Video: Slate towing jetski trailer

[Trace26]

I like the trick of putting a hitch on the front of the truck and pushing the trailer with the front. Great visibility and you don't get your drive wheels in the water. Will Slate have any way of doing that? 🤷‍♂️

 

[RevMS]

I like the trick of putting a hitch on the front of the truck and pushing the trailer with the front. Great visibility and you don't get your drive wheels in the water. Will Slate have any way of doing that? 🤷‍♂️

I think that's usually one of the functions of a replacement front bumper. And it certainly would be an aftermarket part to get a front hitch of any sort.

I'm hoping Ranch Hand will build a bumper/grille guard.

 

[Moe]

I could be wrong but the Slate front end doesn’t even look robust enough for tow hooks and the rear only strong enough for 2,000 pounds… implying incapable of pulling a 4,000 pound vehicle.

 

[kvermeer]

I could be wrong but the Slate front end doesn’t even look robust enough for tow hooks and the rear only strong enough for 2,000 pounds… implying incapable of pulling a 4,000 pound vehicle.

The plastic bumper shell isn't robust enough for tow hooks, but the frame members behind it look pretty beefy to me:

(screenshot from this video). I wouldn't bolt a tow hook to the composite, but I'd be willing to put a receiver or winch or tow hooks there. Be smart with your recovery plan (static loads with static straps and chains, dynamic loads only with dynamic straps and ropes) and those points will be plenty strong.

No one expects it to tow more in reverse than it does in forward - take a look at the picture at the top again, the truck is pushing the trailer backwards rather than being pulled forwards by it. Super, super nice configuration for the many times you find yourself playing "Gridlock" with the various trailers you have to deal with in a busy yard.

I think that's usually one of the functions of a replacement front bumper. And it certainly would be an aftermarket part to get a front hitch of any sort.

I'm hoping Ranch Hand will build a bumper/grille guard.

I have less hope in that. Ranch Hand doesn't make a bumper/grille guard for the Hyundai Santa Cruz, Honda Ridgeline, or the Ford Maverick either. They don't even make one for the Jeep Gladiator, a body-on-frame "truck" that has owners with deep pockets who love to accessorize their Jeeps. They're solidly about exclusively legacy trucks.

Doesn't seem like it would be tough to do with the structure visible above, but I wouldn't count on Ranch Hand specifically.

 

[E90400K]

I you're a people-watcher type of person, a busy boat ramp is a great place to go for entertainment.

Loading and unloading a boat on a trailer ramp is an acquired skill. Mastering it is a satisfying achievement.

I mastered it by the age of 16... In my Dad's 1972 Mercury Marquis.

 

[E90400K]

Gone will be the days of the exhaust burbling in the water.