Thank you for sharing and glad there were no injuries!
I'm with you and will be changing my habits when at ramps from this day forward.

I usually just leave mine in park, not a step or wet ramp though. I will start using the parking brake

Only true of drum brake E-brakes. Many of the disc style E-brakes now use the rear brake caliper and a valve that maintains pressure on the piston when activated.

Going to now add wheel chocks & turning the front wheels to my launch & retrieval routine. Thanx OP.

I must be missing something. I rented a 2019 Ford pickup truck today to launch my boat (twice a year event). After I backed the trailer down the ramp and stopped, I could find no parking brake actuator. Guess I should have read the manual first. So I had to just leave it in park and worry about it. But now I seem to read about those trucks having an electronic parking brake. How does that work? Did I not find the button or is it automatically applied? I want to rent again when needed.

Lots of things can tow stuff fast on a flat road. A stock car only weighs around 3500# (plus the trailer weight). My minivan could do it.

Things get more interesting if you have to swerve or stop suddenly.

Problem with using disc brakes for parking is that if the brakes are hot when you apply the parking brake the rotors can warp. That is why a lot of 4 wheel disc brake vehicles use the drum in the hat setup for the parking brake.

Yes, I've experienced that quick swerve and was very lucky that time when someone cut me off. All I'm saying is I like the Idea of getting an SUV that has a towing capacity of 7700 pounds. I'm not going to pull 7700 pounds but It will be possible. My Explorer could only pull 5600 pounds and it had no problem pulling my boat all over the US. Usually to me, more is usually better when thinking about tow capacity

Here's how to do it. https://owner.ford.com/support/how-t...ng-brake.html#

Thanks to you and everyone else who commented about using chocs. You have all convinced me too. I must say I've never seen anyone at the ramp doing it all my life but I'll be watching now and when I see someone do it I'll know they probably read this post and are on THT. :thumbsup:

That's exactly what I did when it went in. Are you going to turn off the car?

Congrats on the new VW. What you did at the ramp is pretty much exactly what 95% of us do. Whatever failed on your old car, well...good riddance.

This.^^^^^^^^^^

Got a F250 wet from a flood of saltwater. Got the truck all washed off and it caught fire 2 days later. Tow truck driver said it was common.

I have launched over 100 times a year for over 20 years. Always with 150 or a 250. Parking brake and in park. I back down put my foot on the brake and put the truck in park. Let my foot off brake to let the park feature fully engage as the truck will usually roll back slightly to get into park. Then I apply the emergency/parking Brake.

Never had a issue nor have millions of others. Something broke for the op and I don't believe that without both the brake and the Tranny in Park many vehicles will hold reliably.

Fairly sure the OP has launched with that boat and vehicle plenty of times without issue.

The only time I have used a chock was for a ford ranger. It was more to prevent sliding than rolling on slippery ramps.

I think if I had a truck with a manual transmission I'd consider using a chock. Otherwise I'm in the Park/Parking Brake camp. Been doing it for years without issue.

Here's my chock set up:

tie a line between the chocks long enough to reach from one rear truck tire, over the trailer tongue, and down to the other chock at the other tire. when you pull up the ramp, the line will catch the trailer winch stand and drag the chocks up the ramp under the trailer and out of the way.
I hope this helps.

That right there is the best idea

I've done it for 50 years without a problem until I did. I fish at least once a week and have been doing so since I bought my Explorer. I have always without exception put it in park and used the emergency brake. I have always let it run while on the ramp. If I was on a slick ramp I would never have used it and never will. I've fallen down a few times and it's worse than ice.

I have USAA insurance and they treat us very well. Nice new rental car and very fair settlement. I did love my Explorer though and it cost like $37000 new. Pulled that boat with it many miles as well as a camper that weighed close to 5000 pounds for a couple years.

I agree, My F250 has disk but the Parking/E Brake is still a drum inside the rear disk.
One shoe is longer and the lever is camed forward.

"The brake shoes pivot at opposite points to each other.[4] This gives the maximum possible braking when moving forwards, but is not so effective when the vehicle is traveling in reverse.[4]"
https://www.freeasestudyguides.com/d...ing-brake.html

My F150 e brake is like this. Poor design IMO. Doesn't hold enough to keep you from motoring fwd or reverse. This allows it to be driven with the brake on. Has to be adjusted or it will fail. I got to where pulling the atv I use a chock anywhere it might roll as I can't predict which day it's going to not do its job. It's a small hassle to having a mishap.