Collateral Damage

[BCDave]

If/when you blow a tire, look for collateral damage on your rig

Last year when we grenaded one of the Goodyear Marathon Timebombs we took out all the black plastic piping for the sewer system, putting the contents of out grey and black tanks all over the highway (and the front of the van behind us!)

When another Marathon did the usual Goodyear thing this year, it ripped off the wiring to the rear axle for the trailer brakes.

I did not know that until I was repacking bearings and adjsuting brakes - could not get the back ones to come in. Non-contact thermometer showed front axle brake temps at 125* after a stop, while rear axle brake temps were in the 88* range (Ambient temp)

Crawl under again and voila! So a little wiring fixing, and cover all the new joins with liquid electrical tape with shrink wrap over that - now all four wheels read within 10* of each other, in the 100* range, even after repeated stops.

Don't assume that the tire was the only casualty!

[Byron Kinnaman]

Reduce your chances of a blowout by replacing your tires every 5 to 6 years and not under inflating them.

[BCDave]

The Badyear Marathons were about a year old. They had been put on the trailer about 8 months before I picked it up in Texas last Aug First. First grenade went off in Idaho on the way home. Second one blew up on the way to the NOG this spring.

All have now been replaced with "Les Schwab House Brands"

If I had known about them in April, I would have gotten the Kumho 857's, but, although that info was on this site, it is kept hidden more securely than the NORAD plans.

ON EDIT: I forgot to say that the Badyear grenades were always run at the max shown on the sidewall - 65 psi, but they just cannot take being driven at the speed limit!

The point is - regardless of the cause of the ka-boom, always check for any collateral damage that the shredding tire may have caused

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by BCDave

The Badyear Marathons were about a year old. They had been put on the trailer about 8 months before I picked it up in Texas last Aug First. First grenade went off in Idaho on the way home. Second one blew up on the way to the NOG this spring.

All have now been replaced with "Les Schwab House Brands"

If I had known about them in April, I would have gotten the Kumho 857's, but, although that info was on this site, it is kept hidden more securely than the NORAD plans.

ON EDIT: I forgot to say that the Badyear grenades were always run at the max shown on the sidewall - 65 psi, but they just cannot take being driven at the speed limit!

The point is - regardless of the cause of the ka-boom, always check for any collateral damage that the shredding tire may have caused

The better point is to NOT, I REPEAT NOT, exceed manufacture's specifications. Goodyear clearly states maximum speed 65mph.
I have a big problem with incomplete information and bad mouthing a company when specifications are ignored then something bad happens. Fess up to exceeding manufacture's specifications when something happens instead of leading people astray.

[rabbit]

In addition to the tire speed rating and the tug tow wgt. limit, there's also the tug manuf.'s towing speed limit. So there I am ten mph over the tug maker's speed limit and 10 under the average interstate limit in the CONUS. I've learned to maintain the double nickel whether I like it or not; the rest of em can do their own damn driving. As my daddy said, hell ain't even half full, so if they get there first, so much the better!

jack

[BCDave]

Once again - we are WAY off topic! The topic is: When you have a flat tire, check for what else it took out!

Some folks may go all their lives sans a blowout, some will get one or more every year (or every trip!). That's not the point. The point is - when it happens, don't just change the tire and assume that everything is now perfect!

The fact that I personally refuse to accept substandard equipment as being "normal" has nothing to do with the topic!

[Daniel A.]

Had you wanted to stay on topic making libelous comments about Goodyear is a poor way to start.
I use those tires and run above the speed rating problem free.
I may change on the next set and go with the Kumho 857's

I run at 50 psi not wanting to exceed what pressure the wheel is rated at.

[floyd]

Apologies to those who have already read the deleted portion of this comment... After some reflection I saw the futility of the premise.

