Truck Rolls Down Ramp, Sinks in Lake

[BrewKaiser]

Launching/Retrieving is the most stressful aspect of boating. Unfortunately, as @langwell states, too many many inebriated recreational boaters out there. I save my beers for after the boat's been put away and we're all home. They've never tasted better!

Between boats and trucks many of use are rolling around with $150K worth of toys yet fail to spend the $1500 a year on general maintenance and tires. Bald tires and worn brakes will cause far more damage and injury when cruising at 60 MPH on damp roads than on a slick ramp backing up at less than 5MPH.

If you have 4WD use it as @unstuck says. No reason not to.

"S***" can happen to even the most experienced boaters. See @Elevatedconcept for example. Best way to avoid is take care of maintenance, have a good routine for launching and stick to it with a trusted crew in both boat and truck and just be patient.

Ramps are certainly a great place to hang out and people watch for a good laugh. Gotta believe more damage happens at the ramp than anywhere else.

[IDBoating]

The biggest part of avoiding this is that your tow vehicle has 4WD. And that you use it. 4LO if you have it, as someone else already stated.

Our lake level drops as the season goes on, and by the time we're pulling out for the season the "dry" part of the ramp is really just dried out slime, still slick as snot. And since we're generally not the first to the ramp on any day, it's been freshly moistened by other boats so it's really slippery. There's no way to keep the rear tires on "dry" ground.

But my Dodge 3500 has 4000 pounds of Cummins diesel engine sitting right over the front wheels, and limited slip differentials. So even if the rear tires were to start slipping, those front tires are well up the ramp and securely glued down by two tons of metal. 4LO, let out the clutch slowly (so no spinning tires), let the engine idle (the ECU will increase fuel as needed), and it just pulls the boat and trailer out effortlessly.

The second biggest part of avoiding being the next source of boat ramp entertainment is go slowly and think everything through twice. I drive the truck+trailer while my wife drives the boat. When the trailer is in the water and I'm about ready to get out to decouple the boat, I stop... check all truck settings... confirm brake is on... confirm I'm already in 4LO... check again... etc. Only takes a few extra seconds but when you get in a rush is when you forget something.

As a side note: I know it's real common to unstrap the boat while over dry land, but I leave the winch strap on until she's floating off the trailer. I've seen what happens when a boat slips off the trailer too early because the ramp is steep or the bunks are wet or whatever. Yeah, it takes a couple of seconds more but that's WAY less time than recovering a grounded boat that slipped off the trailer before it was safely floating, not to mention the damage to the running gear. You won't be that day's ramp entertainment, you'll be that day's focus of hatred from everyone because your boat has shut down the ramp until some sort of crane can come lift it back onto your trailer. No thanks!