More Marathon blowouts

[raholm]

We have had three blowouts, left side, on our '08 model 3124 KS... in the last two cases, the blowout has ripped out the sewer plumbing behind the tire. In one case, the floor cracked, and the toilet cracked, from the blowout shards...

Last night, we had the third blowout, and again the sewer plumbing is destroyed... this is first camping trip since last blowout last summer... 55 - 60 MPH, interstate 95 in NC, 92 degrees. Tires at 62 PSI... towed by 2008 GMC Acadia, factory tow bar...

I have yet to call TrailManor factory...

WARNING: The 3124KS is "under-tired," or needs a second axle, or needs larger tires!

We are sick, and disgusted with TrailManor quality... willing to discuss here.

Bob

[Harry Womack]

Switch to load range E tires and run at 70 psi. If you are using the Good Year tires-switch, I blew 6 or 7 Good Years. I have bought 10 Maxxis tires and have not had any problems.

[Bill]

Bob -

The original thread has gotten kind of confused, so I have moved your topic to its own thread.

My first thought is to upgrade the tire size. Many threads on this forum have discussed why and how. The 14-inch Marathons are right on the edge as far as load-bearing capability is concerned. If you load your TM very lightly, the tires are within rating, but depending on how you load it, it is easy to overload them. A move to the 15-inch Marathons will probably have good results - they have for me - by adding substantial margin to the load-bearing capability. I think that TM has gone entirely to 15-inch tires in response to the overloading question, with good results.

The original 14-inch Marathons are Load Range C, with all that implies. The 15-inch Marathons are load-range D, with all that implies. Load Range E is still heftier, but you have to watch out for the rock-hard tires shaking the daylights out of the TM. IMHO, load range D is fine, but others may legitamtely disagree.

Bill

[Joseph]

Some of us as part of the "Great ongoing tire experiment"..:) are running 14 inch D rated tires. I have some on my TM. But only for the past two years.
They have almost 6,000 miles on them. This will be their third season. Fingers crossed. Might want to give them a try. Some members have had very good luck with that size and rating. FRENCHY comes to mind, I think... But if you can making the jump to 15's will help you as well. I was on a budget and had to sort of make do with what I had. Hence the 14's..:D

[MudDog]

Regardless of tire size, if you haven't, I would switch to metal valve stems.

[Bill]

... after which, you must have them balanced! Don't let your tire dealer tell you that "We never balance trailer wheels!"

Bill

[countrygirl]

Raholm does not list the year of his TM. Our 2007 3124KS came with 15 inch tires...and I thought that all 3124's came with 15 inch tires stock. Perhaps this is not the case though.

FWIW: We did upgrade to the load range E and have not found any damage from shaking.

[KevinP]

our '08 model 3124 KS...

there's your model year. I believe the 'shaking' that is noted on higher load rated tires is related to how much air pressure is put in the tire, not the load rating itself. The higher rated tires allow for much higher maximum air pressures, but are not required to be run at maximum pressure. As the pressure is increased, the carrying capacity goes up until the maximum is reached.

There's no question that weight savings involves some compromises, but most of them can be mitigated. After the first tire blowout (at the latest), it's time to review one's tire choice and make adjustments. There's lots of higher load range tires and combinations available now. My 15" D rated tires have a 2640lb max, 5280lbs for the two wheels. The current max allowed weight on the axle for a 3124KS is around 3900lbs (empty weight + max load - hitch weight). That's 35% additional tire load capacity.

Here's an idea to keep your tire/wheel size conversion cost down:

3 New 15" spoke wheels with 225/75/15-D tires 470.00
Sell 14" set on craigslist -220.00
Net conversion cost 250.00

[Solitary Refinement]

Well add me to the club of blown Goodyear Marathons.

Was travleing up I65 this morning going from Indianapolis to Great Lakes Naval Training Center. Had the cruise set at 62mph and had been driving about 60 miles when the curbside tire blew.

It didn't disrupt the TV much at all, but the noise was obvious with the initial 'thud' and then the flapping. Unfortunately I did not note the condititions of the tire pressure/temp from my TPMS monitor before it happened. Haven't figured out how to set the parameters for the warning buzzers either, so I've got myself to blame for the lack of warning/data.

Luckily the damage was minimal. The wheel well cover was knocked loose and was hanging down with a few broken spots at the bottom. The tire delaminated entirely and there was a nice gash going from the sidewall across half the tire.

Took about 2 hours to find a place that had a ST tire, and we had to settle for a 205/75/14 instead of the 215/75/14. It was a Goodride brand, and I'm not too sure about it, but had to get something to use as the next spare.

Luckily no more tire problems for the remainder of the drive, and hopefully will not have any for the remainder of our adventuring this week.

[PopBeavers]

Some of us as part of the "Great ongoing tire experiment"..:) are running 14 inch D rated tires. I have some on my TM. But only for the past two years.
They have almost 6,000 miles on them. This will be their third season. Fingers crossed. Might want to give them a try. Some members have had very good luck with that size and rating. FRENCHY comes to mind, I think... But if you can making the jump to 15's will help you as well. I was on a budget and had to sort of make do with what I had. Hence the 14's..:D

Can you share with us the brand of tire that you found that is 14 inch, D rated and ST?

[rtcassel]

Can you share with us the brand of tire that you found that is 14 inch, D rated and ST?

