Marathons vs. Tow Max

Finally picked up our Northtrail yesterday from the dealer where it's been ever since we bought it. Hopefully all the issues are over. We shall see.

We have the TowMax Power Kings on it - ST225/75R15 Load Range D. Been reading a lot here and elsewhere about the general unreliability of these tires.

I also still have my old travel trailer - it's at a different dealer - almost finished being repaired - on their dime. And I will be finally selling it. (YEAAA!) But before we sell the old trailer, we are going to swap out our brand new mattress for our mattress from the old trailer. (I think the new one only has 6 springs in the entire mattress and you can feel each and every one.).

Right before we decided to sell the old trailer, we replaced all the tires in Tennessee (picked up a chunk of metal in a Sevierville Wal-Mart parking lot). All we could get that late in the day were Goodyear Marathons. They are the exact same size and load range as our Tow Max tires and have about 1200 miles on them and are about 4 months old.

Are the Marathons any better than the Tow Max's? Would it be worth my time/money to switch them out before I sell the old trailer? Or are they functionally equivalent - and neither one is something to be proud of?

JMO, and everyone has one. I would not buy or use either of them. Replaced my Mission tires with Maxxis. Have used the Maxxis on two RV's. Never had one problem with the Maxxis. They also hold pressure well.

Assuming you have the receipt for the Marathons, it may be easier to get any issues taken care of by your dealer or Goodyear. Marathons are probably made in China like the Tow Max but maybe to higher specifications. I would vote for the Marathons.

We have the same size tire on our North Trail 225/75/15. I have asked on this forum, if there has been many issue with the 15" TowMax, did not get much response. It seems that a lot of the issues are with the heavier rigs with 16" tires. Though, I have read some problems with the TowMax on the lighter weight trailers. We are thinking about upgrading to an E rated tire, but there are not that many choices out there. Thought about finding someone who is upgrading there axle/rims from a bighorn and fitting them under the North Trail. There are more choices in the 16". We only plan on having this trailer for 3 more years, so I do not want to do a lot of money into it.

I've noticed that too in reading the threads. I know I'm itty-bitty and don't carrry a lot of weight on the tires compared to the big boys, but then we are also running load range D tires. It seems like its mostly the 5th wheels that have the problems. But it might be also that's what mostly posts on the forum also. Problem is right now - we are running short on funds, and since I technically own two sets of mostly new tires, I was trying to figure out the better of two apparently bad brands to keep for myself.

If the Marathons are no better than the Tow Maxes - then I won't bother with the hassle. It would a pain in the rear to coordinate swapping out tires on two trailers simultaneously.

Go with the Maxxis. Marathons nearly as bad as the Tow Max

Marathons aren't much better with one big difference. Goodyear has been very good about compensating people for damages caused when the tire blows out. The Tow Max people will weasel out of it with some lame excuse..Don

I don't know about the Marathons, but when one of my Tow Max tires wore out prematurely < 10 k miles and another blew out at just under 15 K miles I replaced everything with E rated tires. My trailer is a light weight NT (max is probably around 8200 pounds), rarely pulled over 60 mph and tire pressure diligently maintained at 65 pounds and it still blew . . . about two hours after I had inspected the tires and tested the pressure. My replacement was a two step operation. I replaced two when the first one wore with maxis and the other two when one blew with Triangle (because that was all that was available where the tire blew). Three k miles, no problems.

Goodyear marathons got a bad reputation partly because of the trailer manufactures (overload them) and some manufacturing deficiencies. Goodyear has made much needed improvements in the newer production. You don't see near the "problems" today as you did in previous years. As stated above, Goodyear is very good about covering consequential damage incurred in a tire related issue. I have been using the Marathons for several years now without a problem. Inflate to the Max as posted on the sidewall and you will be good to go.
I'm using the 235/80R16 with a load capacity of 3,240# at 80 PSI....Marathons are much easier to find while traveling also....

GOTTOYS said:

Marathons aren't much better with one big difference. Goodyear has been very good about compensating people for damages caused when the tire blows out. The Tow Max people will weasel out of it with some lame excuse..Don

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100% Agree!