I know generally speaking you want at least 6 inches of clearance. I just traded my Forest River Hemisphere GLX in on a Grand Design Reflection. On the Hemisphere, I had just under 6" of clearance using a standard pin box. Because the nose of the Reflection isn't as rounded as the Hemisphere was and I have a short box, I opted for a Reese Sidewinder Pin box on the new rig and now I have 10" of clearance. Will having more clearance than the general rule of 6" cause any problems? I understand why having too little clearance can be problem but I haven't read if having too much can be a problem. The fifth wheel looks very level the way everything was mounted by the dealer.

As long as the truck and RV tow level, which for the most part you are... there is NO issues with 10"....My eyes may be playing trucks on me this morning, BUT your trailer looks a very small amount nose high... NOT enough to be concerned with..IF that is the case, ad you want to level it out a but.., lower the pinbox a set of holes... that should drop you 1-1/2" or there about....The best way to know is get on the ground and measure from the ground to the bottom of the frame... front..middle..back.. assuming your on a level surface front to back....

ford truck guy wrote:As long as the truck and RV tow level, which for the most part you are... there is NO issues with 10"....My eyes may be playing trucks on me this morning, BUT your trailer looks a very small amount nose high... NOT enough to be concerned with..IF that is the case, ad you want to level it out a but.., lower the pinbox a set of holes... that should drop you 1-1/2" or there about....The best way to know is get on the ground and measure from the ground to the bottom of the frame... front..middle..back.. assuming your on a level surface front to back....Thanks ford truck guy. I might be slightly nose high but I don't know for sure. I was just "eyeballing" it and it looked good at the time but now that you mention it, the nose does look slightly higher than the rear of the trailer in that photo. Where the truck was sitting, I was on gravel with pot holes at the dealer so not an ideal place to measure things and the trailer is also empty. I can make adjustments if needed once I measure things when the trailer is loaded but I'm happy to learn having plenty of clearance between truck rails and the trailer is no problem.Wouldn't lowering the hitch arm height accomplish the same thing? I believe my B&W Patriot 16k is currently raised up to the highest setting and I know the manual states there's 3" of adjustment. That would be a lot easier. I wouldn't need to have a helper. The Reese Sidewinder is pretty heavy!

Rob,Did you by chance measure from ground to highest point of RV (A/C) to make sure you're still under 13'6"? Just asking with the 10" of bed rail clearance. If my pea size brain recalls right, with our set up, hitch on lowest setting and pin box on highest (closest to underside of RV), I have around 6" (CRS don't recall exactly), overall height is 13'3"-4". Nice looking rig. Now we just have to figure out how eliminate a 150 mile social distance thing!Check your PM box

HAHAHA 150 mile social distancing. That's great! No I haven't measured the overall height. I know Grand Design Specs say 12'3" but I have a 2nd air conditioner and when hooked up, those numbers change a lot. Getting from the dealer to my home, it's all interstate and roads without bridges to go under so I'll be fine regardless of the height getting back but measuring the exact height is on my "to do" list. They had to order a new wedge part for the pin box (the one that comes with the Sidewinder doesn't fit right in my B&W hitch) so I had to leave the dealer without the trailer. I'm a little bummed out but better to be safe and have it right than to risk things.

Yes.. I was unaware you had that so yes.. if you are nose high, you have 1" increments to lower...Easily done with the B&W** AND as Mike pointed out ( just assumed ) make sure you are NOT over 13'6" to the highest point

Clearance Between Truck Bed Rails and 5th Wheel

RobWNY
Explorer
May 20, 2020
ford truck guy wrote:
As long as the truck and RV tow level, which for the most part you are... there is NO issues with 10"....My eyes may be playing trucks on me this morning, BUT your trailer looks a very small amount nose high... NOT enough to be concerned with..

IF that is the case, ad you want to level it out a but.., lower the pinbox a set of holes... that should drop you 1-1/2" or there about....

The best way to know is get on the ground and measure from the ground to the bottom of the frame... front..middle..back.. assuming your on a level surface front to back....

Thanks ford truck guy. I might be slightly nose high but I don't know for sure. I was just "eyeballing" it and it looked good at the time but now that you mention it, the nose does look slightly higher than the rear of the trailer in that photo. Where the truck was sitting, I was on gravel with pot holes at the dealer so not an ideal place to measure things and the trailer is also empty. I can make adjustments if needed once I measure things when the trailer is loaded but I'm happy to learn having plenty of clearance between truck rails and the trailer is no problem.

Wouldn't lowering the hitch arm height accomplish the same thing? I believe my B&W Patriot 16k is currently raised up to the highest setting and I know the manual states there's 3" of adjustment. That would be a lot easier. I wouldn't need to have a helper. The Reese Sidewinder is pretty heavy!
ford_truck_guy
Nomad
May 20, 2020
As long as the truck and RV tow level, which for the most part you are... there is NO issues with 10"....My eyes may be playing trucks on me this morning, BUT your trailer looks a very small amount nose high... NOT enough to be concerned with..

IF that is the case, ad you want to level it out a but.., lower the pinbox a set of holes... that should drop you 1-1/2" or there about....

The best way to know is get on the ground and measure from the ground to the bottom of the frame... front..middle..back.. assuming your on a level surface front to back....

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