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Tideman.
Any of you guys that are using 2 wheel drive pick ups please give your opinion on pulling out of steep ramps. I have been using an older Tacoma 4 WD with no problems. Also how do they pull over the highway. I know there are die hard Ford, Chevy fans etc. just curious before I purchase a new truck. Thinking about an 09 Ford 2 wheel or 4 wheel. Thanks BASSBUB
We have a general collage of vehicles at BCB. From a small Envoy with a V8, to a One Ton Cummins and a 3/4 Ton 4X4 Dodge with a Hemi Ivan drives, and he has a Ford 1/2 150 4x also. There is not a doubt you are trying to gain fuel mileage on the 2WD vs 4×4. The 2WD will handle most any ramp without trouble. You may need to gain momentum on those wet steep ramps before your rig pulls the weight onto the trailer from the water. We all remember the times a vehicle sat and squalled away trying to maneuver a ramp. Think about how many times one easily slipped up hill without a notice. The driver may be the issue on some of those. No doubt we have 2-2006 Yukons, one 4×4 and one 2WD. The 2WD out mileages the 4WD heavily by a couple MPGs Then the little Envoy does do a fine job though with its smaller body and V8. As for pulling, they both pull similar, and the 4WD does get the nod on handling. Though at a cost of about 2 MPG here as well. We think a 2WD will be fine for most ramps with that body weight in front. BCB
I bought a 2 wheel drive 06 chevy silverado thinking I would not need 4×4 in NC for ramp issues,boy was I wrong. My mind set was before I started tournament fishing again. I fished places that the boat ramps were cut and roughed in for maximum traction. But when I started going all over the state that is when i discovered what a mistake i had made. By far Lake Norman and Falls Lake are the worse for me. They use sealer and when its wet its like ice. So needless to say my next truck will be 4×4. Not so much for weather but for ramp issues to be resolved. Hope that helped.
Ive got a 2WD Avalanche and an AWD Escalade right now. The ONLY time I can imagine needing the AWD on the ramp is a day below freezing when people start putting in and the water freezes on the ramp as they pull out. Yes a short box one wheel drive truck is near worthless for a 20 foot boat on scummy or icy ramps. A heavy 2wd truck with a Locking or LS rear end has served me very well. My last truck was a LS 2WD pickup, I had to go slower in the snow and add a little weight in the bed in the winter but I still went where I wanted the two or three times a winter we see snow. If I lived in AR or up north where it snowed a buch, 4WD without a question, but that has nothing to do with boat ramps. My 2 cents worth.
I have owned both 4WD and 2WD with positraction. I have bass fished for the past 25 years and really only needed to use 4 WD three times, and I was very pleased that I was towing with a 4WD vehicle all three times. I needed 4 WD once on the Neuce River in New Bern, North Carolina when the ramp was very slick and the tires just spun in 2WD. Once I hit the 4WD button, the boat and rig just walked right on up. The second time I required 4WD was during a Federation tournament in Alabama where we parked the vehicles in a huge grass field. During the tournament it poured rain most of the day and the field ended up being a mud whole. I got out fine, though the boat was filthy dirty from all of the mud that the tires threw on it in trying to get out of the field. Those of us with 4WD vehicles ended up unhooking our boats after making it to pavement in order to assist in retrieving the rigs with 2 WD vehicles that were stuck in the mud. It made for an interesting day. The third time I needed 4WD was on Lake Eufaula in Alabama during low water conditions when my friend that was backing me into the water backed the boat down too far and dropped the trailer wheels on my ranger off the end of the ramp. The truck just spun in 2WD, but pulled the trailer right out when placed in 4WD. The fiberglass fenders on my ranger did get damaged in the process. In short, I very rarely needed to have gone to the expense of 4WD vehicles, but I was thrilled the three times that I needed 4WD and only had to hit a button to engage 4WD instead of having to call a friend with a 4WD vehicle to come assist me in getting out of a jam. My next Avalanche will have 4WD, that is, if they continue to make 4WD trucks in the future. Corky
2WD for most applications, but there are times 4WD comes in handy. As discussed above with slick steep ramps most will just try to ease the boat out of the water. This will result is burning tons of rubber off those tires. Theres a technique that will help solve that problem though and that is to push the truck with the boat.
YEP ILL ASK….PUSH THE TRUCK WITH THE BOAT??????????????????????????????
Keep the motor in gear after trailered pushing water (IE: pushing the truck) until the prop clears the water. This method requires timing and two people. Way back when the Bushy Park Ramp on the Cooper River was a mud ramp this was the only way to get out even with a 4WD LOL.
If you have a Jeep or other AWD vehicle with extra low, be careful if you back into mud. The stress on a trailer using extra low is pretty great as I learned to my chagrin.
JohnM17 wrote: Keep the motor in gear after trailered pushing water (IE: pushing the truck) until the prop clears the water. This method requires timing and two people. Way back when the Bushy Park Ramp on the Cooper River was a mud ramp this was the only way to get out even with a 4WD LOL. WITH MY WIFE DRIVING THE BOAT AND ME PULLING HER OUT,THIS SOUNDS LIKE THE RECIPE FOR TROUBLE
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