Brakes went out!

gpfishingdude

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
538
It was the end of a busy weekend on the lake and trailers were being backed in 5 wide on the ramp. The law had some drunks at the dock and that made things a little more tense.
Anyway the wife managed to back the pontoon boat trailer down after a few tries and I had just made a big run at the trailer an got the boat about 2/3 of the way up the carpeted bunks when she took off driving up the hill to the parking lot.
I have to tell you that I was puckering a little bit on that ride up the hill in a boat that wasn't even hooked to the trailer. I also wonder what in the blazes got into her.
She whipped the truck into the parking lot and jumped out and said the brakes are gone and I could see the puddle of brake fluid running out from under the truck.
I managed to winch the boat the rest of the way on the trailer and spent the next day getting a new brake line installed on the truck. Not a stupid trick but it sure was one we won't ever forget.
 

gpfishingdude

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
538
When I see a picture of a vehicle under water at the bottom of a boat ramp I always wonder if something happened to their brakes and maybe they weren't as lucky as we were.
 

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
15,417
Know the feeling all to well.

Trailered 125 miles to a tournament. Dropped the boat in the water and went to park. Pulled in a parking space and the pedal went to the floor.

Could have been a whole lot worst had they gone out on the trip down.
 

Rabbit929

Seaman
Joined
Aug 3, 2020
Messages
68
Makes you wonder if a person could panic fast enough to use the e-brake. (Usually mechanical for this reason) this could sink as it usually just works for the rear tires. 😶

you got a smart woman on your hands sir! Does she have any sisters that would like their lives ruined?
 

LundAngler1650

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Apr 14, 2021
Messages
85
I have the girlfriend sit in my truck with it in drive, and her foot on the brakes. Said to her early on into us dating, if the brakes ever fail, its then in drive and use the throttle to hold it from rolling back. With probably 100 launches, and 100 retrievals under her belt now, she is super calm on the ramp, not like the first few where she was stressed out by the whole thing.
 
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