MER Performance

Set-up F-350 Super duty, Myco Triple axle alum trailer with a 36' Nortech Cat. Truck and trailer are level, even distribution between axles, tire pressure 75psi. tires are Goodyear Wrangler LT 235 x85 16". As far as I know these tires are from 2005, no cracks and tread is good. Was on I-20 from Florence, SC to Columbia, SC had a front tire shread the side wall out. I changed it drove another 65 miles got on I 26 towards Chapin,SC and blew the pass front tire. This is the same truck, hitch height and boat, towed from Jackson, MS 3 years ago to Columbia, SC. I was told Goodyear, stopped producing the Marathon, tire. These are Wranglers, with are LT Light Truck tires and the Marathon is a trailer tire. The tire dealer is telling my customer the front axle was over-loaded. 21 plus years of seeing and towing boats in business and explaining this to my customers about equal axle loading has my blood pressure up! Does anyone have any facts, or experience with this situation ?

Sydwayz

iTrader: (1)

Front axles always take the worst beating, as when the truck and trailer bounces and flexes at the hitch, the front tires get the worst of it.

Tires only have a life expectancy of 7 years. You are right up against that. The only thing that might be a connection is alignment. If your front axle is off by a bit, you would be heating up those two tires very quickly as compared to the rest.

Quick check would be a long straight edge across the front of all the tires when you know the trailer is straight. (not twisted as in parked while turning)

Beyond that, jack the entire trailer up, remove all 6 wheels, and run a laser level across the front of the hubs/rotors.

It sounds like that trailer has been stagnant for the last few years. Has it been sitting out in the sun? If so, that will bake those tires, and would definitely cause the sidewalls to burst.

And lastly, not sure if you have straight axles on leaf springs, or spindle/torsion axles, but you could also have bend spindles. You are more likely to bent a spindle on a torsion axles than bending a straight axle though.

Those exact tires were standard issue on Myco in 2005. I have the exact same tires on my 2005 Myco, and I will be replacing all of them this year. I would not run another ST trailer tire on anything bigger than a PWC trailer. They are all junk IMHO, Carlisle, Goodyear, etc. (Cooper now has a trailer tire though, which I do not have experience with.)

pat@osp

Sidewalls give up on those Goodyears as they get older. Had the same tires on my 18k GVW Myco aluminum trailer.............tires looked fine visually but I ended up replacing them all over the course of maybe 6 months because of the same issue. Every failure always had the sidewall completly blown apart............and same as you I religously check pressure and always measure the trailer frame in front and behind the axles on a torsion axle trailer to make sure they see relatively equal load. I even had one I caught before it blew out...........heard a rubbing noise when I was pulling it out of my building, when I checked it out I found a soccer ball size bubble in the inside sidewall of one tire rubbing the frame as it went past every time. If the tires are from '05 and the trailer has sat around some it's time for new tires...........they will keep failing one by one.

offshoredrillin

I agree with everything said above, mine started going and i changed them all last year. when changing i even went to a 225, more narrow and builds less heat, also easier when turning in tight areas. same load rating though..oh and balance them, no matter what anyone says you will feel a difference. its worth the 20 bucks per tire to balance.

mine was a 2005 as well.

MILD THUNDER

iTrader: (3)

Sounds to me, like the tires were just getting old. There should be a Date code on the tires somewhere. Even if the trailer is say a "2005" model year, the tires could have been manufactured in 2004, or even 2003.

I was just looking at tires online the other day. I see "hercules" tire is making a 235/85-16 trailer radial, that is "F" rated. 3960lbs@95psi per tire. I have no experiance with them. I have ran there class 8 semi tires before with good results though.

MER Performance

Thanks Guys for the replies! Myco, claims the Wranglers are good tires. I was told speeds above 60 mph, they will fail. We determind the left from tire got a leak in it and side wall failed which then stressed the right front tire. The owner put all new tires on, what type I don't know. I just know they are a good trailer tires.

ChargeIt

Seems like full use was obtained from those tires.

Boat trailer tires are often loaded closer to their max weight ratings and get more curb rash.
I have heard the longer setting periods with that weight will tend to create stressed/weak areas on the tire.
Tires may look fine but get them heated up, especially with higher speeds and summer heat and things can go bad.

Every stop, a quick visual inspection of the tires, hand on the every tire and grab every hub.
Then head inside or clean up with hand wipes

Strip Poker 388

iTrader: (6)

I have the exact same tires on my Myco 15k rated trailer I'm guessing total weight 10-k. Mine is a 2001 and started blowing in 2008,They had no dry rot at all,they did see a good bit of sun during that time.I got real lucky and it didn't take out the fender.Also the fenders are cheap,shipping isnt.lol
I replaced them all (Sept 08) with the same tire and now it doesn't see as much sun.But they are showing some wrinkling in between the tread on the tires. So the new ones I'm betting are going to go quicker.I do use the welches tire bleach and armor all frequently!! I tow with 80psi all the time ,that makes less sidewall flex. Also there Ht and not the ATS

Speed above 60 is bullshet!!! I don't tow below 60.

I would buy them again

Rob

Sydwayz

iTrader: (1)

I'll also add, I put those same Goodyears on my dually for a year, just to tie me over until I upgraded wheels and tires on the dually.

Compared to the Michelin LTX tires that came off of the dually, those Goodyears SUCK on a truck. They feel like driving on wet macaroni. I plan to rotate them over to my boat trailer this summer; which was my reason for purchasing them.

Likefastboats

iTrader: (1)

I've been towing boat and race car trailers all my life and the one thing I have come to realize is the age of the tires is very important. If they are more than 5 years old replace them no matter what they look like. I have had more than my fair share of tire blowouts and 90% of the time it's a tire that was 5 or more years old and looked just fine before the blowout. If your tires are old your just asking for a couple of tires changes on the side of the road. And probably a new fender or two. Been there done that way to many times. Oh, and the balancing thing. Yes it's worth the extra $. I have made a couple of cross country tows recently and tried balancing the triler tires. It does make a big differance, not so much in the feel but the tires actually stay several degrees cooler. Vibration causes heat build up. The cooler they stay the less chance of a blowout.