Am I crazy towing 2000 mi on OEM trailer tires, 2024 Yamaha ar250

[Justbix1]

As the title states, I am planning a trip Baltimore to Ft Lauderdale ~2000 miles round trip for first week in February 2025. Planning 2 8-hour travel days. Numerous non-boaters have told me that OEM trailer tires will not last…. Last year I logged 1600 miles total of towing, they are showing some wear, but in general are in pretty good shape.

In have already replaced one brake caliper, bled the brakes. I plan to bring a wheel bearing set, floor jack, extra spare tire.

I have the tower dropped right now and plan to tow with it down, using the OEM yellow brackets.

My tow vehicle will be a f150 power boost.

Do you guys think I’m insane towing this far? I have roughly 17 years of towing experience.

 

[Jdz1]

When I bought mine had it towed from dealer in NC to AZ and the tires did fine, but I found them so bouncy while towing around I swapped them out to radials. Probably make it fine. Interestingly my stock tires have balance beads in them.

 

[jthackman]

i'd have no worries.
guessing your trailer came with bias carlisle (maybe carlstar)sport trail lh ? they were oem on my 2019 240 215/75/14 c-load they pulled and wore fine. the 250's weigh a bit more, did they upsize them to 225/75/15? the 14's are rated to 81mph, the 15's are rated to 87mph. i replaced the oem's in march 24 with 2800mi on them, due to age not miles. went to carlisle radial trail hd. the radials do tow a bit better, less bouncy

 

[Bluewater272]

It'll be absolutely fine, just don't be a speed demon. Add an IR thermometer to your kit and check the hubs when you stop.

 

[Bottom Bracket]

Maypops will pop, ripping off your fender and 5k worth of gelcoat, causing you to crash into a busload of nuns and children.

 

[Bugslayer]

You should be good, you sound prepared.

I bought my boat in Conroe, TX just north of Houston. Towed it to Boise, ID, then towed it to my place in Baja California Sur, Mexico. All on OEM tires.

 

[MTREADER]

I suggest looking at the date codes on the tires. Trailer Tires normaly need replacement due to dryrot rather than decreased tread depths. I replace mine every 3 years just for that factor. When 1 goes the others will go soon too. Look for dry rot cracks on side wall and in between treads as a visual crew as well. Blown tires will ruin any trip older ones may blow without warning. Good Luck safe travels.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

Keep your speed down and you will be fine. That long of a trip I bring two spares and a temp gun to check bearings at stops.

 

[Thermobrett]

My tires wore funky on the toe and I had about 1000 miles over 2 years in them. They did bounce a lot and required what seemed like pounds of weight to keep them balanced. I heard the bias fires do not ride nearly as good and I can attest to that. As @Bugslayer said, you seem prepared. Watch the temps on the wheel bearing and have a safe trip down here.

 

[tdonoughue]

Just for sake of completeness, I'll add our legal disclaimer: You may still be crazy. That question would be independent of the advisability of your proposed trip.

After all, you are hanging out with us. Jus sayin.

Safe travels & do be sure to report back on how it went.

 

[DiggerPA]

Just a side note, check what tires are actually on your trailer. Me, 2022 195s, received Dec.20, 2021 so it was a covid build. I did have radial tires on my trailer from the Factory, unless for some reason the dealer swapped them out which I doubt. I was all set to replace them with radials until I double checked the size and noticed they were already radials. Maybe I just go lucky.

 

[CarolinaJet]

My original equipment tires on my 2021 ar210 were rated for 65mph. I spoke to a guy who was selling his 2018 212x before I bought mine, and he had blown two tires on a summer trip to a lake 70 miles away, they were rated for 65 and he didn’t know it.

Be sure they have the speed rating you expect. Since freeway speed limits are 70 around here, I replaced mine with Goodyear endurance based on advice here. Much better ride and peace of mind goes a long way.

 

[Papa Erp]

I had a 2017 AR210 with stock tires. Towed from Dallas to Florida at least three times with no issues. Just maybe get a quick inspection from a tire store before you leave.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Not insane at all… I’ve done numerous long road trips, last year I did a trip to lake Mohave=2600 miles, and a trip to Oklahoma and Wisconsin which was 3600 miles.

