Spinning on ramp advice

[NMplayer]

Besides buying a four wheel drive<br /><br />I have a 2000 F 150 extended cab 4.6 V-8<br /><br />My last boat was a 16 ft trihull. I didnt have any trouble<br /><br />New boat is a 20 ft Lowe pontoon wth a Johnson 50hp <br /><br />Truck pulls the boat well on the highway. It spins nearly every time on the ramp. It doesnt start spinning until after the truck clears the water. I don't spin 'em hard. I just ease it along and mess with it until I get enough traction to pull it out. The brakes hold it with out slipping at all.<br /><br />I've pulled it out about ten times and had some trouble nearly every time but especially when the ramp is wet.<br /><br />Do you guys think more aggressive rear tires would help much. My tires are good but they are street tires <br /><br />Any other ideas appreciated. Truck is low mileage and I can't afford to buy another one It does everything I want to do except for this.

 

[ndemge]

Re: Spinning on ramp advice

is it possible to launch without gettting truck tires wet? or is it just the wetness on the ramp from other vehicles pulling out that makes you slip?<br /><br />...if you dont' have a very long way to go, weight might help in the back of the truck.<br /><br />...if you DO have a long way to go.... rig up a bilge pump, put 50 gallons of water in the back of your truck, pull up the ramp and then dump it

 

[monoshock]

Re: Spinning on ramp advice

Lower air pressure in the rear tires may help get a better bite. <br />What PSI do you have in them know?

 

[jimmbo]

Re: Spinning on ramp advice

Assuming you have an auto, try starting in 2rd gear. That should reduce the torque and wheelspin

 

[NMplayer]

Re: Spinning on ramp advice

Wetness from other vehicles and my own tires are wet <br /><br />Running 40 PSI Might try to bring it down<br /><br />Iv'e tried second gear and it helps but doesn't solve it<br /><br />Maybe more agressive tires?<br /><br />The lake I usually use is in a state park and we camp 200 yards from the ramp. Do they mke some thing that works like tire chains only is made of something else that wouldn't slap the concrete so bad?

 

[levittownnick]

Re: Spinning on ramp advice

IF a front hitch is an option on your truck, it may help. That way the drive wheels should stay out of the water and on a better portion of the ramp.<br />good luck

 

[NMplayer]

Re: Spinning on ramp advice

I would think that a front hitch would make it so that you had virtually no weight on the rear of the truck. I don't know if the drier ground would compensate for that or not.

 

[BillP]

Re: Spinning on ramp advice

Get more weight on the rear wheels. Otherwise angle the truck instead of pulling it straight out. Side pulling makes the tire tread bite better...that's what I do on slippery ramps and the slip goes away.

 

[beezee28]

Re: Spinning on ramp advice

Like jimmbo said,<br /><br />Put it in low gear and slowly let off the brake and slowly engage the accelerator. Do not put it into 'D' until you are on level road. Also take the overdrive out.<br /><br />I put mine in low gear and out of overdrive when I want to launch and retreive the boat. It give me better traction on wet ground and stop the tires from spinning.

 

[496 Cubic Inches]

Re: Spinning on ramp advice

Adding a limited slip to the rear axle will give you more traction. Also try getting your tires siped next time you get new tires. Siping the tires gives you many more biting edges on the tires and reduces tire slippage in wet conditions.

 

[gss036]

Re: Spinning on ramp advice

There must be some warm bodies around the ramp. Give them all a free ride up the ramp for excitement. Sounds like this is just a problem during camping at the park, rocks in the back work good great if any are around, other wise, several 5 gal bucks of water, when you are done, empty out the buckets.

 

[tommays]

Re: Spinning on ramp advice

my Silverado and slipery = 500 pounds of sand bags every winter which makes it amazingly better<br /><br />no limited slip the one on the lot was to good of a deal<br /><br />dont have much problems on boat ramps even with a 3850# boat <br /><br />i think the tires really make the difference it has P255 70R-16 which is huge compared to the standard rubber and i keep them at 42 pounds for the gas millage<br /><br />tommays

 

[LubeDude]

Re: Spinning on ramp advice

Hey Monoshock:<br /><br />Holy Cr*p, thats a big Bass, Youre not holding it close to the camera either. Just by your hand I can tell its big, did you wiegh it?

 

[sea wolf]

Re: Spinning on ramp advice

Carry some sand bags in your truck for extra weight. If that don't help, throw some sand around the tires for traction.

 

[denislajoie]

Re: Spinning on ramp advice

A more aggressive tire will definately help, but they are more noisy on the paved roads, and throw more rocks toward the boat on gravel, i agree with everyone else just add weight, everything will be fine

 

[Reel Poor]

Re: Spinning on ramp advice

You can add weight to the truck by increasing the tounge weight of your trailer. Move the boat further onto the trailer to increase tounge weight. <br /><br />It should be about 10 percent of your total GVW of boat and trailer.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Spinning on ramp advice

Get a trac-loc (or other limited slip differential) installed. It will do wonders on the ramp and also off road. I'll guess you don't see much snow in New Mexico, but if you do, it will help there too. I have a 4.6 in my Town Car and added a Trac-loc (I also disabled the electronic traction control). It is great and it doesn't spin tires in the rain like it used to. This week is the first time I spun the tires with the posi and that is because the trailer dropped off the end of the ramp and I gave a bit too much gas pulling it back up.

 

[dhammann]

Re: Spinning on ramp advice

Try setting the parking brake just enough to apply some resistance to the wheels....this will sometimes allow both wheels to pull. An unloade pick-up (especially a long wheelbase) is a lousy tow vehicle, an Explorer or Blazer will outpull most pick-ups due to the front/rear weight distribution.

 

[monoshock]

Re: Spinning on ramp advice

Posted by, LubeDude <br />(Hey Monoshock: Holy Cr*p, thats a big Bass, Youre not holding it close to the camera either. Just by your hand I can tell its big, did you wiegh it?}<br /><br />I never weigh any fish I catch, I just throw them back. I do take pictures of the big ones. Fishing is for fun who cares what they weigh.<br />My 2 cents, maybe I'm wrong.

 

[JRJ]

Re: Spinning on ramp advice

Don't let the air out of your tires. "Traction" tires are actually worse on wet pavement. "Rain" tires are better. Do add weight to your truck for ballast. Save your money for a 4x4 next time, although many 4x4's just spin their rear tires instead of using it