Who makes the BEST Tires?

[DanMurphy]

I am in the process of putting on a new axle on my 1980 Scamp. The old Axle ate tires like they were White Castle Hamburgers! So i am about to enter a brave new world and I will need tires to go with it. I have have good luck with Carlisle Radials and terrible performance from Discount Tires Bias Ply Cheapies- more to follow on that- So heres my question: Who make the best trailer tire (13") and about how many miles do you get on a set of them? How good are the Goodyear Marathons? I have a Galaxy brand that seems good but its its only got 1500 on it. I am sold on radials.
Waddya all think?

[Donna D.]

Dan, BEST is subjective. AND, there could be a great brand of tire only available through certain dealers on the east coast, or Canada, etc.

I'm running Marathons... and I know some members have had trouble with them... just not me... knock on wood. What I didn't do, was spend the extra money on the spare. So, my suggestion is to spend as much as you can on the two tires, and just make sure the spare is good enough to get you to a tire store!

[Pete Dumbleton]

Nobody knows anymore; apparently a lot of companies are switching to China (Goodyear Marathons now made there). Saw Carlisles in Wally the other day in two sizes and they said 'Made in U.S.A.'. Folks on BulgeMobile groups like Maxxis. Folks on Casita group were recommending Kumhos (sp?). I'd be inclined to spend a little extra and get ST radials (and higher-rated stems).

[Chester Taje]

Just a point----I have seen tires which looked perfectly good, but had to be changed due to rot starting. Lots of trailer tires never see enough road travel to wear them out while traveling.

[BobB]

It is difficult to know why some folks have tire problems. Our Bigfoot has 5 year old Marathons and they are fine. The tires were made in Canada, just like the trailer. Be sure to look at load rating, warranty, reputation of the company, date of manufacture, etc before you buy. Tire problems are often factory specific and may be limited to a certain time period. Tires are often discounted for a reason, so stay away from the cheapest ones. There is a lot of advice about tires on the forums, but no general agreement as to the best.

[Per Walthinsen]

I've had good results with DURO tires. They seem to be a quality product.

There seems to be few choices out there.

[rudock1]

I bought a pair of 13" Duro DS2100 radial trailer "special tires" here:
http://www.tiresunlimited.com/ALL%20TIRES/...er_tires_ST.htm

ST175/80R13 LRC

I also had them mounted on steel wheels and asked for metal valve stems, no probems.

I don't have more than a 100 miles on them but they look good so far.

[Maggie S.]

Hi -- I'm sure glad someone else asked this question!

Two weeks ago we had a tire and rim go out on us, after going over a railroad track, into the state park on our 1st outing of the spring.

This was a scary experince, but we are thankful that we were going slow and not on the highway. As none of the tires stores there had our kind of tires and rims in stock, we made it home on the spare.

Since then I have been researching trailer tires and have been very concerned about all the negative reports on trailer tires on this forum and others. I want something safe for our family!

I 1st wanted to get Maxxis, but it is not sold locally, and I really wanted to shop local, although one can order them from the company online.

Just this morning, I ordered Denman tires from a local independant tire store ($76 each-out the door), as I have not seen many negative reports on them. My next choice would have been the Duro brand.

I asked for metal valves, and I would have liked to get them filled with nitrogen (as they would run cooler) but the tire shop dosen't have that yet.

So, I just thought I'd share the process I've been going through and would like to know if anyone has good/bad to say about Denman tires or any other tips, as I won't have them installed until Saturday.

Thanks, Maggie

PS Do a search with Goodyear or Marathon and you will find a lot of the older postings relating to tires including general info and not just that brand. You'll find more info than just searching tires.

[Ron N]

Marathon. That is what comes stock on Bigfoot TTs. IMHO, considering the importance of tires, they wouldn't put crap on their very expensive trailers.

[Pete Dumbleton]

The older postings on Goodyear Marathon may be useless because reportedly Goodyear has moved the Marathon production to overseas plants.

[Roger H]

Unfortunately it's very difficult to determine exactly why a tire fails at speed. I still suspect that many of the "tire failures" reported are actually the result of a tire valve stem failure, or sidewall failure from running at speed with insufficient tire pressures. I have taken to putting steel valve stems on my tires; especially trailer and motorhome tires.

Roger

[Bigfoot Mike]

There was a Law Suit for tire failure. It was determined that tires over Six years old, rot from the inside and can give a blow out. So even though the tire looks good and has good tread, it could be going bad.

The problem with this is you have no idea how long it has sat in a warehouse. The DOT code gives a good idea though.

