Towmasters are for sure the "Heaviest" of the 15" trailer tires. Much stiffer sidewall and overall just heavier. Hold a Marathon in one hand and a Towmaster in the other and the difference is obvious. Also if you take an umounted Marathon you can squish it down to the ground without much effort. I am talking about with the tire in the upright position like it were rolling. Try that with a Towmaster and once again the difference is obvious.
A very knowledgable Goodyear rep told me that the Marathon's were originally designed, and used on, RV trailers and small campers, where shock and ride quality wouldn't disturb the trailer contents as much as bias ply's did. Can't rattle the china dishes doncha know... He also said they were NEVER designed for high speed trailers or car trailers, but somehow ended up on a bunch, and that snowballed, being a *cheap entry level radial*. His exact words to me were, *if you value the trailer contents, take them off*. JH :bglasses:
I believe what ya say Jimbo...But I don't buy that lip service. Can't tell me a 32ft Camper loaded gear, water,food,camping equiptment and a full grey and black water tank for the ride home don't weigh as much as a 24ft box with a 3,400lb car in it. Also most grey hairs cover ALOT more miles a year with the home on wheels. And to say Marathons are "cheap"???? Try and find one for under a hundred bucks on the road.
Mikey, you stated you paid a buck eighty for yours... then you say the Marathons are a buck... so which is the cheaper tire? Go to an RV show and tell me whats on 90% of the campers... whitewall Marathons.. I had a 30' Coachmen twin bedroom we lived in for 8 months in the backyard after hurricane Andrew and I weighed it, twin a/c, twin bedrooms, twin water tanks, kitchen, bath/shower..yada, yada... it weighed less LOADED, than my empty 28' Classic did. The 1992 Coachmen still has the original Marathons, my 1995 Classic came with Marathons and blew/seperated tread on all 4 within a few weeks. I put about 110,000 miles on that Classic in 7 years. JH :laugh:
No doubt that the 16" GY 159's were alot more. I was talking about Marathons price compared to Carlise,Towmaster, ect in the same size. Carlise radials are the cheapest I found and equal or better than Marathons. I am hoping that the higher price I paid is money in the bank in terms of longevity,saftey, and abuse to my trailer How much does your car trailer weigh? If your trailer is maxed our with options like A/C generator ect. I guess I can see it. Most 24ft steel trailers go high 3K to low 4K empty. Some of the cheaper steel trailers can weigh as low as 3,400lbs. I recently looked at a 28' Toy Hauler camper and it was 6.5Klbs DRY AND EMPTY! Add a couple hundy gallons of water(clean/dirty) food gear and 4 dirt bikes and your at 10,000lbs pretty easy. This trailer did sport a set of 8 lug axles with 16" HD tires.
Mikey, go back up about 11 posts and re-read my weight setup. I weigh the rig EVERY trip on a CAT scale, before leaving Fla. Take the gross trailer weight, loaded, divide by 4 and your sidewall stated tire max. capacity should be greater than that. My 215's were LESS than needed, and my 235's just barely EXCEED what I now need. As far as i'm concerned, Pace under-equipped the 2002 trailer when new, with the 215 E's, they also used the wrong valve stems for E tires. There is a DOT law about valve stems, ask me how I now know this you say... The total tire capacity on the 215's was 500# each/or almost 2000# UNDER what the axles were rated for, as well as the mfg GVWR sticker said as well. Tires were 10,160 total, and axles are 12,000 total... JH
