Goodyear Marathon tires

[Quiroule]

Someone told me that the Goodyear Marathon tires are now made back in USA. Can anyone confirm that?

[RdRmr]

Quiroule,

The last set of four that I purchased in Feb. 2010 were made in the USA, all with a manufacture date of 3509. The ones I had prior to that were China. Can't say for sure today though. Will be looking for a new set in a couple months, over twenty thousand miles on these ones so far. No issues. Keep your speed down and don't overload em.
One thing I have noticed is that all trailer tires from China have one less ply. They have only one nylon ply on the tread. My USA Marathons have two polyester, two steel, two nylon on the tread and two polyester on the side wall. Load range D. Ten ply rating, how they determine that, I'm not sure. Have never found any info the tire manufacturers use as a base line.
Even the Maxxis 8008s are short one ply, friend of mine just bought a set. Time will tell. They are supposed to be the hot ticket right now. Hope this helps. Happy Campin..

[Festus2]

The Maxxis 8008's that are on our 5th have 1 nylon ply rating on the tread but 2 poly and 2 steel on the tread plus 2 ply sidewall. Is this what you mean by being "short one ply"? (1 instead of 2 nylon on the tread)

[Festus2]

Quiroule -

According to one online source, "Goodyear tires are made in 10 plants in the USA and Canada, plus in many other countries in South America, Africa, Europe, Australia and Asia". After some searching on the Internet, I couldn't find anything specific about Goodyear Marathons but they could be manufactured in the US according to the very "worldly and all inclusive statement above. Seems like they could be made anywhere, China included --- - except Antarctica.

[RdRmr]

The Marathons I have, have six ply's on the tread and two on the side wall. All the China tires I've seen are all short one nylon ply on the tread, only five total. How they can get a ten ply rating, "D" load range with five or six actual tread ply's is beyond me.

[Parks Traveler]

I just purchased a 2011 High Country 313RE with PowerKing Towmax STR tires. ST 235/80R16. How can I determine if they are made in China?

[Festus2]

RdRmr - You can now also include the non Chinese-made Maxxis 8008's which are made in Thailand as having "one less ply". Mine are E-rated. Does this mean that my Maxxis tires are one ply short of a full load?

Parks Traveler - If you look on the sidewall, you might get lucky and see the country of manufacture there. Chances are your PowerKing Towmax tire is made in China. It's almost impossible to find an OE RV trailer tire that isn't made there.

[RdRmr]

Festus2,

Good one about the full load. :D Can't say for sure if one less ply is better or not, need to know how they figure them. Anyway, here is a site that lets you know where your tires were made if you have the code molded into the sidewall of your tires. www.harriger.com/tires.htm
The code on all four of my Marathons is MDHH which according to the list are made in Alabama. Where is this code? On the sidewall just behind the letters DOT and before your manufactured date code.
Just returned from Carson City NV. a few weeks ago and the outside ambient temperature was 112º down US395 through the Mojave desert, kept a close eye on the tires but no issues. Happy Campin....

[CWtheMan]

I just purchased a 2011 High Country 313RE with PowerKing Towmax STR tires. ST 235/80R16. How can I determine if they are made in China?

Here is an informative reference from a tire expert. Barry is known on internet forums as CapriRacer.

http://www.barrystiretech.com/dotcoding.html

And here is a list of plant codes.

http://www.harriger.com/tires.htm


CW

[CWtheMan]

When researching tires I often use the Tire Rack reference listed below. They show the country of origin of all their tires in stock. Just click on the specs and look at the column on the far right.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Marathon+Radial

CW

[mamestra]

The Marathons on my 2012 Montana were made in China and the tire code showed that they were made in 2012.

[Jim Dow]

The Power King tires are definitely made in China; and they are referred to as "China Bombs". When I purchased my 2011 Montana High Country I searched and searched to find trailer tires made in the US and/or Canada. There are NONE.

I purchased Marathon tires made in Taiwan as replacements for the Power Kings - Hoping against hope that the BF Goodrich name meant something in terms of quality.

So far, I have not been disappointed.

[Quiroule]

Well, seems they are still made in China. Herk

[JimDogs]

Holy crap! I was doing research on my, new to me, trailer and tires. I have a trip upcoming of some 1100 miles and was wondering if my Goodyear marathons were a good tire when I read of checking the date codes and I found that mine were made in June of GASP! 2007!!! It is now July 2015, so these must be the original tires on my 2007 Cougar! guess what I'm doing TODAY!!! This is why I love these forums, you can learn stuff before it becomes deadly. Thanks to everyone that contributes.