Oh well, I only suggest that we should go ahead and educate ourselves by hearing all sides, then trust in the readers ability to make up their own minds in the process of separating the wheat from the chaff. (It actually works pretty well)

[steve dunham]

Am I to understand you correctly that if I inflate any trailer tire to spec and drive at the tires rated speed a tire blow out is impossible? That defies the rules of logic.You are presuming that anyone who has a tire failure is always the cause of the failure by under inflating the tire or exceeding the speed rating of the tire. I find that hard to believe . I know of no manufacturer who has achieved zero defects across their whole product line , even when they are ISO compliant. Products are defective by design or by manufacturing procedure all the time

[floyd]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

Am I to understand you correctly that if I inflate any trailer tire to spec and drive at the tires rated speed a tire blow out is impossible? That defies the rules of logic.You are presuming that anyone who has a tire failure is always the cause of the failure by under inflating the tire or exceeding the speed rating of the tire. I find that hard to believe . I know of no manufacturer who has achieved zero defects across their whole product line , even when they are ISO compliant. Products are defective by design or by manufacturing procedure all the time

Makes sense to me!

[rabbit]

"Products are defective by design or by manufacturing procedure all the time."

This statement may very well be proof of Floyd's contention that wading thru the anecdotal and circumstantial is a satisfactory way to deal with internet advice and recs. Let's say poor old Goodyear's blowout problem were design or manuf. defect dependent. If the defect was corrected or the design changed, the performance and longevity of Marathon trailer tires might improve. And might go south again at some future date. Presumably Kumho or Maxxis could experience the same cycle. So let's hope there are up cycles as well as down and that the chronology of what folks are telling us matches their own recent experience and not what they heard ten yrs. ago.

jack

[BigLew]

Thank you Dave for the advice on the tires and reminding us to always check for any collateral damage that the shredding tire/tires may have caused. That advice could very well save lives.
Also.....
Dave's advice was no different than picking between Ford & Chevy. I know that by reading everyones preferences on here, it really helps me in my research for the best products. Will I be careful in choosing the right tires after reading this post, you betcha!
Have a great Monday everyone!

[gmw photos]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

The better point is to NOT, I REPEAT NOT, exceed manufacture's specifications. Goodyear clearly states maximum speed 65mph.
I have a big problem with incomplete information and bad mouthing a company when specifications are ignored then something bad happens. Fess up to exceeding manufacture's specifications when something happens instead of leading people astray.

Goodyear actually states on their website that you can run Marathons at up to 75 mph if you inflate them to 10 psi over the max stated on the sidewall.
However they do state that you still must stay within the tires load rating as far as weight, and must also of course stay within the psi rating of the wheel which is stated by the wheel manufacturer.
You can search the goodyear site to find this info if you want to read it. Somewhere here, I may have saved the link, but I'd have to dig for it.

And to Dave's point, for sure, we need to look closely under the trailer anytime a tire comes apart. More than one RV has had things like propane lines destroyed by the the shrapnel of a disintegrating tire. Some folks like to drive down the road with their propane on so they can run their fridge.....that would be scary to be dumping the contents of the propane tank as you come to a halt with smoking hot tire debris ! I choose the 'chicken' route on that......I always have the propane valves closed while rolling. But that is going off topic....

george

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

Am I to understand you correctly that if I inflate any trailer tire to spec and drive at the tires rated speed a tire blow out is impossible? That defies the rules of logic.You are presuming that anyone who has a tire failure is always the cause of the failure by under inflating the tire or exceeding the speed rating of the tire. I find that hard to believe . I know of no manufacturer who has achieved zero defects across their whole product line , even when they are ISO compliant. Products are defective by design or by manufacturing procedure all the time

I agree that zero defects is an almost impossible to attain. However the odds of failure are greatly increased when specifications are ignored as was the case here.

People get struck by lightning in own home, rare but it happens. The rules of say that there is no such thing as impossible. So if you assumed that's what I was saying you're wrong.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by rabbit

"Products are defective by design or by manufacturing procedure all the time."

