Advice

How to Launch a Boat and Protect Your Truck

By 05/10/2024 8:00am
A Ford truck with an outboard boat is launched on a ramp into a lake.

Quick Facts About Truck Protection While Launching a Boat:

Using a truck to tow and launch a boat from a ramp is no mean feat. Yes, people do it every day without drama or incident. However, accomplishment requires preparation and strict attention to detail. Although longtime boaters make the process look easy, it is just that: a process. Establishing and carefully sticking to a methodology is essential to a successful towing and launching experience.

We aren’t going to reinvent the wheel here. We have a comprehensive towing handbook. However, here, we will provide some pointers for preparing your truck for towing and launching a boat and some common mistakes to avoid. Use the jump links below to skip ahead.

Picking the Right Truck for Towing

The first rule for picking a tow vehicle is that more towing capability is better than insufficient capability. In other words, you won’t go wrong buying a truck with a higher maximum towing weight limit than you think you’ll need. Besides a higher cost to own, there is no penalty for having more towing-weight capacity than your load requires. If you skimp on your estimated towing weight needs, you can wind up with less capability than your load demands. Consequently, you may damage your truck’s drivetrain, reduce its stability, or even cause a crash.

Foremost, an insurance division of Farmers Insurance Group known for insuring RVs and boats, puts overworking the tow vehicle’s engine first on its list of mistakes people make when towing. Overworking includes pulling a heavier load than that for which the manufacturer rates the truck. Foremost may have fielded a few engine damage claims due to excessive load weight.

TIP: When determining your truck’s towing capacity requirements, consider the weight of the trailer, boat, and any cargo you typically load into the boat when towing.

How to Prep a Truck for Towing a Boat

Nothing beats common sense for protecting your truck when towing and launching a boat. Most of our tips for preparing your truck for the task are based on common sense – they are still worth mentioning.

  • The appropriate hitch — Automotive hitches come in five classes. Trucks most often use Class III through Class V hitches. As the size of the vehicle and the weight of the load increase, so should the hitch classification. Adding a tow hitch can increase your car’s value and utility. However, always check your owner’s manual for your vehicle’s tow rating before installing a hitch.
  • Ball mount and ball — The shank is the portion of the ball mount platform that fits into your truck’s hitch receiver. It must be the same size as the truck hitch receiving tube. Each hitch classification has a specific size receiving tube. For Class III and IV, it’s 2 inches. Class V has a 2.5-inch receiving tube. A prime responsibility of the ball mount platform is to keep the tongue of your loaded trailer level. An adjustable mount platform simplifies this task. The ball must match the size of the trailer coupler opening exactly. Most trailer manufacturers put the coupler size on a label on the trailer’s tongue. PRO TIP: Don’t cut corners or try to make do with any aspect of the ball mount platform, ball size, weight requirement, or leveling the load. To do so will make towing and launching more difficult and less safe.
  • Check and top off all essential fluids — Pulling a trailer puts a strain on a truck’s powertrain; therefore, ensure that engine oil, coolant, and transmission fluid are at optimum levels. While you are at it, top off the windshield washer fluid, too.
  • Double-check tire pressure — Even if your truck has a built-in tire pressure monitor system alerting you to low tire pressure, use a hand gauge to verify every tire has the owner’s manual recommended tire pressure. If you are already crouched down and checking the pressure, verify that the lug nuts are tight.
  • Invest in towing mirrors — If your truck didn’t come with them, invest in larger towing mirrors. A cheaper but still effective alternative is exterior mirror extensions which attach to the standard outboard mirrors, providing a wider field of view. A broader view is critical for towing and comes in handy when backing a boat trailer down a bustling boat ramp.
  • Load management — Evenly distribute the cargo loads in your truck’s cargo box and boat to ensure maximum towing stability. An uneven load affects not only stability but also steering.
  • Tow lines — The wrong time to begin worrying about tow lines to pull your truck out of trouble is as you watch it sink into the drink at the end of a boat ramp. Have a couple of tow lines ready.

TIP: Although it has more to do with driver than truck preparedness, if you haven’t clocked multiple instances of steering a trailer in reverse, find an empty parking lot and practice. Buy four small, inexpensive orange traffic cones at the big-box home improvement store, set them to form a rectangle representing a traffic lane, and practice backing into it from every angle. Future you will thank you. 

4 Common Mistakes When Launching a Boat

  1. Forgetting to set the parking brake: We’ll include neglecting to shift the truck transmission into “Park” with our parking brake reminder. In a rush to hop out of the cab to dash back and release the boat once in the water, forgetting to shift into Park or set the parking brake can grow into a fiercely expensive and hazardous oversight. It can allow the truck to roll back and take a little dip in the surf. The tow lines we mentioned earlier will be a big help here.
  2. Transferring gear: The time to transfer gear from your truck’s cargo box to the boat is before you are on the ramp. Moreover, if you haven’t done the appropriate size-and-shape calculations, you may discover that you must leave the extra gear in your truck’s bed unattended.
  3. Jackknifing: Drivers newer to trailer towing require some practice to master steering while in reverse. The newer breed of trucks offer some reverse steering assistance (Ford: Pro Trailer Backup Assist, Ram: Trailer Reverse Steering Control, and so on). To some degree, these systems can send appropriate steering inputs to the trailer. Otherwise, the driver must compensate for the trailer turning in the opposite direction of the steering wheel input. In other words, when backing up, turning the steering wheel to the right causes the trailer to turn to the left. Overcompensating when attempting to correct the trailer’s trajectory can end in jackknifing. This condition is when the trailer becomes perpendicular to the truck, bringing the trailer tongue into contact with the truck’s rear bumper. Jackknifing can cause damage to both the trailer and the truck.
  4. Backing too far down the ramp: Put those bigger mirrors to use. Back down the ramp only as far as required for the boat’s stern to float off the trailer. Continuing in reverse beyond that point exposes you to the danger of the trailer wheels dropping off the end of the ramp. Once the trailer wheels drop off the end of the ramp, they may become mired in the soft mud found at the end of most ramps. Your truck may not have enough traction to pull the trailer out. Stay on the ramp and avoid another reason to use those tow lines.

TIP: We recommend always walking down the ramp before backing your trailer onto it. Establish where the ramp ends. Inspect the ramp surface to judge its condition. Is it slick or dry? Reduce the surprises you might encounter when launching.