[CWtheMan]

The Maxxis 8008's that are on our 5th have 1 nylon ply rating on the tread but 2 poly and 2 steel on the tread plus 2 ply sidewall. Is this what you mean by being "short one ply"? (1 instead of 2 nylon on the tread)

I guess I missed this the first time around. The Nylon is what is referred to as an "overlay". Some tire manufactures also use a wedge and others use the overlay. It's purpose is to slow down the normal process of tread to carcass cracking (tread separation). Not all ST tires have such preventative measures. Maxxis only have them on 15" & 16" tires.

http://www.tire-recall-lawyer-source.com/cooper_treadseperation.html

[1jeep]

my previous trailer came within Chinese tires back in 07, the dealer swapped them out when I bought the trailer and installed marabombs! Yes, one summer I lost 3 tires 2 on the same trip and took the side off the trailer. I then switched to maxxis, which were made in Thailand, better I don't know...I only know they last 5 years with no issues before trading for our new trailer.
Yes, the new one came with some odd brand chines' tire but what do you replace them with....seems nothing is made here and they all seem to have issues.

[CWtheMan]

my previous trailer came within Chinese tires back in 07, the dealer swapped them out when I bought the trailer and installed marabombs! Yes, one summer I lost 3 tires 2 on the same trip and took the side off the trailer. I then switched to maxxis, which were made in Thailand, better I don't know...I only know they last 5 years with no issues before trading for our new trailer.
Yes, the new one came with some odd brand chines' tire but what do you replace them with....seems nothing is made here and they all seem to have issues.

With the ST235/80R16E tires I suspect Keystone has set your axles GAWRs at something around 6765# ea (look at the certification label for that info). All ST tires degrade pretty fast so in your shoes I’d never trust them (any brand) beyond two years of service..

Does your owner’s manual offer the option to go up to the LRG tires? It’s probably going to be your best option. For the steel cased option you also need rims 16x6.5 rated for 3750# at 110 psi.

[bridge4d]

Just purchased a Goodyear Marathon today as a replacement for a stock TrailerKing that had a nail in it causing a slow leak (really slow). The Dot code is 2V...Shandong Province. Oh well.

On a side note I've probably got more than 10K mile on the TrailerKing's...which were made in Shandong as well.

[mazboy123]

and what is your question?

Montana owners generally get rid of their marathons and buy G rated tires, usually G614 good year.

good luck on your tires, I couldn't find what your trailers weighted....

[bridge4d]

And fast forward 1 year, this is what happened to one of my OEM Trailer King tires this past weekend while heading out of San Antonio on I-10. I looked out my rearview mirror and saw all types of stuff coming out of my wheel well and then my tire pressure monitor went off. I've got an appointment tomorrow to replace the remaining 3 Trailer King tires. After that, I'll be trying to figure out how to patch the hole in my wheel well.:banghead:

[bobbecky]

When ordering a trailer with the optional G614 tires, they use the same 6 inch wide wheel, that is rated 110 psi and 3750 lbs, and they work just fine. We have had the G614s for several years on our 6 inch wheels with excellent service. Just be sure to get the all metal high pressure stems.

[CWtheMan]

The Marathons I have, have six ply's on the tread and two on the side wall. All the China tires I've seen are all short one nylon ply on the tread, only five total. How they can get a ten ply rating, "D" load range with five or six actual tread ply's is beyond me.

Because of the rating system.

[sourdough]

And fast forward 1 year, this is what happened to one of my OEM Trailer King tires this past weekend while heading out of San Antonio on I-10. I looked out my rearview mirror and saw all types of stuff coming out of my wheel well and then my tire pressure monitor went off. I've got an appointment tomorrow to replace the remaining 3 Trailer King tires. After that, I'll be trying to figure out how to patch the hole in my wheel well.:banghead:

Looks almost identical to what happened to my Trailer King; going on 3rd summer. I guess it just wasn't meant to last more than 2:banghead: Good choice in dumping them. If you still can, get the manufacture code off the side and see where in China they were made.

[bridge4d]

Looks almost identical to what happened to my Trailer King; going on 3rd summer. I guess it just wasn't meant to last more than 2:banghead: Good choice in dumping them. If you still can, get the manufacture code off the side and see where in China they were made.

Shandong province in China.

[CraigB]

We have a 2013 Montana that came with Marathons. After 3 years of short trips we retired in April and hit the road. After 4 months and 3k miles I have blown 3 of them. Never gave the 4th one a chance. Replaced with SAMSON GL 285 T "G" rated 14 ply tires. Marathons should not be on anything heavier than 10K GVWR IF AT ALL! I don't care where they're made, until Goodyear changes the specs they'll still be crap.
Just to be clear...Knowing that they were marginal, I checked the pressure and checked for bubbles or separation prior to each trip. Shame on the RV industry for using marginal parts like these tires and letting Norcold and Domestic get away with their lack of quality refers.

[gearhead]

Little Mom & Pop tire store here in town highly recommended the SAMSON. Said the hot shot guys pulling big goosenecks like them. The SAMSON website ain't much.
Let us know how you like them later...

[sourdough]

Shandong province in China.


My failure, JRTJH's failures and many others if I recall originate with the tires made in Shandong province. How do we dodge this? I don't know. I have made a personal decision that a Trailer King/Power King etc. tire will not be on any trailer I own or anything else made in Shandong province. Don't know that will eliminate the problem but it appears it would surely help.