A bad day on the Columbia

How the hell do brakes fail on modern pickup trucks??

Unless its a standard tranny and they left it neutral , then the e brake failed. But that's why you leave it in gear and turn the ignition off. Is it possible for the pedal brake to fail??

I never have seen anyone use chocks at a ramp. EVER. Maybe they feel too macho and don't think it's important.
 
Wow, sad
Maybe when backing into water, driver had wet feet and slipped off brake pedals or pressed gas pedal by accident

bad day
 
While you start to load the boat onto the trailer, have you EVER had the entire truck & trailer start to slide down a slick ramp ? I can tell you, it is NOT a good feeling.
 
san juanderer":1gcw3aai said:
While you start to load the boat onto the trailer, have you EVER had the entire truck & trailer start to slide down a slick ramp ? I can tell you, it is NOT a good feeling.
Click to expand...

I saw that happen to a guy in FL. Whole rig slid down the ramp until the boat was floating again. Since it was a roller trailer, the rig went in the water a fair ways.
 
If you have a standard transmission leave it in the lowest gear - this creates the most engine braking. If you have a 4 wheel drive - engage it - this will force all wheels to skid if you are on a slick ramp. And of coarse make sure your emergency brake is working and adjusted properly. Chock wheels if necessary.
 
Every couple of years, I get a call to get one of those...it is not at all uncommon...folks think the truck is in park and it is not...and they just hop out... the last one I got into was a new Ford. (big beautiful truck) ..it was under about 8' of water... the dash lights were on, the door buzzer was still on...and the truck was in neutral..
about 8 years ago someone sank a motorhome doing the same thing....

Joel
SEA3PO
 
If you look on YouTube, you can find dozens of these "boat & auto in the water" videos.....many worst than this one (some show so rather stupid attempts to retrieve said vehicles!). I got hooked one time on seeing these since they are so jaw-dropping. As with all things YouTube, once you start watching a certain type of video, YouTube will automatically serve up others to you on the "recommended" list every time you sign in.
 
Happens quite often over here in FL. Seen it myself 2-3 times, and almost happened to my truck.

I was in the boat, buddy was backing her in. I wasn't quite deep enough so I said come on back. I launched, and said "Ok - pull forward." He was still in R and hit the gas - water was up to the tailgate. Couple more inches and she would have floated off. With a strong tide that probably would have been all it would have taken.

I also have my shifter cable break on my F150 (technically it was the little plastic piece that shifts the transmission and not the cable) - so whatever gear you happen to be in or going to is where you're stuck. Mine happened to break on the way to D - so N. So...the shifter says D, but you're in N. You give it some gas and unless your left foot is on the brake the boat goes backward. Do that twice and it's going for a drink.

If you panic it's game over.

I used to chuckle at the ineptness of people, now I think twice before going "What an idiot." Then again some of them really are idiots...but at least I think twice about it.

Must have been a slow day for the dive team. Over here it's a call to a tow company.
 
Saltwater area boaters have to use boat ramps that vary from a 12' high tide to a -4' low tide ramp. Saltwater areas grow a marine substance on the tidal area, including the boat ramp. Some get so slick, that a shovel is wanted to throw some sand and gravel on the ramp surface.
Most freshwater area boaters do not have to deal with tides, ramps do not vary unless the region is influenced by a dam.
Guemes Island boaters do not have a concrete ramp, they back down the beach. Many boaters have buried the wheels in the beach sand, and the incoming tide buried the tow vehicle.
 
I let my nephew pull my 12 ft boat out of a lake in Nor Cal. He was 14 and just learning. Got the boat up the ramp just fine and I hooped out of the boat. Told him to put it in park and sure enough he puts it in N and goes right down the ramp and in to the water. I got him out but the truck did not stop until it hit 20 ft. It was the trailer jack knifing that stopped it. That ramp goes another hundred yards and 80 ft deep.

Called a friend that has a wrecker and we got it out the next day. Rowed out in another boat and held the tow chains in his hands ( 100 pounds ) and just jumped in over the truck. Got it hooked up and we towed it out .

I have slid backwards down frozen ramps several times in my hunt for big German browns in the winter. Fun times.
 
I never have seen anyone use chocks at a ramp. EVER. Maybe they feel too macho and don't think it's important.
Click to expand...

I used chocks all the time when I was towing with my Highlander. The parking brake on those vehicles is almost worthless. I'll use the chock with my F150 now if the ramp is steep enough. BTW, those plastic chocks don't look all that safe, so I have one of those parking rubber bricks that I have cut in half. The rubber grabs the pavement!

And regarding salt water vs. fresh water ramps, most our ramps around here (fresh water), get an algae coating about the last few feet of where your rear tires set while launching or loading!
 
This is what my buddy saw last weekend at the Whittier ramp after we launched the boat while I was parking the truck and trailer.
A Tomcat was being launched on the opposite ramp and as the boat went into the water it became obvious that the tie down straps on the stern were still attached because the motors were going under. Unfortunately the motors were down all the way so when the bow started to float the skegs started bumping on the ramp as it went down, he said the motors were chattering up and down; It was obvious they were hitting the concrete ramp. By the time the owner figured it out the motors were almost submerged.
He said the crew just stood and watched like everything was normal.
By the time I returned to the ramp the owner appeared to be assessing the situation and possible damage.
Not sure how things turned out, we where at the end of the ramp with 4 boats behind use; time to go.

Almost every time I launch or retrieve it's always something.

Another time a another boater did the same thing, lunched with the straps on.
Couldn't figure out what was the hold at the launch ramp so walked over to investigate. This time one of the wheels somehow went under the float, this was on an outgoing 12 ft tide. After messing around too long the float dock came down on the wheel and fender. 2 launch ramps were tied up while they where trying to sort it out. Eventually a front end loader with forks moved in to lift the float so they could get the trailer out.
What a mess!

Always something entertaining at the Whittier ramp.
 
In Campbell River last Monday, I watched a guy retrieving a big (26 or 28 ft Grady with twin 250's) The tide was low and the ramp was green 3/4 of the way up. He was driving a Lincoln Navigator with, YES, 2 wheel drive, and those fancy new little skinny, "Low Profile" wheels and tires. He was spinning in the first 3 feet, and just stayed on it spinning all the way to the top, where the last 30 feet he just kept spinning, burning tires all the way. Then he stopped right as the boat topped the ramp, to tie down, tilt the OB's and check the tires. Funny, no tread left on the rear tires. He was really made. I wasn't too surprised, after seeing all the smoke.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

Friends_Cal_09_10_Oct.thumb.jpg
 
Back
Top