Steepness
I have a 2019 GMC Sierra 2500HD 4WD standard bed lifted 6"and a 2025 wolf Creek 850 installed. I will be pulling my Maravia raft on a trailer with a 36" hitch extension. My question is how steep is "...
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You won't tip over backwards on any launch ramp. The biggest danger you need to consider is do you have enough traction to pull the loaded trailer back out of the water. Oh and as Morsnow says, don't go so deep that the camper gets wet.
I launch boats and jet ski's from a dirt ramp all the time. I always shift into 4 wheel drive as I'm backing down and driving back up the ramp. This is more to prevent inadvertent tire slippage and gradually tearing up the ramp for the next guy than anything else though.
On a concrete ramp I use 2wd and a light foot on the throttle. If there is any tire slippage stop and put it in 4wd, drive straight up the ramp, stop at the top and shift back to 2wd before you start making any turns.
Last bit of advice assuming your truck is automatic. For pulling everything out of the water use you left foot on the brakes to keep from rolling back and your right foot on the accelerator. Give it a bit of throttle before slowly releasing the brakes. This will prevent that unnerving feeling of the whole unit rolling into the water as your right foot is moving from the brakes to the accelerator.
With an extra 2000-3000lb on the rear axle, that's a lot of extra traction in 2WD. Of course, if it's a really slimy/slippery ramp, you may still need 4WD. Low range is handy for control, so you have to give it hardly any gas to get moving (obviously, only use it to get up the ramp and avoid turning as you suggest).
Sort of related, this past winter we did a road trip in Chile and the rental company upgraded us to a midsize pickup (no camper). There were several ferries and they kept putting us in the underbelly which meant going up a metal ramp at maybe 20% grade. After watching several vehicles fail and have to get a running start or smoking the tires to get up it, we stopped at the bottom of the ramp, dropped into 4WD low range, calmly idled to the top. Stopped and putt it back into 2WD and drove off to the thumbs up of the crew.