This statement may very well be proof of Floyd's contention that wading thru the anecdotal and circumstantial is a satisfactory way to deal with internet advice and recs. Let's say poor old Goodyear's blowout problem were design or manuf. defect dependent. If the defect was corrected or the design changed, the performance and longevity of Marathon trailer tires might improve. And might go south again at some future date. Presumably Kumho or Maxxis could experience the same cycle. So let's hope there are up cycles as well as down and that the chronology of what folks are telling us matches their own recent experience and not what they heard ten yrs. ago.

jack

Carlisle has made great improvements in performance and longevity, yet many still cling to the "Logan's Run" method. As for my contentions, I just wonder if my point would have been even further clarified had I left in the rest of my comment.....NAH!

[RogerDat]

Dave, recommended product section fell apart because there is a diversity of opinions and no one wanted the job of posting a consensus of viewpoints that will make everyone happy. Your idea was not shot down, it was discussed and dropped, partly because people got their undies in a twist discussing even a couple of products.

Byron I wish you would not call anyone a fool, your generally very generous with your help and advice. As is Dave. Not agreeing is not a reason to be disagreeable.

We drive different, we use different criteria as to what is important. We don't help each other, or anyone using the forum by getting on each others case. Or change each others minds.

We all love our eggs, no point in being hard on each other. Norm has pretty much stopped posting because of the satisifaction of sharing ideas was not worth the grief. Would hate to lose you two over the same situation.
Make love not war

[honda03842]

Much angst over a rather simple topic - tires. Each of us should post our experiences, and not just the bad ones.

Someone buys a trailer with used tires from a stranger, drives them at legal but higher than most trailer speeds, and the tires blowout.

Is Goodyear at fault? Maybe and maybe not.

We've used Goodyear tires on all three of our trailers, carefully inflate them to their normal maximum, check them reqularly at each stop, watch their pressure and temperature while driving, drive them at reasonable speeds, never have anybody give us the finger or toot angrily at us (we always pull over for high speed or working vehicles and usually get a freindly toot or wink of the lights).

Our Goodyears have never failed, no flats, no blowouts and many, many miles thru all of North America towed happily by our, as others say, 'underpowered' Honda CRV.

Our site is a destination for our experiences. Others can choose to use our shared experiences as they see fit.

Anger is not apporpriate but differences should be read and considered with out feeling threatened but rather as a broadening experience.

[RogerDat]

I personally don't mind getting a different opinion or when someone such as yourself weighs in with related information that might shed light on a subject. Contrary light or not.

I also appreciate the OP as being a thoughtful reminder to check for other damage after a blow out, which can happen due to road hazard damage even to the best tire with proper maint. at any highway speed.

After religion (in the middle east perhaps) tire opinions tend to get people fired up. And your right to keep a sense of humor about it. It's not like none of us have ever banged our thumb and cussed at the hammer.

I would enjoy a post where people simply gave the details of how they drive (speed and how many miles they have driven over what period of time), what tire they use on what size of rig (weight and double vs single axle)

Then simply say if they would give it 1 - 5 stars. Then people could pick what is best based on their needs and driving habits.

If your requirements are like Dave drives then give more weight to his experience, if your usage is more like Norms then his observations would be of more value.

Probably just start a flame war.

Heck I don't drive the limit on the interstate in my car, and find just under the speed limit everyone just passes me so I spend most of my time with a big chunk empty highway around me until the next pack of cars running bumper to bumper catch up.

[web3221]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

This forum is filled misinformation and misleading information, most of the time I laugh at it. I know that people will get upset if I call it. Once again I need to just laugh it off and forget it.

yes byron, your method of communication with dave, was inappropriate in the way you presented it, try leaving those traits at work or church, lighten up a bit. i say this cause i have been there more times than i want to remember...

i am new here, but the advice about collateral damage was something i would not have thought of, unless "of course", i saw all the CACA that was hit by the FAN/tire, and then attacked the other vehicles.

good night

[cpaharley2008]

closing down the thread, too much name calling