Carlisle vs. Marathons

[Ranman]

Time for a poll. Tell us which RADIAL trailer tire you prefer.

[Walt. H.]

Other Brand then above

The remaining Firestones off of a rolled over Ford Explorer. :convertib :fire: :spongebob

[gold-n-rod]

The Marathons on my trailer were installed as original equipment back in 1991. They have no wear, no checking and have provided me with no worries. Understand that I don't pull long distances, but the few times I've gone on adventures of 50 to 100 miles, they've given me no trouble at all.

Two thumbs up!!

goldnrod

[Jack Frost]

snow tires!!!! :chillpill

jack

[olemissalum]

I plead the 5th :wink: :wink:

[Ranman]

I am hoping people are going to take this (somewhat) seriously. Here's your chance to vote anonymously, without reason.

I actually need a new set of tires for my trailer. Even though there are Marathons on it now, I'm not opposed to going the Carlisle route so long as it's a radial tire. I was just hoping to see which is the more popular tire overall.

[Rootsy]

between you, sam and I we've had enough blow-outs in the last 2 years to keep us covered for everyone this year!

[smoothie]

I assumed your poll tires are radials

[Ranman]

Yes. Radials please.

[MOP]

I got a no name on my new trailer, Trail America steel belted radials. Never heard of them but with 1750lbs and 4 wheels and a 3,500lbs boat they should be fine. Anyone ever heard of them??

Phil

[smoothie]

between you, sam and I we've had enough blow-outs in the last 2 years to keep us covered for everyone this year!


ssssoooo...what are you guys running,theresheblows or carlisles? :uzi:

[Formula Jr]

I could tell ya a story about the Carlies. But we don't want to frighten the children..........
Been there, done that. Nankang radials. Expensive but worth it. I tows a bit. :)

[Forrest]

The Marathons on my trailer were installed as original equipment back in 1991. They have no wear, no checking and have provided me with no worries.

Man, get rid of those old Marathons now! I had a pair of 215ST78C14 Marathons that I bought sometime back around '91 or '92 and they looked like new, but when I decided to pull my 16 Donzi from Tallahassee to Orlando for the Portafino Event, the first one blew out coming into Fanning Springs (after about 100 miles of running) and the other one blew out between Cross City and Perry on the way back home. Lucky for me, I had spares and the trailer stayed in control when they blew - only damage was a bent up trailer fender. I did replace those old blown Marathons with Marathons again because they pull and wear so well. I also have Marathons on the Rolls that's under the X-18, too, so I not trying to bad-mouth 'em. But again, don't keep Marathons, or any tire for that matter, any longer than six, seven, maybe eight years at the most - especially the Marathons built back in the early 1990s. Old tires is old tires no matter how little mileage or how good they look.

BTW, I have four 225ST78D15 Carlisle bias plys on the Rolls that's under the Magnum, and they seem to do well around town, but get 'em out on the highway for a little while, and they will get so hot that you can't even touch them for a second. I'll put a set of Marathons on there before going back out on the highway again.

[Ranman]

BTW, I have four 225ST78D15 Carlisle bias plys on the Rolls that's under the Magnum, and they seem to do well around town, but get 'em out on the highway for a little while, and they will get so hot that you can't even touch them for a second. I'll put a set of Marathons on there before going back out on the highway again.

Forrest,

This statement might be an apples (radials) to oranges (bias ply) debate. IMO, radials are superior to bias ply. I'm wondering if the Carlisle RADIALS are superior to the Marathon RADIALS. Maybe the Carlisles, pull and wear as good as the Marathons with out the hassels. Hey, you could be our test mule. Put the Carlisle radials under the Magnum and see how they compare to the Marathons. :cool!:

I wonder if today's Marathons are superior to the older ones???



I haven't been this interested in rubbers since I was 16...

[Rootsy]

welp speakign for myself.. titans that originally came on my 97 vintage trailer.. one let go with a resounding BOOM soon after returning home from AOTH II... she had a bulge going and i was nursing it along since i don;t trailer much.. or very far at home..

2nd a curb got my goodyear temporary car tire replacements til i could get some marathons at reasonable rate...

now i run marathons and A-OK.. 2 years on em so far..

randy lost a marathon on the way to alum creek last fall.. donno how old they were... maybe the original 98 vintage tires.

