Best way to pull boattrailer out of a slipway 4WD auto/Lock/low?

[Philip_1973]

Hi,

I was wondering what is the best way to pull a loaded boattrailer out of the slipway?

Leave it in 4WD auto like it is all the time or switch it to 4WD Lock of 4WD low?

When we were loading the boat it was in 'P' with parking brake. When I put it in 'D' I heard some kind of crack. Suppose it was the car going into lock or something because of the angle of the hill.
We managed to pull the trailer out of the water with a little efford.
Trailer with boat weighs about 3500kg (7700lbs).
No issues driving it on the highway at all.

But will it go even better in Lock or Low?

 

[Philip_1973]

 

[dlromo]

IMO the best way is to have whoever backs up the truck to sit in it with their foot on the brake while boat is loaded. If not possible, back-in and engage e-brake before putting it in park, this will keep the weight off the trans. 4WD is not needed unless rears slip.

 

[WilliamS]

technically lock would be the "best" as it will not allow slip of any wheels if you lose traction. That being said, I woulnt use 4x4 unless I start to slip when pulling out. Most ramps are surfaced for high traction and usually have a turn at the end of the ramp once your boat is out, that is a no no for 4wd.

So try first in 2wd, if that fails, 4x4 it up and be glad you had it.

 

[McBroom]

View attachment 141728 View attachment 141729 View attachment 141730

Wow that’s a damn big boat. I dream of having a boat with no maintenance required


I Love my 18 Ram 2500HD 4x4 CC
Blue Streak Pearl off-road

 

[markusaf81]

I was pulling my small A frame camper this weekend and it was raining like crazy, I got a lot of slipping when accelerating from a stop, made me wish I would have opted for the Auto-4wd

 

[Philip_1973]

E-brake was on. Wouldn't risk it to put it just in Park. Don't remember if I put the E-brake on first and than in P or vice versa. But the e-brake was def on.

Ours is in 4WD Auto all the time. No matter if we drive small roads, highway, dry, wet, ... always 4WD auto. Never had an issue.
Only when we changed the front tires 2 weeks ago. It started to shake like hell in 4WD but not in 2WD. Changed the rear tires as well and problem solved. Back to the 4WD auto

But those options are there for a reason I think.
My though was that 4WD low would be best to get the most torque, so the most power to pull it out. And ONLY for pulling it out, not leaving it on when going to higher speed.
Lock I though was more fore the field when u got stuck somewhere.

I'll trust you guys since you have way, way way more experience in towing with these babies

 

[Philip_1973]

Wow that’s a damn big boat. I dream of having a boat with no maintenance required


I Love my 18 Ram 2500HD 4x4 CC
Blue Streak Pearl off-road

Don't we all dream of stuff with no maintenance required
But if its got moving parts, you got to service it. Unless you can sell it before it brakes

 

[McBroom]

Don't we all dream of stuff with no maintenance required [emoji6]
But if its got moving parts, you got to service it. Unless you can sell it before it brakes

B- bring
O- on
A- another
T- thousand $$$$
Boats in particular cost a **** ton of maintenance.

Every boat I’ve ever had required more maintenance than I could afford


I Love my 18 Ram 2500HD 4x4 CC
Blue Streak Pearl off-road

 

[OC455]

B- bring
O- on
A- another
T- thousand $$$$
Boats in particular cost a **** ton of maintenance.

Every boat I’ve ever had required more maintenance than I could afford


I Love my 18 Ram 2500HD 4x4 CC
Blue Streak Pearl off-road

Boat=a hole in the water you throw money into.....LOL. I was looking at a party barge.

 

[indept]

IMO the best way is to have whoever backs up the truck to sit in it with their foot on the brake while boat is loaded. If not possible, back-in and engage e-brake before putting it in park, this will keep the weight off the trans. 4WD is not needed unless rears slip.

Why wait for them to slip? I would say go with 4wd auto as a minimum, it can't hurt anything.

 

[Jughed]

So that ramp looks to be in great condition, nice looking traction/limited slime and not steep at all. Not sure what your tide swing is??

