Truck bed rails too high

OP

I have had some issue with new truck and height problems as well. My 5th wheel is already 13'4'' and I dont want to go higher, I have my hitch as low as can go with 6'' between rails and overhang and am still about 2'' nose high.

I looked into flatbeds and anywhere from $2500 for a work flatbed to about $5500 for a Steel Hauler style bed you have shown. Add $2K for any of the above to be built out of Aluminium. Plus...now ya need a new hitch, so factor that cost in.

D.E.Bishop wrote:

Nv Guy wrote:
Switching to a flatbed may have other implications. In CA a pick up converted to a flatbed becomes commercial and has different licensing requirements- none that are good.

I thought that all pickup trucks with one exception are considered commercial vehicles in California. A pick up with a permanent TC bolted to the truck can be licensed as a non-commercial vehicle just like a Class C.

May I ask what the other licensing requirements are and how they are not good?

In CA there is "commercial" and commercial With a flatbed or a pick up bed over 8' in length you are required to stop at the scales and can be subject to stating a max towing weight that your registration price is based on rather than the truck weight. In short-next time you go by a scale in Ca, there will be a sign saying no Pick ups, switch to a flat bed and you are no longer a pick up.

Just one of many reason I drive a 2 WD.

john&bet wrote:
Just one of many reason I drive a 2 WD.

Sorry, I would rather have to deal with leveling a 5th wheel, than getting stuck in a damp flat grass field! Maybe you never needed to backup a gravel road with the 5er attached. :B

yup same in Ontario like that one gentleman said.Must be manufactured to csa standards or rvia . no alternations to the truck, must have box on it in other words

rhagfo wrote:

john&bet wrote:
Just one of many reason I drive a 2 WD.

Sorry, I would rather have to deal with leveling a 5th wheel, than getting stuck in a damp flat grass field! Maybe you never needed to backup a gravel road with the 5er attached. :B

You are absolutely right. I live on 45 acres in Indiana. It is a flat piece of property and we get snow. I have two driveways. One for in and one for out with the 5th and yard between. I do not cross yard when it is wet, don't want ruts. I can park it by the shed at second drive and plug it in to a 30 amp service. Move it closer to house to load,plugged in again to 30 amp service, before a trip if it is dry enough. We don't use 5th in the winter. In fact when we get home in 2 weeks from our current 6 week trip it will get winterized and left plugged in till next spring. When 4 wd trucks get as low as my current truck then and only then will I consider one. I will not spend thousands on a new trailer just to make it fit a truck. That is just not logical to me. JMHO.

I raised my 5th wheel 2-5/8" to ride level behind my 2014 2500 Ram. The pin weight also drops the rear of the truck 2", the entire truck and trailer are dead level loaded ready for travel. My 5th wheel is now 13' 3" tall. Another alternative would be to lower the rear of the truck.

john&bet wrote:

rhagfo wrote:

john&bet wrote:
Just one of many reason I drive a 2 WD.

Sorry, I would rather have to deal with leveling a 5th wheel, than getting stuck in a damp flat grass field! Maybe you never needed to backup a gravel road with the 5er attached. :B

You are absolutely right. I live on 45 acres in Indiana. It is a flat piece of property and we get snow. I have two driveways. One for in and one for out with the 5th and yard between. I do not cross yard when it is wet, don't want ruts. I can park it by the shed at second drive and plug it in to a 30 amp service. Move it closer to house to load,plugged in again to 30 amp service, before a trip if it is dry enough. We don't use 5th in the winter. In fact when we get home in 2 weeks from our current 6 week trip it will get winterized and left plugged in till next spring. When 4 wd trucks get as low as my current truck then and only then will I consider one. I will not spend thousands on a new trailer just to make it fit a truck. That is just not logical to me. JMHO.

Most of us daily drive our trucks. 2wd just won't cut it for me.

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Or raise the 5th wheel so it tows level and then keep truck for using as a truck.

Less expensive to raise trailer then outfit truck with flatbed

X-2

And - depending on the "whistles & bells" (built-in tool boxes, etc)
the flat bed can be, really, realllllly expensive!.:W

For some (one for sure) states, the flat bed on a pickup means stop at all scales - even the ones that say "no pickups"..:(
(Applies *only* to vehicles "plated" in that/those states).

Visit the Escapees MDT & HDT forums for lots of custom beds on 'serious' trailer haulers - some bare bones, some mega bucks (and very outstanding!)

It's all a matter of choice & what rings your chimes.

~

For the people that have latter year Rams you might want to do what I did to mine. I have a 2017 Ram Mega DRW and I had the 3 spacers removed between the springs and the axle perch. The rear tailgate of my Ram was 59" previously and now it is 57". When I took out the 3 spacers I just placed them back on the top of the spring pack so I could use the same u bolts and it also keep the spacers with the truck.

Years back I had a F550 4X4 built for me and it had a dually pickup box on it and I had them do the same thing to it but instead of spacers it was a couple of lower springs then placed them on top of the spring pack so I could hitch the 5er to it. Then a few years latter I went back to a truck camper so I had the springs put back to normal. Worked great.

Take a look under you Ram and see if you don't see the spacers there. I also had my alignment checked as everybody thought it would change my camber. Didn't change anything as castor and camber was still on. Truck sits just a little up in the rear now. I'll see how it all works when my new 5ers gets here next week (hopefully). 5er should be born today 9/28/2017 and at the dealer next week for some dealer installed options.