No traction when pulling boat out of the water

[smokeonthewater]

airing down increases flotation not traction.... great in sand but worthless on slick concrete

 

[Lou C]

Don"t think so. Why do you think top fuel dragsters use wrinkle wall slicks? They are wide but the psi they use is so low that they need to use retainers to keep the tires from spinning on the rims.
Not only that anyone familiar with 4 wheeling knows that even on rocks you always air down, not as low as for the beach, but you don't do off road with rocks and shale/slate as street pressures. The tire will be too hard at street pressures and you can get into a situation where you have all 4 tires spinning but no traction because the tire is too stiff.

In this chart, look at the difference in the column where its says % of tread area increase on ground...

http://www.4-wheeling-in-western-aus...-crawling.html

scroll down for tire pressures for rock crawling.....

 

[thumpar]

Lowering the pressure puts more of the tire on the ground, hence more traction.

 

[smokeonthewater]

top fuel dragsters use large soft tires at low pressure because they NEED more surface contact but not for more traction but because they put down more power than a small contact patch can handle.... they need to spread out the force to more square inches.... the soft sidewalls absorb the torque shock to allow the tire to hold the sudden force.....

I've been an avid offroader for 20 years... we don't air down in the rocks for traction on a flat smooth rock, we air down do the tire will conform to the rock and spread out the force instead of putting all of the power on a 1 square inch point... totally different

We aren't racing dragsters or rock crawling here tho we are pulling a boat slowly up a slick ramp.... increasing the contact patch reduces the pounds per square inch of force pressing the tire to the pavement. the traction available per square inch goes down just as fast as the number of square inches goes up.... this is physics 101 ... at the same total weight a larger contact patch does NOT equal more traction until the tractive force becomes too great for the material to withstand... IE the tire tread starts to tear or melt

The issue is made worse because with less psi on the contact patch the tire's ability to displace water, mud, moss, etc is also reduced.

 

[BoatingCop]

I don't think the OP mentioned what year his Explorer was. This would be helpful to know to give advise on what mods, if any, you could do to your vehicle.

 

[MH Hawker]

Most of my years was using a 2 wd S 10 and i kept 2 old resealable cat liter buckets filled with sand that i could sit in the back of the truck bed and if needed I would open one and toss some sand on the ramp. it worked the very few times needed.

 

[Triangleboater]

Like I said earlier, OP if you are still with us, will you post some pictures and give us some details? We are obliviously itching to help

 

[joetheis]

I saw a old buck at a ramp once ,had a tow hitch on the front bumper.
I commented on it to my buddy and he told me it was guys who can't back up!
I was waiting for my turn to get my sailboat out, got to talking to the old buck.
He told me his (a older Dodge Ram truck-2 wheel drive) was for ever spinning tires at the water edge.
This way his tires are up farther on the ramp, in "rougher" concrete.
He drove down with his trailer attached, pulled the boat on, back up and spun @, away he went.
Mean while I got my boat on, and spun MY tires (Toyota 2 wheel drive truck), cuz the ramp was soaked.
Hmmmmmm, maybe this old dawg taught me a new trick??
I now have a Dodge Dakota 4 X4 and use that, more than once in 4 wheel.
Joe
As always take any advice I give with a beer er 2!

 

[bigdee]

My insurance (before I had 4 wheel drive) was a nylon tow strap. Boaters for the most part are a friendly lot and there is usually someone willing to help you out. I only needed mine once but it made me feel better having it with me.

 

[Fleetwin]

top fuel dragsters use large soft tires at low pressure because they NEED more surface contact but not for more traction but because they put down more power than a small contact patch can handle.... they need to spread out the force to more square inches.... the soft sidewalls absorb the torque shock to allow the tire to hold the sudden force.....
I've been an avid offroader for 20 years... we don't air down in the rocks for traction on a flat smooth rock, we air down do the tire will conform to the rock and spread out the force instead of putting all of the power on a 1 square inch point... totally different
We aren't racing dragsters or rock crawling here tho we are pulling a boat slowly up a slick ramp.... increasing the contact patch reduces the pounds per square inch of force pressing the tire to the pavement. the traction available per square inch goes down just as fast as the number of square inches goes up.... this is physics 101 ... at the same total weight a larger contact patch does NOT equal more traction until the tractive force becomes too great for the material to withstand... IE the tire tread starts to tear or melt
The issue is made worse because with less psi on the contact patch the tire's ability to displace water, mud, moss, etc is also reduced.

That's the way I understand it. The more PSI (smaller footprint) you put on the ground, the better.

If the Explorer is a 2011-up, it is FWD base with 4X4 option. If it is a 2010-down, it is RWD.

I agree with finding out just how mauch weight you have where. Tongue, axles, total. There may be some adjustment available.

It is also a good idea, as stated, to keep light pressure on the brake pedal. This is also good, just in case something happens and you need to STOP quick.