More Marathon tire failures

WMtire (is that for Wal-Mart tire?), I was not volunteering, I said we have tires we are happy with. I want to continue using the U-Haul tires and see how they hold up - so far so good! Thanks any way. . . Jim

Originally Posted by Freedom

WMtire (is that for Wal-Mart tire?), I was not volunteering, I said we have tires we are happy with. I want to continue using the U-Haul tires and see how they hold up - so far so good! Thanks any way. . . Jim

Freedom, I had 2 private messages to the tire offer, which I was referring to. Kempert was so enthusiastic that I'm going to include them too, so we'll have 3 guinea pigs besides me. I understood you weren't volunteering.

I am interested in how your uhaul tires hold up. I usually sell bias ply tires for trailer applications instead of radials. One of my bigger reasons for this is curbing. A bias tire sidewall won't blow when you hit a curb, unlike a radial...due to the way the tire is constructed. A lot of times, with utility trailers, a driver may miss the road and hit the curb when turning. However, I think the trailmanor drivers are extremely more careful with their babies. The trade-off is a bias is a more stiffer ride than a radial, which I am wondering the longer term effects on the trailmanor from this. Does the trailmanor need a more cushioned flexible tire to help absorb road shocks and take pressure off the hold down mechanisms, latches, etc? I also know as light as these trailers are, that 50-65 psi is going to be a stiff ride regardless of radial or bias construction. More food for thought.

Wal_mart tire? Those are fighting words.

Well, I am sorry I didn't get on the board last nite and read these posts....I missed the bandwagon with those free tires.

wmtire: Many thanks for all of the info.......some really good infomation in your posts.

mtnguy

Well, it looks as if my question about other tire brands has sparked a 'Consumers Reports' type of testing. That is great! Wmtire, I think all of us on this board owe you a debt of gratitude for taking this problem in hand and seeing what is on the market that would be a better tire.
In my case, having a brand new TM (one month old) I am not prepared to go out and buy new tires at this time. I will do the mud guard mod for now, and just hope that I don't have any problems. I will, of course, watch those suckers (tires that is) extremely carefully. Thanks again.

Mike Anderson

wmtire, Sorry about the Wal-Mart thing, I was just joking. I forgot to put the LOL after it. I think what you're doing isn't only very generous, but a true act of kindness. Not many people around that would make an offer like that! Thanks, Jim

Been talking to several of my tire suppliers this morning about trailer tires, mainly about their adjustments for certain lines (this info is highly guarded by manufacturers so I'm asking distributors). One of my distributors, who I do trust their word somewhat, said they are having excellent success with the Power King Tow Max. Power King is just another brand name for TBC made tires, which can include Cordovan, Big O, Multi-Mile, and other branded tires.

Before I delve too hard into this brand, has anyone had experiences with them (good or bad). I have sold a few of this model, but not enough to make a recommendation. All the ones I have sold were the bias type instead of radials. I have never adjusted a bias one of this brand. Let me rephrase that. I have never been asked to adjust one.

Here is some info I found on the web for others to look at and compare.

http://www.tbcprivatebrands.com/cord...ine.asp?id=109

Originally Posted by Freedom

wmtire, Sorry about the Wal-Mart thing, I was just joking. I forgot to put the LOL after it. I think what you're doing isn't only very generous, but a true act of kindness. Not many people around that would make an offer like that! Thanks, Jim

Freedom, I took it all as a joke, and replied as such. Once everyone gets to know me, they'll see how much I like to joke and kid around with people. I did put a smiley face on the post, so you'd know I was joking back. Hopefully, everyone will pick with and at me. That's what makes it fun.

Just to clarify things a little bit, so everyone will know more about me, if you look at my profile. I live in West Monroe, Louisiana. Our town and high school is abbreviated WM. My business is West Monroe Tire Service, that I abbreviate down to WMTire, which I use for most forum names. This is my company logo. If it was bigger, you could read wmtire on the baseball cap. The green creature wearing the hat, behind the tire, is me. See my boots

[fcatwo]

wmtire

I checked out the Towmax picture and specs via the link you provided and noticed the specs are identical to Marathon specs which I remember from having looked at them so many times. I also just went out and looked at the tread on my recently installed New Zealand made Marathons and it appears to be the same as the Towmax. You don't suppose ???????.

Originally Posted by fcatwo

wmtire

I checked out the Towmax picture and specs via the link you provided and noticed the specs are identical to Marathon specs which I remember from having looked at them so many times. I also just went out and looked at the tread on my recently installed New Zealand made Marathons and it appears to be the same as the Towmax. You don't suppose ???????.

Oh Yeah, It's highly possible. TBC may make the Marathons for Goodyear or vice versa. Give me the first 2 digits after the word DOT off the sidewall, and I can look it up, to see who and where the tires are manufactured.

We sell a lot of Hankook brand tires. They make some real good ones. Several years ago, I was having a problem getting 235/85/16 Hankook tires, so I started buying some Uniroyals from another distributor.. I was glancing at the tread on the uniroyals, and thought how similar they were to the hankooks and pulled the DOT number. Guess what, Hankook built these particular Uniroyals. I jumped on the phone, questioning my hankook salesman as to why they would build the competitions tires for them, and not produce enough of their own to supply their own dealer network. His answer was simple enough----MONEY.

When Hankook (or any other manufacturer) builds another brands tires, they usually get paid immediately for them upon delivery, or even prepaid. They don't have to wait until the tires are shipped to their warehouses, wait till dealers like me order them, and then wait 30-60 days for dealers like me to pay for them per their credit terms. They also don't warranty the other brands tires. It quickens their cash flow considerably. I don't agree with this, because I still believe they are helping the competition too much, but strangely enough, these company execs don't confer with me, Hmmm. Another thing that isn't public knowledge, is who specs the tire. A lot of time, the manufacturer isn't who decides the specifications, for another brands tires, but the one having the tire made does. Some brands will spec a tire to be excellent, while some may spec it with as cheap as possible materials. JUst knowing that a good company manufactured the tire, doesn't mean they manufactured it to their good specifications.

Also since that time, Michelin (who owns Uniroyal) bought a 10% stake in Hankook. Currently Hankook build several tires that have Michelin, BF Goodrich, and the Uniroyal names on it. Now you know. Just because it has a certain name on it, doesn't mean that's who manufactured it. It's a crazy world we live in.

If you can Fcatwo, please send me the DOT numbers on the marathons. I'm curious.

[fcatwo]

wmtire

My Marathons are DOT V08K 2JJ4 (1206) & Made in New Zealand. I assume the last four digits means they were made in the 12th week of 06.