Boats, boat ramps, 4WD, open differentials

[scott011422]

Locker or not…a slimey ramp will play havoc with both… the line lock that’s available on the front wheels will save you if you get out of your truck to self launch…I do feel more confident with 4wd engaged but if you’re on a short ramp or a ramp with a drop off due to prop wash…you’re going to need a buddy with a tow strap

what is this front line lock you speak of?

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[powerboatr]

what is this front line lock you speak of?

it is an electric operated switch that allows front brakes to be set to ON and then you can release pedal and brakes will remain ON until power is removed or switched
https://www.summitracing.com/search/part-type/line-locks
just one of hundreds

easy is 4x4 in 4 l
set truck to park and set parking brake
this way if rear tires are on a slippery surface the fronts still grab

 

[scott011422]

it is an electric operated switch that allows front brakes to be set to ON and then you can release pedal and brakes will remain ON until power is removed or switched
https://www.summitracing.com/search/part-type/line-locks
just one of hundreds

easy is 4x4 in 4 l
set truck to park and set parking brake
this way if rear tires are on a slippery surface the fronts still grab

lol, I had a similar unit on my 05’ F150. I thought you meant specifically for the new F150s with the integrated brake/abs unit.

 

[powerboatr]

lol, I had a similar unit on my 05’ F150. I thought you meant specifically for the new F150s with the integrated brake/abs unit.

ohh
i have always just used 4l and parking brake and a chock if i or the wife had to get out of truck.

 

[TXGREEK]

A question for you boat owners/boat ramp users out there……

I’m thinking of buying a new ’23 XLT regular cab long bed OGT (Old Guy Truck). It has a weirdly-optioned powertrain (3.3L 4WD with 3.73 open rear differential) but price is good all things considered. I don’t really want or need 4WD (don’t off-road, don’t live in snow country, don’t have a boat) – but – with a view towards future resale desirability, a very high percentage of truck owners where I live (south LA) do have boats and their trucks are either (a) 4WD or (b) 2WD with E-locker rear differential.

And I’ve completely struck out finding within a 1000 miles any new ’23 XLT regular cabs with 2WD and an E-locker.

For those of you who regularly launch/recover boats from boat ramps – would you/did you ever consider a 4WD F-150 with an open rear differential? Or was the open diff a deal-killer?

My current ride is an ’18 2WD with an E-locker and quite a few folks here with boats have told me they feel fine with this setup on boat ramps (assuming tires are appropriate and ramp isn’t super-steep or super-slimely).

What say you?

WARNING Buy a 4x4 when using your truck at boat ramps cause you’ll spin those tires almost immediately all because ramp gets wet when others pull their boats out or else your truck will just slide backwards and you’ll be screwed! .

 

[N1KAW]

Here in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, I occasionally launch a full-keel sailboat and a 24ft bowrider from public boat ramps. As stated by others, boat ramps vary widely in condition, tractions, grade, etc. Having said this, I'm glad I have 4x4-LOW with locking diff on my 2022 F150 SuperCrew FX4 with 3.5Ecoboost. The ramps get slick, wet and busy, and dragging 6,000lbs from the water can be challenging. So far, I've never had a hiccup and pulled confidently off the ramp. Conversely, I've watched others spin and crab, even with 1,000 of sand in the bed.

 

[TexasTruck]

For those of you who regularly launch/recover boats from boat ramps – would you/did you ever consider a 4WD F-150 with an open rear differential? Or was the open diff a deal-killer?

A long time ago (1997) on a boat ramp far far away (Austin, TX).... my truck was 2WD with a clutch based LSD. The boat ramp I frequent (still to this day) is not very long and not very steep; pretty easy launch and recover. Most of the time the LSD would kick in with no problem hauling my 3K lb. boat up and out. Then I had one of those oh shit moments. Spin left, spin right, repeat, losing inches in the wrong direction. All it takes is one of those times and you learn to have 4WD. Even though the front and rear axles are open diffs we have electronic traction control to simulate the old clutch style limited slip diffs (LSD). To take this one step further, some F-150 models have a non-clutch style diff called Torsen, but that's another conversation.

Not to beat this topic to death, but that 2WD truck I had, I had one heck of a time trying to sell it, let alone trade it. The reason, it was 2WD....

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