Sam lost 2 tires last year on the way to AOTH III and back... name unknown...

[BUIZILLA]

:cool: I have Carlisle radials on my new 18 trailer. 225-75R15. I can push this thing around the warehouse by one hand... couldn't do that with the bias ply's very easily at all. They don't need a lot of air like the MaraPops do/did either... very happy, i'd buy them again.

J :shades:

and yes, I balance ALL my trailer tires.

[boldts]

Our 18 trailer had Carlisles. The 22 has Marathons. Maybe I've just been lucky, but have had no blow-outs with either tire. How-ever the Carlisles were not radials so I can't do an apples to apples comparison for you. I have in past years put a lot of miles on my Donzi trailers as we like to get to and take the Donzi on all our vacations along with Donzi gatherings.

[Ranman]

My Marathons are originals from 1997. They have thousands of miles on them that I can account for and I acquired the trailer in 2001. I know the trailer was towed from Arizona to Texas to Michigan to Kentucky to Mighigan to Kentucky, etc. The sidewalls on mine look like they have been "curbed" several times. SInce I had a blowout last fall and the others look rough, a new set is in my future. If Jamie, Sam and I continue to run the Marathons, there will be plenty of matching spares around when we travel in a pack. :biggrin: :biggrin: .


Still trying to figure out what to run. I may be swayed yet!

[Greg Maier]

I have Carlisle Radials on mine. The longest trip I took was down to Southern Virginia with no issues.

My question is: Why do trailer tires, whether it be Marathons or Carlisles, seem to blow out at a rate that far exceeds car tires. My Jeep Grand Cherokee has 73,000 miles with the original tires, and no issues. (I know, it is time for some new ones). Is it because of the simple suspension system or the fact that they get twisted around in slow turns? Does anybody know?

[Ranman]

That's a good question Greg. My guess it that trailers don't get used as often so there is more down time than your daily driver. I trailer a few thousand miles (tops) in the summer and then she sits for 6 months. I drive my truck every day, but the tires last 40K. If you used the trailer every day, you'd get more mileage out of the tires, or so goes my theory.

OK. My next question is about availability. Say I'm out in BFE and I puncture a tire and the spare is already in use, what will I have the easiest time finding? I would think Goodyear is everywhere. Is this true with Carlisle or would I have to seriously hunt for a matching replacement?

[Greg K]

I have Carlisle Radials on mine. The longest trip I took was down to Southern Virginia with no issues.

My question is: Why do trailer tires, whether it be Marathons or Carlisles, seem to blow out at a rate that far exceeds car tires.

Underinflation would be the main culprit in blowouts. Low pressure increases heat in the tire and it's load rating.

[mikev]

man i didnt intend to start a controvery please dont flogg me. :wink: :fire: :wink:

[olemissalum]

No controversy here, just personal experiences. I had 3 Carlisle's blow on me in one day last summer coming home from TN. :banghead: The tires were only 2 years old and were radials, properly inflated, etc... And last boat had 2 Carlisle failures. I am glad that others have had good luck with them, but I have not been so lucky :confused:

So now for the next one, FORD vs. CHEVY right?? :wink:

And for what its worth, this board seems to favor Carlisles, but other boards it is the Marathons, so have fun deciding :cistineb:

[mattyboy]

I have the original carlisle bias ply c load 1750 lbs on my trailer which is a 1998 performance trailer tandem trailer( they look brand new) which means 1 tire can handle the 16 never mind 4?? and pulled to lk george 4 times at high speeds trying to keep up with Pearson and are barely warm to the touch, this year just for grins and giggles a new set of 4 carlisles will go on
now I probably tow about a lil less than 800 miles a year I'd like to hear from Dr Dan and Brad Verd and Dwight now they tow some miles ;)


Matty

[Lenny]

I have Carlisles under the Rolls and it went from Houston Texas, to Vancouver B.C. Canada (2400 miles) non-stop at 60-65 mph. Not a whimper. And we stopped to feel the hubs often and the tires. Never changed from air temperature. We had a 16 in tow.

I have Load Kings (whatever they are) on the tandem and they went from Pennsylvania to Oregon without incident and then from mid Oregon to Vancouver non stop.

