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Old 06-14-2006, 11:02 AM   #1
Bill
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Default Another (!) tire failure

On our way from Yellowstone to Maine last week, we had a tire failure on I-90, just south of Pierre, South Dakota. This is third failure of a Goodyear Marathon that we have had in about 25,000 miles of TM'ing, and I admit I'm getting really tired of it.

In this case, it was the curbside tire that failed. The tread simply peeled off and disintegrated. On the way out, it beat up the underside of the TM, put big black marks on both the inner and outer walls of the shells, destroyed the white plastic wheel-opening cover, bent one of the main hold-down latches, tore up a bag seal, and jammed chunks of disintegrated tread between the shells, and between the shells and the body. The wheel well liner stayed intact, so there was no damage inside except some big black marks on the wall in the area of the wardrobe. But if the roadside tire had failed, I'm sure it would have taken out the plumbing, as Wayne described in another thread.

The failure happened at about noon (killing the rest of the day, of course). The wheel/tire had been balanced before installation, I had checked the tire pressure that morning, and I had checked the temperature (with my hand) about an hour before the incident. Because of the previous failures, I have been extra-careful about weight and speed - in this case, I was driving 65 mph on a good road, and the TM weight was well within specs, as measured on a scale. So I'm mystified.

We drove into Pierre to the Goodyear store for a replacement. The clerk made an interesting comment - I will check it out with the Goodyear factory, and report back to the group. He said "What they don't tell you is that if you run the tires at the rated speed (65 mph), then you have to derate the load capacity by 10%." Has anybody else heard this? The pair of tires is listed at 3750 pounds, so deducting 375 pounds leaves a "real" rating of 3375 pounds. Since this is just a squidge more than the weight of my loaded TM, there is no margin.

So anyway, after three failures, I am going to lobby the TM factory for two things.
1. There should be a "skid plate" of some kind under the TM on the curbside behind the wheel, and a protective barrier in front of the plumbing on the roadside.
2. TM really needs to move to a 15" load range D tire. There is simply not enough margin in the 14" load range C tires. In my lifetime, I've driven at least half a million miles in various cars, and never had a catastrophic tire failure. Three failures in 25,000 miles would have been expected in 1935, but is simply not acceptable today.

On a related note, changing the tire was easy. I carry a 4-ton bottle jack, so I simply jacked up the TM as far as the jack would take it, lowered the stabilizers to support it, then lowered the jack, put blocks under it, and jacked it up some more until I reached the required height. My TM has the 2" lift kit, which made it possible to remove and replace the tire without opening the shells.

And finally, I am pleased to report (again) that the TM handled perfectly with a blowout. There was a lot of noise, but no tendency to sway or to drag the tow vehicle sideways. I attribute this to the same design considerations that make the TM so sway-resistant under normal conditions. Nice job, TM!

Bill
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Old 06-14-2006, 12:48 PM   #2
B_and_D
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I think it would be a great idea to put some kind of a barrier behind the tires to keep from damaging the plumbing, etc. We also had a blowout on the curb side, and it tore a good-sized chunk out of the material under the trailer behind the wheelwell. I can definitely see how easy it would be to have the plumbing behind the driver's side damaged with a similar blowout. The sheet metal inside the wheel well (that we installed when we did the wheel well mod) got kind of banged up, but remained intact.

Glad you are OK.
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Old 06-14-2006, 02:24 PM   #3
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I was planning on replacing the factory 14 inch Marathon’s on my 2002 TM before my next trip. They look great, but I understand age is an important factor and they should be replaced even if they don’t have cracks or signs of wear.

Now I am wondering if I should get Marathons? Is there something better? If I buy new wheels and tires will 15” ones fit?

Jim
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Old 06-14-2006, 05:52 PM   #4
Senorsedona
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Thumbs down Tires

I've had Marathons on several of my new RV's. Nothing but problems & most GoodYears stores are of no help.
I replace them with some kind of better tire. On my last 5th wheel I ended up putting ALL steel belted tires on. Never had another problem. In a few weeks I will start searching for the same in a 15 inch tire.

Here's hoping we can find a good answer.

Jack
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Old 06-14-2006, 06:34 PM   #5
Doug W.
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That is a shame Bill. Looking at the tire charts, I see what you mean. My wife wanted a 2720SL, but I wanted 3023. I am happened to find a good deal on a used 3124KS. She got the slider she wanted and I got the heavier axle I wanted. Looking at the tire charts, the larger tires are a better reason to get the 323 or larger. Bill is definately right, there is a much better load reserve with the larger tires.
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Old 06-14-2006, 07:27 PM   #6
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After a blow out last year when our trailer was new (to us) we replaced with Titan Radial ST ll. Anyone have experience with these tires?
Cheri
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Old 06-14-2006, 08:19 PM   #7
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good question. I guess Titan does . Big O tires did not have what we needed so they ordered special. They have a web site. www.titanstore.com.
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Old 06-14-2006, 08:38 PM   #8
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If you go to their web site there is a dealer locator. They are based in Ill. but they seem to be sold all over the US. There's a pdf file with 21 places in Texas. There were tons of them in California.
Not cheap though. They were $75.99 each. Hope that means they're good
Cheri
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Old 06-14-2006, 08:43 PM   #9
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I was just reading the "heritage" of the company. Take a look at it. I hated to see Goodyear and Firestones names pop up in there. Hard to know what you're buying sometimes.
Cheri
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Old 06-14-2006, 11:39 PM   #10
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Last fall I had a problem on the passenger side tire. Luckily it happened in the campsite before I reached the gate. I heard a rubbing and stopped and looked underneath. There was a big bubble on the inside sidewall. The bubble burst as I got off the road to a place I could change the tire, but the tire did not go down. This was a Marathon tire, load C, 5 years old, and the sidewall layers had separated and some air had gotten in between while the TM was parked - guess i was lucky this did not happen on the road.
I replaced all the Marathons with Tow-Master ST tires (made in Canada according to the info on them). Been OK so far, but only a few hundred miles on them.

When I changed the tires I also did the round wheel well mod.

Paul
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