As @Bottom Bracket says, put a set of Goodyear Endurance tires on and don’t worry about it, run them at 65 psi which is the max cold fill. There is a definite improvement over the stock Carlisle bias ply tires, I ran the stock Carlisle tires for a while until they all got flat spots that would no longer go away after the tires warmed up, I even had them balanced early on, check to make sure your stock tires have been balanced if you’re going to keep them. I’ve probably got 25,000-30,000 on the Goodyear’s now and I’m still very happy with them.

Have you jacked each wheel up and checked the play in the wheel bearings? You want a little bit of play….
Have you been keeping the proper amount of grease in the bearing buddies?

About the caliper you replaced, why? And did you lubricate the slider pins on both?

Get a heat gun like @Adrian @ JB Solutions
suggested and check the hubs each time you stop. This is a great tool to have and be able to spot a problem as it develops so you can choose where you want to effect repairs and not on the side of the highway. You can also use the heat across the width of the tire tread.

Boy Scout Motto; Be prepared, sounds like you’re in pretty good shape already.

 

[OB WI]

We put 3500 miles on stock Carlisle. My buddy talked me into getting the Power King Tow Max vanguard radials in June of 2022 and now have 9K on them. They definitely ride better. Still in great shape. Probably worth it before a big trip. I paid just over 500.00 and sold my used ones for 130.00 on FB marketplace for all 5 tires.

 

[Thermobrett]

Looks like we have two data points here.
1 - Your prepared and ready to go with the factory tires +1 spare, monitor the temps and safe travels
2 - Replace the tires if in doubt, still monitor the temps and safe travels

Last thing I would suggest, from recent experience, pull the wheels off and put a little bit anti seize on lug studs. In the event you have an issue and need to replace a wheel, its a lot better knowing the lug nuts aren't over tightened from the factory and there could be an issue when you least expect it.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

My original equipment tires on my 2021 ar210 were rated for 65mph. I spoke to a guy who was selling his 2018 212x before I bought mine, and he had blown two tires on a summer trip to a lake 70 miles away, they were rated for 65 and he didn’t know it.

Be sure they have the speed rating you expect. Since freeway speed limits are 70 around here, I replaced mine with Goodyear endurance based on advice here. Much better ride and peace of mind goes a long way.

Very important! I think the stock Carlisle tires in mine were 81 mph and the Goodyear’s are 87 mph. The speed limit here is 80 mph and I have towed that fast but most of the time it’s 65 to 70 mph on long trips.

 

[2kwik4u]

I did a LOT of towing last year, to the point I think I put more hours on the trailer than I did the engines

We moved from Louisville, KY to Buffalo, NY. I had some radials on the trailer that were a couple years old. Everything looked fine, but I managed to have two flats on the ~600mi tow. One in Cincinatti, about 90mi out from the house, then the second in northern OH just south west of of the PA border. BoatUS subscription earned it's keep on that day. Both tires "looked great" from a visual inspection, but didn't like the trip for some reason. Because of that trip in April, I had (3) new radials mounted (AND balanced) in NY once we settled in.

Then in June, we towed from Buffalo, NY to St. Augustine, FL. Spend a week there and towed home. ~1,300mi one way. Had ZERO issues on that tow with the trailer (sound bar rattled loose off the tower, but that's a different story). New tires were checked at every stop, and the bearings, hitch etc were checked as well.

My advice.....Prep and Inspect. Then have some sort of backup, both in the form of hard parts, as well as in a "phone a friend" plan like BoatUS, SeaTow, AAA, Good Sams, etc.

Also, fun fact, we bought the boat brand new in May of 2017. I've never had the bearing covers off. Still running on factory grease and bearings. Been dunked in Salt Water once a year for the last 3 years, with TONS of local towing. I'm either very lucky, or my trailer was built on Tuesday afternoon after a long weekend for the workers

 

[biffdotorg]

It'll be absolutely fine, just don't be a speed demon. Add an IR thermometer to your kit and check the hubs when you stop.

Instead of touching each of those four greasy hubs at every gas fill? Genius. As I mumble to myself each time, "did I grease these last fall or this spring?"

 

[AZMark]

I put several thousand miles on the stock Carlisle bias ply in 110+ temps through steep windy roads. No issues at all. Inspect them and keep the air pressure around max and they’re fine.

I did switch to the Goodyears last year after 4-5 years on the Carlisles because I didn’t ever want to change one of those tires on 200 degree asphalt on the side of a steep windy road.

I haven’t noticed as much of a towing difference as others with the exception of tight turns when parking, which are much easier with the radials.