[PopBeavers]

Multi-Purpose Design For Light Trucks, Minivans, And Utility Vehicles.

Not designed for travel trailers. This appears to be an LT tire.

For where I go, I see no advantage of an LT versus an ST. I am already bouncing a lot. Converting to stiffer sidewalls for miles of unpaved fire roads jsut does not seem like a good idea.

I know there is a lot of debate of ST versus LT. I am presently on the side of ST for trailers.

I'll keep looking for a 14 inch load range D ST tire. Not likely going to find one.

[Joseph]

As far as I know there is no such thing as a 14 inch Load range D / ST. Mine are LT's and a little stiffer than the Marathons that came with the trailer. And that info is only from observation from the cab of the truck and from the wife following behind one time. Two years and about 6K miles later the extra stiffness has not caused any problem that I am aware of. One thing I did notice that was different about these tires VS the Marathons. The tread dept. These LT tires have a deeper tread on them. Maybe a little more rubber between the TM and road is a good thing. Can't say what if any damage the extra bulk and stiffness has caused, but I know this. The Marathons just shed their skin like a snake. The TPMS never went off because the tire carcass was still inflated. Too bad that the tread took out the plumbing. I will keep the group informed on these LT's. Fingers still crossed!

[Joseph]

You are right. The 195R14C Load range D Triangle TR645 tire is not designed for TT's. Used mostly in Europe on delivery vans. :D Most of my driving is freeway getting to the Forest Service Roads. I am not real crazy about taking the TM long distance on a FS road. Too rough and too dusty. My TM seals at the bottom when closed are not the best in the world. :o So the LT's work fine for me. I got kind of spoiled from my old Coleman popup. That thing would go anywhere my 4x4 towed it. The TM.... well..... a little fragile. But the hard walls and bathroom are nice and make up for it. Compromise. As you say the ST's would probably suit you better. I plan on moving up to the 15's in a year or two. If I can get the check book away from DW that is!:eek:

[KevinP]

These are not ST, but they are 14" D range tires.
It appears from the description that there may be 2 versions of this tire with different load ratings, one with a 107 load index, and one with a 109. Also, while passenger tires are rated to carry 100% of the load max, truck tires are actually rated to carry 91% of the max load rating, and the same may be true of trailer tires. So calculate that into your purchase decision.

Tire Rack (copied from tirerack.com website, bad formatting)
Kuhmo radial trailer tire 205R14
Load Index 109 = 2271lbs (1030kg) per tire
Load Index 107 = 2149lbs ( 975kg) per tire
Speed Rating “Q” = 99mph (160kph) 109/107Q D Trailer Use Only Not required for
this tire.None 2271 lbs.
65 psi
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Radial+857&sidewall=Blackwall&partnum=0R4857&tab=Specs

Discount tire says the following re the ST rating:
""All "ST" tires have a maximum speed rating of 65 mph.""
these have a 99mph rating.

[PopBeavers]

These are not ST, but they are 14" D range tires.
It appears from the description that there may be 2 versions of this tire with different load ratings, one with a 107 load index, and one with a 109. Also, while passenger tires are rated to carry 100% of the load max, truck tires are actually rated to carry 91% of the max load rating, and the same may be true of trailer tires. So calculate that into your purchase decision.

Tire Rack (copied from tirerack.com website, bad formatting)
Kuhmo radial trailer tire 205R14
Load Index 109 = 2271lbs (1030kg) per tire
Load Index 107 = 2149lbs ( 975kg) per tire
Speed Rating “Q” = 99mph (160kph) 109/107Q D Trailer Use Only Not required for
this tire.None 2271 lbs.
65 psi
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&tireModel=Radial+857&sidewall=Blackwall&partnum=0R4857&tab=Specs

Discount tire says the following re the ST rating:
""All "ST" tires have a maximum speed rating of 65 mph.""
these have a 99mph rating.

I'm saving this link.

I replaced my factory installed Marathons and when one of them blew out I replaced all three tires.

Due to time constraints and availability I now have Tow Master. I have no complaints, but I have a feeling that they are not quite as good as the Marathons were.

I'll check the tire date this weekend. Maybe I will replace them now. I think they are now three years old.

[KevinP]

'not as good as the Marathon's'? ouch. if you can, buy the 15" setup, and sell the 14"s to recover some of the cost. There's a ton of cheap, good quality D and E rated 15" tires.

[PopBeavers]

I wish I could switch to 15 inch wheels. But if the diameter of the tire increases by 1/4 inch it will no longer fit in the garage.

I could let the air out to lower it, but with the TM up against a side wall I can not get to the tire to re-inflate it after parking it. And it would be a real hassle to change the air pressure down and back up every time it goes in/out of the garage anyway.

Alternatively, I could convert the garage door to make it a foot taller, but I don't think I would like the cost of that project.

Parking the TM outside is not an option. Parking it on a storage lot is more than 1200 per year. The selling point of the TM is to avoid that expense.

I wonder if it is cheaper to lower the garage floor than it is to raise the door height?

[camp2canoe]

Wayne, my neighbor with a frame house did raise his garage door by over a foot and the biggest cost was replacing the door but that was somewhat dated anyway. It was a fairly easy mod and you wouldn't even know he had done so to look at the house. On the other hand, I have a brick house so the mod would not be economical for me. Besides, we currently use the space above the doors to store 4 canoes. - camp2canoe