First tow was 54 hours straight, non stop, second tow was 11 hrs.

[Ranman]

First tow was 54 hours straight, non stop, second tow was 11 hrs.

Wow! How'd you pull that one off? Lemme guess, you peed in a bottle while hooked to a Red Bull I.V.??? :rlol: :rlol:

[Scott Pearson]

Ahhhh....this is all what if this? and what if that? I towed Tom Langs v-drive 16 back from Lake George with an old single axle trailer at over 75mph with who knows what tires. Blew a tire took the fender out....not a big deal....Everyone is like "ohhhh God what if you lose a tire on a Single axle trailer" Give me a break! I pulled over and fixed it and kept going! I didnt flip over or jack knife or hurt the boat.....

Over the summer I was hauling one of our 47,000lbs Excavators down 295 at over 75mph and blew a trailer tire and then took out the tire next to it. Smoke and tires everywhere....Pulled over....fixed it and moved on!

Lost a front tire on the Rolloff at over 60mph with 82,000 lbs! Guess what....I'm still here...pulled over fixed it and moved on!

I have a rolls and tow my 18 with a set Carlisles at over 80mph and have over 10,000 miles on them. You have to keep 50lbs in them or they will get hot. Proper pressure is a must with any tire you use!

Give me a set of Marathons and I will run them also...

Either way I dont care what I have on there!

People who have followed me towing know that I dont baby things....**** Happens folks...fix it and move on! Thats what they make spares for!

If they could somehow turn Dog S**T into tires I would run them...!!!

Tires are tires! There round, there black and they have air inside them!


What if this happens and what if that happens....What if a meteor hit the earth!!! S**T happens....Move on!



(NJ)Scott

[Lenny]

Acutally Ranman, we DID pee in a bottle. And when we stopped for gas we emptied it there... :D ...you asked.

[Ranman]

Pearson, maybe if you ran better tires, you wouldn't spend so much time on the side of the road fixing ****. :biggrin.: :biggrin.: Actually, thanks for putting things in perspective. The only conclusion I've come to at this point is that trailer tires suck and you'd better have a good spare or two.




Comeooooon spring!

[Formula Jr]

I'll not run Carlisles again. I had nothing but trouble with those. They delaminated, they blew up, they lost tire pressure, they bubbled on the side walls, they for some reason had a toe-in problem on one set even though other tires worked well. So I'm talking about ten tires and about 30K miles. Thats 6k per set. Scott, I can't buy into the "just pull over and fix it" philosophy. There are many, many, many hiways out there that simply do not provide for a tire failure or any sort of breakdown. If I was just doing 500 mile trips, I don't think it would be an issue: Any ol' black round thingy will work. But I do 8,000 mile trips. And there's only four things that really matter then: Good tires, good brakes, a sound steering system and cruise control- oh and remembering to buy gas. I spends the extra money on the top tier tires now. One less thing to worry about. The Nankangs have about 12K on them and look brand new. They are cool to the touch and track well. You can spend too much money for tires as I have recently found out. My $115 each Toyos didn't survive the last X-C on the van. They chunked out with 20k in the 30 below weather I was driving through. But the warranty, paid for the next set. I thought that was fair enough.......
:crossfing

[joel3078]

Over the last 10 years I have had the same problems here and it was not due to underinflation. Carlisle had sidewall blistering or blowouts. Marathons had poor tread wear.

I have a bunch of horse farms around me and I have never seen a horse trailer on the side of the road. I started looking at those trailers and they are not very long. However, they hold lots of pounds. Guess what, they didn't have Carlisle or Goodyear on them. I liked the look of Towmaster tires so I bought 4 of them last year. This year they still have lots of those little nubbies on them. Dual axle trailer with a 24' black widow - probably weighs in at around 5,000 - 5500 lbs. Tires run cool to slightly warm. I run em at 48-53psi.

[fasttrucker]

My new textrail came with Carlisle ST 205/75D14 load range C.I would like to know what that means?14"tire size but,are these radials or plys?Really dont know?:bonk:

[RickSE]

The MYCO under my 22 is running on 5-year old Marathon tires, no problems yet.

I put plain Jane BFG radials under my old 18 6-years ago and it's still running around fine and has never had a tire problem and the roads out here are nasty rough.

