More Marathon tire failures

Some times the weights have been known to fall off or get scrubbed off on a curb, so it's a good idea to have the tire rebalanced occasionally. If you wash your wheels - which I assume you do - and then later notice a dirty spot the shape of a weight, you may have lost one. I'd get the wheel rebalanced.

rickst29 - I think wmtire was asking a rhetorical question about the rubber. LOL

Originally Posted by rickst29

It gets "scrubbed off" against the road surface. Here's a funny analogy for you: It's kinda like peeling the string off a YoYo, but the "string" is a flat layer across the entire width of the tire tread. And the thin, flat "Peel" is 50,000 miles long.

You see the black stripes on concrete roadways where all the cars and trucks tires have been leaving tiny bits behind. (Can't see it on black asphalt, of course. From there, it's blown away by wind and washed away by rain, sometimes scrubbed off by street cleaners.

It also ends up floating on the surface of my swimming pool.

My back yard backs up against a busy expressway. Every morning there is a bunch of black dust floating on the surface of the pool, until the filter comes on.

It is my theory that the black dust is dust particles that have attached themselves to some combination of worn tire residue and/or soot and/or car exhaust.

You can not see in on the walkway, furniture, etc. but it is clearly visible on the surface of my pool.

yuck.

I believe that this thread may be the most important discussion that I've seen. Far too many folks have have had to deal with Marathon blowouts and have had their vacations and their safety compromised. When I first came to this site (7 months ago) I remember being shocked by all the accounts of Marathon tire failures (including Bill's tire failure experience -- which was something like 3 failures in as many years). When I responded on the forum -- a few folks felt that I was being an "alarmist" especially with my suggestion that the factory participate in sorting this all out. They pointed out to me that "tires fail", "sometimes it's our fault", and "get used to it" if you're going to be a TM'er. I still feel that the factory should acknowledge that the problem exists (even though they do not manufacture the tires) and the factory should participate in researching a solution. We should be getting a bulletin from the factory advising a course of action. But this would probably be seen an admission of culpability and some TM'ers might want to get froggy with the factory. I don't give a squat about going after anyone -- I just want us all to be safe, and it still bothers me that I have heard no acknowledgment of the problem or a possible solution from the factory. Trailmanor decided to use the tire and axle combination that pushed the limits and selected the best available tire to handle the loads. The selections really haven't worked as well as anyone would have liked, and now good folks are trying to find their own way through the mire, sharing their discoveries on the way. I have 3 trips planned this summer and some are at altitude. I'd like to have some confidence that my tires on an 07 2720SL will get me there and back without incident. Right now I don't have that. And Bill, I'm truely sorry that you've had to deal with this situation so many times. You give so much to this forum -- I would have wished you nothing but clear sailing. Thanks to all (especially the Gator guy) for your research.

[Joe]

This problem is not restricted to Goodyear or TrailManor. Check other forums and you will see that almost every one has a 'tire problem' section. Also, as you ride on the Interstates note how may tire tread pieces are scattered along the shoulders. Maybe we should be asking someone in the Trucking industry about their ideas. They travel many miles and I assume are concerned about tire life, fuel mileage, safety, etc.

As for safety of TM with a blowout, my experience is about the same as Bill's; the TM handles beautifully with a blowout. My main concern is getting off the road far enough to safely change the tire.

Just got some of the Hankook RA08 Euro 195/14 Load Range D (8 ply rated) tires delivered.

I stood it up beside the Power King 215/75R14 Load Range C (6 ply rated tire). They are right at the same height. I will post some pics when I get my digital camera up here, so everybody can see for themselves.

The biggest difference is the Hankook tire is rated to carry 2094 pounds up to 106 m.p.h.

Not likely that anyone is going to be pulling their trailer that fast..........unless the brakes fail going down the mountain.

Originally Posted by Texas_Camper

Are these tires the same width as a 215/75/R14 ? There's very little side clearance on a TM....

Leon, they are actually a little narrower. My wife is going to drop my digital camera off, and I'll post pics for everyone to see. I'll take pics with the 2 tires side by side, that show height and width comparisons.

Bobby

Originally Posted by Texas_Camper

My old GY Marathons and my new TrailerKings are rated at 50 psi, cold. What is the recommended tire pressure on these Hankooks?

65 PSI max to carry the 2094 pounds

EDIT: Here's the pics, they are kinda dark, but you should be able to see a Hankook Euro 195R/14 on the left compared to a Power King 215/75R/14 on the right.

Aren't these passanger car tires instead of trailer tires??

Originally Posted by mtnguy

Aren't these passanger car tires instead of trailer tires??

By no means. They are light truck tire/trailer tire applications. There is no such thing as an 8 ply passenger tire.

I know that you are seeing that on the pdf sheet for them. I have already pointed that out to the Hankook people, so they can correct it. Their district manager and I both got a laugh out of it. If you can read the tag on the tire, it says LTR (Light Truck Radial).

Just for kicks, I checked out their European website. They have it correctly labeled there under the light truck section. It's just their USA website, where they have dropped the ball. I sent my rep another email, detailing how our eagle eye forum members caught their error. Maybe they'll correct it now.

http://www.hankooktire.com/eur_eng/p...ight_truck.asp

Man, check out the spec sheets for the RA08 over there. They have bunches of size and heavier plies available to them, even 10 ply 14 inch tires. They get probably 40 sizes and we get 2 to choose from in that model.

EDIT: Playing around some more, I checked the Mexican website out. They have it labeled under the correct light truck section, and have many more sizes. Maybe our friends near the border can go down there and pick us up some trailer tires.

http://www.hankook.com.mx/pdf/ra08.pdf