I searched and didnt find much, so hoping I am not duplicating a topic. The actual boat ramp at our marina is awesome, nice grooved concrete drains well not terribly steep, never had a problem pulling the boat out in 2WD. The road leading out of the marina on the other hand is a 6% incline that starts immediately after a hard turn to get out of the parking lot. It's asphalt, that is usually wet from boats being pulled out all day, and you have to hit it at basically idle speed since you are pulling out of the marina, turning and going up a hill all at the same time.

The last few times we have pulled out we have had some tire spin with the traction control coming on. This tends to kill any momentum, and usually results in the truck down shifting from 2nd to 1st gear in the middle of the hill which doesn't do me any favors. Last weekend when we pulled the boat out we got caught in a summer pop up thunderstorm and it was pouring. I said screw this and put the truck in 4A. That made the entire process flawless even in the rain. Truck held 2nd gear, sat at 2,500 RPM and pulled right up the hill with no spin.

The question is long term is towing 7,000lbs up an incline in 4A on dry pavement going to be bad for the transfer case? My gut says no because 4A is really more AWD than a true 4 wheel drive but it still seems like a lot of strain on the drive train. Question two would be am I better off to just use the E-Locker and 2WD to get up the hill? It would eliminate the wheel spin but it would also mean a locked diff while turning going up a hill. Also I most likely would get over 10mph while getting out of the marina where the Elocker would unlock, I think that would be worse than just leaving it open from the start.

Finally - and just a rant here - its times like these I really wish Ford did an LSD instead of an ELocker.

 

4a is fine. Don't lock the diff.

 

If you're turning hard in 4A, then the front wheels are probably disengaging or reducing power anyways. Going very slow should be ok. 4A on roads with slippery patches (ice/snow) has broken front driveshafts before

https://www.f150forum.com/f118/1st-d...ot-tow-372238/

However, I think that story was a matter of flooring it when leaving a parking lot that broke the shaft. The front lost grip, transfer case locked the front shaft and then he suddenly got grip and "bang".

I would personally use the elocker but that's just me. Once you get up to speed and it disengages you should be fine just maintaining speed, and the wettest part of the road should be behind you at that point.

Sounds like the worst road to a boat ramp ever lol

 

Well perfect two totally conflicting opinions on the topic. Exactly what I expected.

I have seen worse roads to boat ramps, this one just gets tricky because its turning while also going up a pretty decent incline and its a tight two lane country road. Hell best option may be to just lock the transmission in 1st leave it in 2H let the tires spin a bit and have traction control take care of it.

Last weekend a Dodge 1500 loaded down /w a huge pontoon spun a tire the entire way up, while everyone in the marina pointed and laughed. Don't want to be that guy.

 

You shouldn't use the ELD for the reason you stated - hard turn to go up the hill. FYI, it would disengage at 25MPH, not 10MPH.

4A is exactly what you should use. If you didn't have 4A, using 4H would be fine, or 4L even, as long as the pavement was wet and the tires were slipping. Once you make the turn and straighten out, engaging the ELD is fine.

Anytime I use a boat ramp I engage 4H and the ELD to pull the boat out.

 

Well, now how hard is this turn? Like a hairpin? Turning right at an intersection? Or just a good curve? If it's not like turning at an intersection then 4H should be fine.

 

How in the world our marina in the middle of nowhere Kentucky is on Google Maps Street view I dont know, but it is. It doesn't look steep in the picture - the truck has it at 5 - 6% on the "off road" section of the 8in display.

 

Funny, on google satellite view you can see the spot that's either wet, and/or where everyone spins their tires. There's a long dark patch...

That turn's not too bad. I think any mode would be fine. Even 4A should be ok as long as you're not trying to peel out of there. Front tires slipping is where you'd run into possible trouble. Just take it easy getting up to speed until you're past the wet pavement. I'd probably still just use the elocker myself because it's not a tight turn, but hard to say without seeing it in person. I don't think there would be any harm in trying any combination. I've used the elocker once towing my camper because the one spot I go to is steeper than that and a tighter turn, it had rained. Didn't have any problems.

 

Don't lock the rear diff if you're making any turn on pavement that is not slippery. It will try to turn the the rear wheels at different speeds and you will feel it hop. Sharp enough and you could feel a CLUNK as you break something.
I don't see any hill in that picture that should even give you trouble in 2wd. I've gone up 12% gravel trail with a 4000# camper and only used the e-locker.

 

4A is intended for situations exactly like yours. Use it without hesitation.