I am looking into getting a bigger boat than my jon boat but i want to know what my limits are with my truck for towing a boat, i know it will be more difficult getting up the wet ramp with heavy a 2wd truck so what i am asking is what would be the max weight you guys think i could get away with at the ramp i dont want to be there doing burnouts at the
ramp and have my boat sitting pretty in the water , i am looking at
a boat that is around 6,000lbs would i be able to get that up the ramp ?

 

it all depends on the ramp. if it is a steep ramp made out of old concrete that is slick with algae, no. if it is a gradual ramp with traction grooves cut into the concrete, you will have no problem

 

lots of things come into play when your boat load increases

1) how much longer is the boat gonna be?
2) what condition is the boat ramp in? Gravel? Stone? concrete? black top? rubber? this is all for traction
3) what shape are your tires in?
4) granted 4wd would definitely help

my opinion if you have good tires and the ramps are in good condition for good traction i believe you will be fine... the truck itself wont have any issues pullin. Mainly traction like i say will play a big part

 

the truck has good tires it is a dually with brand new firestone transforce H/T
i feel much better now getting some good opinions,

 

Try to launch and remove on the dry side of the ramp....... hard some times on a long weekend.......

 

i think i am going to have to find a diffrent ramp one that is a bit wider so i have that option and one that is less steep .

 

Coalroller got it right, it comes down more to the ramp and the traction then your truck. You should be able to haul 6000 lbs no problem with your truck.. heck double that lol
The big problem is the ramp itself, I am very picky about were I launch my boat and will often drive further for a better ramp. I have never had a problem yet with either the old 75 2wd or the 92 4wd. My boat/trailer combined weight is only 3500 lbs but I have launched it and drug it out of the water with my 3000 lb slide in camper in both trucks. That's a little scary in the 2wd for traction purposes only but the diesel I just lock in the hubs and come up the ramp in 4 low 3rd gear

 

I had a 22' SunRunner cuddy cabin (no idea on weight) One of the lakes we used to go to had a fairly steep ramp. Problem was not the ramp but the loose gravel and like TJC said, some algae. Even in 4x4 both front and rear tires would slip and spin in the same 15 ft wide area, the full width of the ramp.

If I had the 9.5 ft slide in camper on, it never slipped, the truck would crawl right past the bad spot. I had a 78 Ram Charger with a built 440, 3/4 ton axles and 4:10 gears. That thing spun tires on the same ramp no matter what. Only way to get past the bad spot was to get a run lower on the ramp and keep on the throttle, spinning tires till you got past that bad 15 ft. Then the rangers would come out and want to give a ticket for exhibition driving. GRRRRR!

 

i have never had a probelm towing my dads 17 foot bass boat even when the ramps where steap but my tire could count as weight and i have my freinds pile in the bed lol about 400 pounds or man dose help to

 

You also have 4wd i only have drwd, well except for my moms rav4 ,it cant tow crap ! It barely pulls our 14ft rivet jon boat.

 

Tried with 79 F150 with granny. 300. 4wd were broke.

Put in granny it spin at 3 mph until got traction. Boat were 5K lb. Very close to roll back in water if it couldn't get traction.


In my opinion dually with auto isn't good for those. Manual tran would do much better in my opinion.

But I would bring chain that will fit rear tire though rim for emergency it will bite ramp HARD like you have 4wd.

 

i have 4x4 but it dont work i had to rebuild the axel under it them i found out the gear ratios dont match so i cant use it any way

 

That must suck all that work for nothing !

 

oh it did still trying to find some tools that went flying that day but my new d60 is 410 so it all good once i get it swaped in

 

I don't see why you would have a problem pulling that boat with your truck I used to pull a car hauler with total weight around 8k regularly with my 87 F-350 5.8l gas and had no worries. The only time the 4wd should be needed is if you are planning on launching from a unimproved ramp and I don't think it would be wise to launch a 6000lb boat from one anyways. The truck should pull it with no problems unless there is some problem with the trans or something.