Noob question

Second Chance wrote:

RobWNY wrote:

Second Chance wrote:

RobWNY wrote:
Our GD Reflection came from the factory with springs on top of the axles. It still rides nose high by a couple of inches but I have a good 10" of clearance between truck bed and underside of the fifth wheel and my B&W hitch is at the lowest setting. If I raised the RV up to make everything level, I'd need a step ladder to get into it.

You could raise the pin box a set of holes on the chassis to level the trailer - you have plenty of clearance.

Rob

I looked into doing that but I have a Reese Sidewinder pin box. If I raise it up another set of holes, I don't think it will be able to turn. It would be close! I don't have a jack big enough to unbolt it and raise it up to know for sure so I'd have to rent one. If I knew for sure, I'd spend the money but if I couldn't raise it any, I've thrown money out the window.

When I had to raise the pinbox on my Reflection, I did it this way: I hitched the truck to the trailer but left the front landing gear down so there wasn't any weight on the truck. Then using pieces of 4x4 (or railroad ties I borrowed from my BIL's farm - I don't remember), I blocked the back of the pinbox on the tailgate of the truck with a heavy bottle jack for adjustment. Using an impact driver, I loosened and then removed the pinbox bolts. I then raised the landing gear (lowered the trailer) until the next set of bolt holes lined up and put the bolts back through. It would have been easier with an extra set of hands, but I got it done by myself... and I'm old.

Rob

I'm in the process of trying to buy a new truck so if I'm lucky enough to complete a deal, I'll try that if the new combo Truck/RV has the same issue. Thanks!

Likes to tow wrote:
I cannot understand why the spacers or blocks between the axle and spring cannot be reduced to lower the bed????? All new trucks are significantly higher and this turned me away from trading my 05 Ram Cummins.

Don’t know about new Ford’s, but I did change out the 4” blocks on my 2007 F350 FX4 with 2” blocks like the 4x2 trucks had. My 2012 F350 has the same 4” blocks but I have not changed them out. I have 6” bed rail clearance and the 5er runs slightly nose high.

RobWNY wrote:

Second Chance wrote:

RobWNY wrote:
Our GD Reflection came from the factory with springs on top of the axles. It still rides nose high by a couple of inches but I have a good 10" of clearance between truck bed and underside of the fifth wheel and my B&W hitch is at the lowest setting. If I raised the RV up to make everything level, I'd need a step ladder to get into it.

You could raise the pin box a set of holes on the chassis to level the trailer - you have plenty of clearance.

Rob

I looked into doing that but I have a Reese Sidewinder pin box. If I raise it up another set of holes, I don't think it will be able to turn. It would be close! I don't have a jack big enough to unbolt it and raise it up to know for sure so I'd have to rent one. If I knew for sure, I'd spend the money but if I couldn't raise it any, I've thrown money out the window.

When I had to raise the pinbox on my Reflection, I did it this way: I hitched the truck to the trailer but left the front landing gear down so there wasn't any weight on the truck. Then using pieces of 4x4 (or railroad ties I borrowed from my BIL's farm - I don't remember), I blocked the back of the pinbox on the tailgate of the truck with a heavy bottle jack for adjustment. Using an impact driver, I loosened and then removed the pinbox bolts. I then raised the landing gear (lowered the trailer) until the next set of bolt holes lined up and put the bolts back through. It would have been easier with an extra set of hands, but I got it done by myself... and I'm old.

Rob

Second Chance wrote:

RobWNY wrote:
Our GD Reflection came from the factory with springs on top of the axles. It still rides nose high by a couple of inches but I have a good 10" of clearance between truck bed and underside of the fifth wheel and my B&W hitch is at the lowest setting. If I raised the RV up to make everything level, I'd need a step ladder to get into it.

You could raise the pin box a set of holes on the chassis to level the trailer - you have plenty of clearance.

Rob

I looked into doing that but I have a Reese Sidewinder pin box. If I raise it up another set of holes, I don't think it will be able to turn. It would be close! I don't have a jack big enough to unbolt it and raise it up to know for sure so I'd have to rent one. If I knew for sure, I'd spend the money but if I couldn't raise it any, I've thrown money out the window.

RobWNY wrote:
Our GD Reflection came from the factory with springs on top of the axles. It still rides nose high by a couple of inches but I have a good 10" of clearance between truck bed and underside of the fifth wheel and my B&W hitch is at the lowest setting. If I raised the RV up to make everything level, I'd need a step ladder to get into it.

You could raise the pin box a set of holes on the chassis to level the trailer - you have plenty of clearance.

Rob

Our GD Reflection came from the factory with springs on top of the axles. It still rides nose high by a couple of inches but I have a good 10" of clearance between truck bed and underside of the fifth wheel and my B&W hitch is at the lowest setting. If I raised the RV up to make everything level, I'd need a step ladder to get into it.

Second Chance wrote:
True statements... except that most new fifth wheels are coming from the factory with the axles already below the springs. When we had the MORryde independent suspension installed on our previous fiver, I asked MORryde to add two inches height to the trailer (easy for them to do with the subframe for the suspension units) to get enough bed clearance with our SRW Sierra. We ended up having to use blocks under the landing gear/stabilizers and an extra step and the bottom of the stairs because the trailer was so high. The only reason we didn't have to add height to our new Solitude when the MORryde IS was added is that our current truck is a "low-rider" dually (only rear wheel drive).

Rob

Most of the newer trailers already have the overhang at a higher level. Flipping axles is when you try to mate a new truck to an older trailer.

But yeah, if it gets too high it does cause problems. We did it on a prior trailer and found we had a lot more wobble when camping because the landing gear and stabilizers were in a longer configuration.

New 5ths will generally work with the new taller trucks but older trailers can have some definite challenges. 6" is thought to be the bare minimum. I think I ended up with about 7.5" with my 2014 Ram 2500 and 2016 Keystone Hideout. I've been on some pretty crazy dirt roads and have been close a few times but never hit.

valhalla360 wrote:
Typically you want at least 6inches clearance between the bed rails and the trailer overhang to allow for some shifting as you go over rough roads (particularly in campgrounds where sites may not be even and level).

Newer trucks sit higher and particularly if you match it to an older trailer, this can cause problems.

The most common solution is to "flip the axles". Basically this means rather than mounting the axle above the leaf springs, you re-mount them below the leaf springs. This gains you 4-5 inches of height on the trailer.

You may need to adjust the hitch and pin box height but the trailer should still remain level, so it's often not a solution by itself.

True statements... except that most new fifth wheels are coming from the factory with the axles already below the springs. When we had the MORryde independent suspension installed on our previous fiver, I asked MORryde to add two inches height to the trailer (easy for them to do with the subframe for the suspension units) to get enough bed clearance with our SRW Sierra. We ended up having to use blocks under the landing gear/stabilizers and an extra step and the bottom of the stairs because the trailer was so high. The only reason we didn't have to add height to our new Solitude when the MORryde IS was added is that our current truck is a "low-rider" dually (only rear wheel drive).

Rob

Typically you want at least 6inches clearance between the bed rails and the trailer overhang to allow for some shifting as you go over rough roads (particularly in campgrounds where sites may not be even and level).

Newer trucks sit higher and particularly if you match it to an older trailer, this can cause problems.

The most common solution is to "flip the axles". Basically this means rather than mounting the axle above the leaf springs, you re-mount them below the leaf springs. This gains you 4-5 inches of height on the trailer.

You may need to adjust the hitch and pin box height but the trailer should still remain level, so it's often not a solution by itself.