Forum Discussion

JIMMY034's avatar
JIMMY034
Explorer
Jun 16, 2019

Tire and load/level question.

I bought a new truck, and GM thinks everyone tows 5th wheels the size of an apartment complex. My issue is this: I'm not towing level anymore. I did everything I can possibly do, the axles were already 'flipped' and I had the rear of my truck lowered as much as possible (so I was told, the new ones have no 'blocks' that can be removed for a home 2" drop which would have taken care of the problem), which was only 1ΒΌ". I also had the trailer hitch raised as high as it can go. It's a lighter weight 5th wheel so it's not naturally as high as most are. The hitch in the truck is at the lowest setting as well, so no wiggle room there.

So, I'm not terribly unlevel, but the front is about two inches high. We don't use it much so I wasn't willing to have a 'sub-frame' welded underneath to raise it the 2", at a cost of $2500, I just don't want to put that kind of money into a 2004 that we seldom use. Selling it or getting a new one is not an option either, as I said it's seldom used but we love it and it's our ticket to our favorite park in the Adirondacks.

So my tire/load question is this: the dealer put on two brand new tires, but for some reason put them on the FRONT axle. Fine, but the new tires have a higher max PSI, 60 as opposed to the rear tires which are max 50. Same brand, same load range. Didn't know this was even a thing. Now, MY thinking is if I'm a little higher in the front, I'll have probably 10% more weight distributed onto the rear axle than on the front. (Trailer weighs about 9,000 lbs loaded). Is this a concern? Should I put the new tires on the rear axle since they're running a higher pressure? Or is everything ok the way it is? Only taking two trip this year for a total of 1,400 miles. Would like to hit Florida (from NY) next spring.

I have adequate bed clearance though I would have preferred more. Truck is a 2018 Denali HD D/A, trailer is a 28' 2004 Puma 5th. First trip is July 10th. Thanks for anyone's expertise in this area, I'm pretty savvy on trucks, trailers and the whole RV lifestyle, but this is a new one on me and will be the first tow (except to and from the dealer for work on the trailer) with the new truck.
  • JIMMY034 wrote:
    Thanks, I'll look into doing that. There's a spring and suspension shop near me that installed my Timbrens. I'll give them a look.


    You can re-arch your existing springs for a bit more clearance. Only 2" nose high I wouldn't think twice about. I towed 2-3" nose high for 13 years and never had any issues with tire wear and the fridge worked fine. You can also add a Correct Track alignment system to gain about 2" on the FW. If you feel it's necessary, swap the wheels front to back to get the higher rated tires on the back axle.

    Lyle
  • Thanks, I'll look into doing that. There's a spring and suspension shop near me that installed my Timbrens. I'll give them a look.
  • A couple things you could do to raise the trailer are;
    1. leaf spring spacer blocks. At 2", on the trailer, this should be easy and safe. At 6" a sub-frame would be the way to go.
    2. Taller tires on the trailer.
    3. longer shackles for the leaf springs on the trailer.
    4. change out springs to ones with more 'curl' to them on the trailer.

    Basically, everything you did to lower the truck, you can do to the trailer to raise it's ride height.

    I'd guess somewhere around $200 for any of these mods for materials. Labor, who knows?