PCM

Well, I went by the local respected, well established trailer repair/service shop today. These guys do nothing but trailer running gear. Anything towable except semis. I told them of my idea to swap out the stock 2" tall spring equalizer and showed them photos of the taller, 4" spring equalizer I like to install. Their toughts: Don't do it without beefing-up the current equalizer bracket!!! They said they have seen this mod done without strengthing the bracket and it has resulted in the bracket bending due to the additional lateral forces the taller equalizer creates. They want to see the trailer, of course. They think it's a viable option, but not without welding a steel block in between the bracket to prevent it from bending. I will keep you posted. PCM

67HotRod

Goodyear started having some of their tires made in china sometimes last year. Hearing more and more complaints about their tires since. I now have a set of Maxxis tires on my TT.

PCM

I e-mailed Lippert frame this morning to get teir thought on the before mentioned visit to the local trailer shop. Here is there response:

What you plan doing is fine, the dealer does have a valid concern with the added leverage on the center hanger. I would make your changers and weld a cossmembers between your center hangers (side to side)

So I guess I will "do it right" considering the cost of the wheels and tires and all in the name of safety. Why cheap out at this point??? PCM

stumpjumper

well i got the estimate for the damage. $5600 sorry pictures aren't in computer yet. i didn't realize a tire junking the tread could do so much damage...we submitted a claim to goodyear just waiting to hear back from them...

COMP

good luck

stumpjumper

just got confirmation from goodyear...they are paying the claim...just under $6200...WOW they really do stand behind their product...

PCM

Per 2 e-mails from the rep at ALKO ale, it is common and acceptable to aad taller equalizers to a rv trailer(such as going from a 2" standard to a 4". It WILL add about 1.5 inches of height for better wheel well clearance. HOWEVER, the same rep did advise me to have a crossmember weleded between the 2 spring equalizer axle hangers to compensate for greater lateral forces created by the taller equalizer. PCM

Sprinter17

I have Marathons on my 5er now, so far their the best I've had, and I've had most every different brand you can think of on my 5er in the past 9years. I'm convinced they all blow out because the RVmfg's push them to the max. ratings to save from using a more expensive tire and giving you a safety margin. next time I'm putting good old e rated truck tires on my 5er, the side walls of those will be 5 times as thick, RV tires are junk even though they swear their special and we need them. I have an old gooseneck trailer out back with truck tires on it, and it sits in the sun all the time, the tires look like junk, but I put my 580 on it all the time, and I haven't lost one yet, imagine if I had some sissy RV tires on it.

AlCorr

Very good news, I'll never junk my Goodyear's.

COMP

Great news,,congrats

supr

On top of that, you will proably get your new tires almost free. All of that is hard to beat, I have had the same experience, so I like Goodyear.

justcampin

I always has tire trouble on fifth-wheels while I was using 15 inch tires, I changed to 16s four yeas ago and that solved the problem
I bought them for $139.00 for tire and wheel and have had to problem, since

PCM

I think it's GREAT that Goodyear has stood behind their tires and offering replacement and repair. This is commendable, indeed! But what happens when a more serious situation involving an accident, other parties, possible injury/death, letigation, etc., etc.???
While any tire can fail, it seems some fail more often than others. ie, like the Marathons and other ST tires. The post here and on other forums are endless with ST tire failures AND lack of LT tire failures. Hence my reason to go ahead and spend the $1200 to upgrade to 16's and LT's NOW before I spend more than that on missed work, possible injury, court dates, and inconvenience. Thanks but no thanks Goodyear. PCM

StealthDiesel

PCM, I totally agree with your thoughts.

It's so much easier to PREVENT problems with an upgrade in your garage than deal with a blowout or accident or whatever on your vacation.
A pricey but well worth it upgrade. The peace of mind will be totally worth it.

The Goodyear Marathons are poor tires. No question about it. Both our rv's purchased new in the last 10 years have come with them.
In both cases I was able to upgrade the tire load rating for a few dollars more at purchase time.
My thoughts are to have much more tire load capacity than you need for a large margin of safety.

Our current 5ver has a GVW of about 10k lbs but I was able to upgrade to 235/80R16D Goodyear Marathons at purchase time from the D rated 15's.
These 16inch tires have a load capacity of 3000lbs each. The tires have to only support 10k lbs less the 1400lb pin weight, so I have a ton of safety margin.

Some cheaper RV's come with tires that I would not tow the unit around the block with. They are already over the tire rating just sitting there.

http://www.goodyear.com/rv/products/marathon.html

Knock on wood, I have never had a problem with Goodyears but I fanatically maintain them.
Check air pressure often and always covered up when not towing.

Someone mentioned that some high end trailers come from the factory with LT load range E truck tires.
I too have seen & can confirm this. If I was ever going to purchase trailer tires, I too would go with truck tires.

...Joe..

stumpjumper

i too covered and maintiained the tires. aired them up to 65 and ran my hand along the circumference of the tire to check for irregularities. it just so happened that this happened 15 miles into a trip that i just checked the tires before leaving. i am happy goodyear is paying the claim. i probably will not use the marathons again just for piece of mind. once bitten twice shy i guess. just like pcm has said i went to rv.net last night and found a 9 page post on the very subject of going to 16" LT tires... i will be joioning pcm and get 16" wheels and bfgoodrich commercial t/a tires. they happen to be on my work truck which is a one ton chevy dually reg cab. which is just over gvwr all day long. it sees offroad terrain and onroad and all conditions that go along with that fixing heavy equipment. this truck has many miles on these tires and has been without problem...