On the DOT number, there are four sets of numbers. The date code is the last four numbers of the four sets. The first two numbers in that last set is the week it was made. The second two numbers is the year. So a number of DOT xxxx xxxx xxxx 1502 was made the 15th week in the year of 2002. (Third week of April ’02)

As Rog said, low pressure causes heat build up and can result in tire failure. Side walls blow.

[DanMurphy]

There was a Law Suit for tire failure. It was determined that tires over Six years old, rot from the inside and can give a blow out. So even though the tire looks good and has good tread, it could be going bad.

The problem with this is you have no idea how long it has sat in a warehouse. The DOT code gives a good idea though.

On the DOT number, there are four sets of numbers. The date code is the last four numbers of the four sets. The first two numbers in that last set is the week it was made. The second two numbers is the year. So a number of DOT xxxx xxxx xxxx 1502 was made the [b]15th week in the year of 20[b]02. (Third week of April '02)

As Rog said, low pressure causes heat build up and can result in tire failure. Side walls blow.

I have been to the Discount Tire store today and in a convoluted way I bought two Goodyear Marathons. In Santa Fe I asked to purchase two radial tires and they put on terrible bias ply that only lasted about 3,000 miles-at the store I specifically asked if they were radials because they were not labeled with an R on their size: 175 80D13 and the sales person said yes-either he did not know his businees or he did not tell the truth. Back home in Minnesota I went to the Discount Tire store in Stillwater- explained my frustration about the quality of the product and the Assistant Manager bought my two crappy tires back, informing me that they were in fact bias ply, and I used that money toward the aforementioned Marathons. My felling about Discount tire have turned 180 degrees.
The local trailer mechanic recommended the Marathons. He was not too fond of the Carlisles but he was not specific.
I am stoked to see how the Goodyear product holds up.

[Greg A]

I bought a pair of 13" Duro DS2100 radial trailer "special tires" here:
http://www.tiresunlimited.com/ALL%20TIRES/...er_tires_ST.htm

[b]ST175/80R13 LRC

I also had them mounted on steel wheels and asked for metal valve stems, no probems.

I don't have more than a 100 miles on them but they look good so far.

Which rim did you get? And what bolt pattern?

[rudock1]

Which rim did you get? And what bolt pattern?

Hi Greg,

Rim: Carlisle white eight spoke "wagon" wheels design, 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern (for Dexter #9 wheel)
http://www.tiresunlimited.com/images/carli...sle%20Spoke.jpg
http://www.tiresunlimited.com/trailer_wheels.htm

(chrome lug nuts and cap shown in picture not included)

[Greg Conly]

Hey Ches,
What came on your Escape?
Did it come with metal valve stems, although I am not sure why this is important?

Just a point----I have seen tires which looked perfectly good, but had to be changed due to rot starting. Lots of trailer tires never see enough road travel to wear them out while traveling.

[Chester Taje]

Hey Ches,
What came on your Escape?
Did it come with metal valve stems, although I am not sure why this is important?

Rubber Stems---Good Year Marathons

[DanMurphy]

I am in the process of putting on a new axle on my 1980 Scamp. The old Axle ate tires like they were White Castle Hamburgers! So i am about to enter a brave new world and I will need tires to go with it. I have have good luck with Carlisle Radials and terrible performance from Discount Tires Bias Ply Cheapies- more to follow on that- So heres my question: Who make the best trailer tire (13") and about how many miles do you get on a set of them? How good are the Goodyear Marathons? I have a Galaxy brand that seems good but its its only got 1500 on it. I am sold on radials.
Waddya all think?

I looked at my six ply Marathons and they say 4 ply 2 steel +2 nylon sidewall. 2 ply for the tread
I called Goodyear and there are no six ply 13" trailer tires. Only 4 ply. The tires are load range C and that is as heavy as they get. Tires made in China. Who knows more about this?

[Casita Greg]

Boy, this thread has been interesting to follow, regarding Goodyear Marathons. It seems that most people on this site seem to be happy with them, but it is not so on the Casita Travel Trailer forum. There is a general mistrust and many recounted horror stories posted about tire failures, mostly associated with Carlisle and Marathon tires. Well worth reading through if you are seriously interested in tire performance (or lack thereof).
There are some pretty scary accounts of problems posted there. Just my personal take, FWIW, is I wouldn't use either Carlisles or Marathons based on what I've read. Lots of input there, well worth perusing.
Happy travels!

[Pete Dumbleton]

What apparently happened in the RV world was that Carlisle had a really bad run of tires (don't know why; prior to that they had a good reputation), so everyone stampeded to Marathons. Then Marathons got a bad rep. Now, Marathons are being made overseas, so the plants are different and who knows about the tires. I believe the same stories would be in the archives of this group if it hadn't been hacked.

BTW, the number of plies is no longer valid, which is why most will say "...ply rated". The key term is the Load Range.