodyear Low Boy tires that are rated for extremely heavy loads are low profile so they are not any taller than the G614 and cost less than half of the G614. The fellows with the Low Boy trailers are having good luck with them.

Now the only draw back I can think of concerning the Low Boy tire is the ridged sidewalls. Will the frame and suspension system tolerate the loads imposed on some of the roads we travel?

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Old 07-15-2013, 04:12 AM   #19
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Phil, I'll agree on the 17.5 G114s (4805Lbs cap/tire), but I don't know where you saw them for 1/2 the price of the 614s. I've put a full set of G114s on HiSpec wheels and they ran $600/tire & wheel combo (just over $200 for wheel and just under $400 per tire). Now we've upgraded to the Mor/ryde IS and our rig rides smoother now than it did with the OEM spring suspension and G614 tires. Yes and expensive upgrade, but our rig is pushing 17K loaded and we're headed for a summer long trip in 2014, including Alaska and I didn't want to worry about tires.
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Old 07-15-2013, 07:50 AM   #20
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Hi

The price I got from my commercial truck tire dealer that I have been doing business with for the last 50 years gave me a price last year of $145 each. I just called him and they are now up to $185 for the 215 and the 245 is $550 but the 245 isn’t needed for this unit, I got a price of $80 for a steel wheel that would carry the load and pressure I just got the same price today for the steel wheels. So for the tire quoted last year I would have paid $225 per wheel. Today they will be $265 per wheel. The difference between the 2 tires and wheels is the width I failed to ask what the weight capacity difference was.

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