Re: Pickup truck drowning at launch ramp?
I think the trailer needs some bigger tires
Seriously though, I'd replace the tires with something smaller. What it the height of the current tires? The 4.80-12 tires on my jon boat trailer are a bit over 19" tall, and that's where the bottom of the hull sits too. It sits a bit high and my boat doesn't float off easily, but I need the ground clearance for rough roads. I can still park with the car/truck door on dry pavement and launch/load the boat though. I put some WD-40 on the bunks and it slides off easier now. (I used WD-40 as it's supposed to attract fish where I haven't ever heard anything about silicone spray attracting fish
)
Before doing anything, I would see how much lower the trailer needs to be, to float the boat while not submerging the entire truck. IE: where is the water level on the boat when the truck is backed in at an acceptable distance (drivers door still on dry pavement), then where is the water level when it floats off. Back the trailer in and measure it's depth with the door still on dry land, then back in again where the boat starts floating, pull out and measure it again.
The bumper hitch might be a problem as you can't drop the tongue as you could with a receiver hitch. Even if you put on smaller tires, the front of the trailer will still be too high. A
bumper mounted hitch receiver would solve this, but I wouldn't trust one of those to tow much more than a small boat. $60 at HF would get you the receiver hitch, ball mount and ball. Another $100+ at HF would get you a smaller set of tires too. (I was skeptical of HF tires
, but have 3-4 years on my 4.80-12's and they have done great...)
Oh yeah, I agree with the others that say the shackles need to be on the rear of the spring, not the front. Can you unbolt the spring hangers, slide out the axle/spring assy, rotate it 180*, then bolt it back in the right way? Your trailer kind of looks like a HF trailer, and I know that would be possible with mine. (after I cut off the extra welds I put on the spring hangers.)
What do you think? Honestly, I know you all speak from experience (mostly), and its starting to wear down on my stubbornness, probably for the better. So i'll start searching CL and putting some money away. In the mean time i'll probably just use a heartier shove off the trailer as uncle willie suggested. Aint no way ima quit fishin until then! After all, I just finished my carb rebuild and this outboard's purr has never sounded sweeter. 