I've been launching a 5k boat for years near the SC coast and Chesapeake bay - SC coast has 6' tide swings and steep/wet ramps. Never needed 4WD, and didn't have 4WD for 6 years.

Back the boat down the ramp, complete stop, push EBrake and hold brake pedal while taking truck out of gear... hold pedal while putting truck back in gear. Should go in gear smoothly, but sometimes it will click when engaging...

If you have enough tongue weight and decent tires, you shouldn't have much slip - if any.

 

[muddy12]

There is a really good thread on here someplace about how the 44-44 t-case works(it’s what you have if you have the auto4x4 option).

In short though, in “auto” the front tires won’t receive power unless the computer senses slip at the rear wheels. Depending on the condition of the case, and because of how the case sends power to the front, it is possible to have rear slip before the front engages, even in 4lock and 4lo.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ktulu990]

I would lock it in 4x4

 

[avantiguy]

Around the Great Lakes, particularly here in Michigan, you would experience any number of conditions on launching ramps. The main reason I bought my first 4X4 was to launch my power boats. The last one was 22'. On low angle ramps into shallow water you will always have the rear wheels in the water and there is usually any number of conditions that make the ramps slippery underwater. The steep ramps that let you launch the boat without going into the water are just that - steep. IAC, there have always been any number of boats pulling in and out leaving wet and slippery conditions for the next user to handle.

Put the truck in 4X4 high usually - I never used low but not a bad idea for really heavy boats, back the trailer into the slip, set the parking brake, put in park. Launch/load boat, put in to gear, release parking brake as you accelerate so as not to roll backwards, pull out of ramp slowly. On high ground, back to 2-wheel drive, put in park, tie down boat, drive away after an enjoyable boating experience.

An adder - Even though I had auto I used 4X4 high

 

[Philip_1973]

Around the Great Lakes, particularly here in Michigan, you would experience any number of conditions on launching ramps. The main reason I bought my first 4X4 was to launch my power boats. The last one was 22'. On low angle ramps into shallow water you will always have the rear wheels in the water and there is usually any number of conditions that make the ramps slippery underwater. The steep ramps that let you launch the boat without going into the water are just that - steep. IAC, there have always been any number of boats pulling in and out leaving wet and slippery conditions for the next user to handle.

Put the truck in 4X4 high usually - I never used low but not a bad idea for really heavy boats, back the trailer into the slip, set the parking brake, put in park. Launch/load boat, put in to gear, release parking brake as you accelerate so as not to roll backwards, pull out of ramp slowly. On high ground, back to 2-wheel drive, put in park, tie down boat, drive away after an enjoyable boating experience.

An adder - Even though I had auto I used 4X4 high

Don't think there is any 4x4 high. You can only choose auto, lock or low for 4WD

This was the slipway where we went to get the boat. Have no idea what the conditions will be where we let it in the water over here. Guess it will depend and be different in any other location. That will be something we will find out next year.

 

[geezer336]

LOck it in .

 

[TRCM]

Don't think there is any 4x4 high. You can only choose auto, lock or low for 4WD

This was the slipway where we went to get the boat. Have no idea what the conditions will be where we let it in the water over here. Guess it will depend and be different in any other location. That will be something we will find out next year.

depends on the tcase...mine has 2wd, 4wd auto, 4wd lock (which is 4wd high) and 4wd low (which is always locked), and of course neutral

Your manual will tell you which is which.

 

[avantiguy]

Don't think there is any 4x4 high. You can only choose auto, lock or low for 4WD

This was the slipway where we went to get the boat. Have no idea what the conditions will be where we let it in the water over here. Guess it will depend and be different in any other location. That will be something we will find out next year.

I'm not sure what the European version of the Laramie has but this is a 2012 Laramie 1500 4X4 shift here. IAC use whatever 4X4 you have and heed the instructions I gave about pulling out of the ramp. Nothing more embarrassing than spinning your wheels when there's a line of boats waiting to launch/recover.

 

[Philip_1973]

This is how it looks on ours