[MOP]

No matter what brand it is well worth going Radial, they roll easier and also have a more cushioning effect saves gas and they don't jar the boat as bad on bumps.

Phil

[mattyboy]

I have a question
the design of the radial tire let's the side wall flex ( the little bulge in the side wall) given it better handing/ ride on cars but doesn't that work against it on a trailer isn't their more stress on side wall due to the fixed wheels and weight placement???

update from my last post I'm still on my original carlisle bias ply went to change them and the guy said why they are like new and that with 2 trips to 1000 islands and 4 trips to lake george ;) since that post

[mikev]

I put 4 new towmax radials made by multi-mile on my trailer 2 years ago and have had no problems with them at all. I dont do alot of real long runs with it but I make 150 mile round trip runs to lake hartwell just about every weekend running 75-80 the whole way in the Georgia summer heat. I asked my buddy that owns the tire store what he would runs and this is what he runs he can get the carlisle and marathons and actully makes more money per tire on them but he says that he had a whole lot more of them come back than the towmax tires.

[MOP]

Matty they are designed to flex I feel it actually works in your favor relieveing stress on trailer parts, I think bias suffers more from turning due to the stiff side walls. They handle very nice, when I swapped to them on the 16 I was super happy how the trailer tracked plus I could move the trailer around much easier as the roll very easy. Bonnie won't let me tow over 75, when I stop after a long stretch they are bearly warm.

Phil

[mattyboy]

aren't moving or flexing parts more likely to fail??

[MOP]

aren't moving or flexing parts more likely to fail??

My feeling exactly why stress the trailer, also why beat up the boat. I know from the switch to radials on the 16 how much smoother the boat rode. Before the radials it would transmit some pretty hard jolts to the truck after the radials went on you hardly felt anything or knew you had anything in tow.

[Rootsy]

i've seen my 16 and trailer leave the ground entirely on I-696 :eek: ... sure bounces like a golf ball whenn it lands though... she has marathon radials under her...

[MOP]

i've seen my 16 and trailer leave the ground entirely on I-696 :eek: ... sure bounces like a golf ball whenn it lands though... she has marathon radials under her...

I know what you speak of!! I have like many gotten good "Trailer Air" sure do land nicer on the saggy bags!

Phil

[mattyboy]

Phil, my trailer doesn't do any of that , it tracks straight does not beat up the boat, doesn't go airborne, and that's following Pearson at ludicrous speed
I'll stick with my carlisle bias ply thank you very much

[Rootsy]

might have something to do with the spring suspension vs the torsion axle... the 18 pulled beautifully through the mountain adventure last spring. and it was light as a feather so it shoulda been flying on bumps.. but nope...

[MOP]

might have something to do with the spring suspension vs the torsion axle... the 18 pulled beautifully through the mountain adventure last spring. and it was light as a feather so it shoulda been flying on bumps.. but nope...

Jamie I used to have to tow over some real bad roads when I was down south, someone recommed I should try shocks. I did and it made all the difference in the world, you may want to try it on your rig.

Phil

[Ranman]

i've seen my 16 and trailer leave the ground entirely on I-696 :eek: ... sure bounces like a golf ball whenn it lands though... she has marathon radials under her...

If your talking about I-696 over by I-94 (both East and Westbound), there's something going on with the harmonics of the road that makes the trailer hop. Mine does it, Joes does it, and anyone else I ever see towing in the area has the same problem. It's worse with big boats. :eek: It's the road, not the trailer.

I've learned right where the spots are and I slow down before I get there to keep it under control.

P.S. Since this thread, I've switched to a Carlisle Radial and they are doing just fine so far.

[Rootsy]

well actually there is that portion now that i think about it.. but what really got my attention... heading west bound just after you come out of the tunnel there was a big ole friggin dip.. and a few others after that... if i remember west bound was always more challenging than heading east bound for me anyway... been a couple of years though

trailer issues hell... i've seen potholes in dearborn that'd swallow a 1 ton...

[Sam]

Ditto Randy, it can be darn scary :shocking: .

[roadtrip se]

and I always thought she was just anxious to get to the lake!

I'm a Marathon guy, but they do tend to burn a little rubber on landing!