Swapping out BlowMaxx's

[mazboy123]

just spend the money and get G614s.

marathons are crap, look at the montana forum and you'll see the complaints!

just call around and get the best price, what's the big deal?

[bsmith0404]

What ever you decide on, make sure your rims can handle them. I looked at G rated tires, but my rims were not rated for the PSI required. I have nearly 12k lbs on my axles, although an E rated tire may be sufficient, I wanted to step up. I went with the Carlisle F range rated for 3960 lbs each at 95 psi. Gained 440 lbs capacity per tire so 1760 lbs total carrying capacity, about 4k lbs (1k per tire) more than what I'm actually putting on them. I feel much better with that kind of safety margin, especially as the tires start to lose their original capacity as they age.

As for Marathons, they USED to be one of the best tires you could put on a trailer. Not 100% sure what changed (heard they moved manufacturing to China), but in the last 5-6 years they seem to have come under the same fire as the OE tires you have. I would look at other options.

[sw342]

Originally Posted by mazboy123

just spend the money and get G614s.

marathons are crap, look at the montana forum and you'll see the complaints!

just call around and get the best price, what's the big deal?

While the G614 very good tire there are probably 3-4 other choices that will serve you just as well for considerably less.

[Ken / Claudia]

My GY marathons 14" made in China 2007. They are on by boat trailer, setting in the sun year round, unknown real mileage, guessing 2,000-3,000 miles are being replaced due to age. They have not had any problems.

[abc40kids]

G-614's going on mine, called Tredit the wheel manufac or at least the one who sells the wheels to Keystone. They said a G on my wheels are fine.

Why would Keystone or any manufac be ok with a tire that will ONLY hold the max of the trailer with ZERO room for error. Who wants to pull out your driveway knowing your tires are already maxed out!!

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by abc40kids

G-614's going on mine, called Tredit the wheel manufac or at least the one who sells the wheels to Keystone. They said a G on my wheels are fine.

Why would Keystone or any manufac be ok with a tire that will ONLY hold the max of the trailer with ZERO room for error. Who wants to pull out your driveway knowing your tires are already maxed out!!

$$$$$ in their pocket. I don't know of many people, if any that have ever gotten a payout from a tire blowing out. I had a spare tire on a camper blow out, never been on the ground. Paid to have it shipped back to the tire distributor for inspection. According to their "investigators" the blow out was caused by overloading and probable road damage. Complete BS, the tire had never been on the ground. Buy the best tires you can afford, and make sure you never exceed 75% of rated load.

FWIW my Coleman TT has 14" rims with Westlake tires, at full GVW I am loaded to ~90%+ of tire rating. I am going to be going to 15" rims and Maxxis M8008. That will give me much more reserve capacity.

Aaron

[krisbc1]

I have always made it a practice to put light truck tires on my 5ers....last much longer.

[Desert185]

One thing that may contribute to the bad reputation of the ubiquitous, made in China tires installed on almost every trailer is the fact that the tires come from the factory without being balanced. Weights near the tire limits, perhaps not the best construction quality, a tendency by some to not maintain proper air pressure and tires considerably out of balance all add up to the China bomb reputation. If the tires and their working conditions are actually marginal, then they need all the help they can get, and a good balance is certainly part of the equation. At the very least, balance the tires before any significant mileage is experienced. If a tire is actually poorly constructed, there is a good chance that it will be out of balance more than another tire with good design, QC and construction techniques.

In my case, I went with Maxxis 8008's, balanced, and with metal valve stems religiously run at 80 PSI after the initial purchase and tow home. After 5,000-6,000 miles...so far, so good. The wet bolts and heavier shackles didn't hurt, either.

[Ken / Claudia]

Wahoonc brought up a good point, not sure if I have read about on here. The spare tire blowing up. 8 to 10 years ago this came up on Artic Fox rv site that I was on since I owned one. Folks showing photos of a spare mounted on the bumper, cover still on it blown up. Some said it was never used, others rotated tires around so spare was used at some point. That s been awhile but, as I recall most if not all happened in hot temps of the SW states. Some thought that having a cover on the spare cooked the tire. Most than and now do not know what the real date is of a tire and I only guess that those tires were older and that had something to do with it blowing up.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by Desert185

One thing that may contribute to the bad reputation of the ubiquitous, made in China tires installed on almost every trailer is the fact that the tires come from the factory without being balanced. Weights near the tire limits, perhaps not the best construction quality, a tendency by some to not maintain proper air pressure and tires considerably out of balance all add up to the China bomb reputation. If the tires and their working conditions are actually marginal, then they need all the help they can get, and a good balance is certainly part of the equation. At the very least, balance the tires before any significant mileage is experienced. If a tire is actually poorly constructed, there is a good chance that it will be out of balance more than another tire with good design, QC and construction techniques.

In my case, I went with Maxxis 8008's, balanced, and with metal valve stems religiously run at 80 PSI after the initial purchase and tow home. After 5,000-6,000 miles...so far, so good. The wet bolts and heavier shackles didn't hurt, either.

I have had more than one trailer wheel that would not balance due to the tires being so crappy, along with bad wheels. They were replaced. Another issue that crops up regularly is that the drum brakes are part of the rotating force and are pretty crappy too when it comes to balance. The best thing to do is to have a dynamic balancing done with everything in place. Not many shops can do that anymore. I have had more than one assembly that could not be balanced. Imbalance causes heat build up and shortens tire life, add in being too close to max load value, toss in some UV degradation, along with some normal aging and you have a recipe for blowouts.

I have been around RV's for a large part of my life and have watched the tire quality go down and the loads go up. Best thing you can do is be informed and make decisions based on the facts and buy the best tires you can find.

Aaron

Hey Ram189, did you get your trailer from Beckley's?