My 25 foot travel trailer front sits higher than the rear by about 2 inches. I cannot adjust the hitch any further. My rear tires on my Ram 2500 LONG bed are pressurized at 80 lbs. Can I reduce pressure to 60-70 lbs to even everything out or just leave it as it is? Does it really make that much difference? Thanks in advance.

Yo can probably get down to 70 psi but it wont lower the trailer significant enough amount and the attitude between them will still be off. You can buy a longer draw bar so you can adjust it more. That's what I did.

When I switched TV's I had to buy a new shank for my WDH to accommodate the higher TV hitch height. Two tries and $125 later the problem was solved. It seems a 9 inch drop is really 14 inches if you put a tape measure on the shank. A 6 inch shank would be 11 inches and so on....

What WDH do you have? I'm sure there is a longer drop shank available.

If you drop down to 60 psi on the rear tires the truck is not really going to sit any lower and your TPMS alarm is going to go off on a cool morning and the only way to reset it is to air the tires back up to 80 psi. A drop shank or more weight in the back of the truck are the only practical solutions.

I personally feel that you really shouldn't air down your tires unless you know how much additional weight you have riding on your rear axle and consult a load book to figure out how much pressure you truly need to meet that minimum. Otherwise, I would keep it at 80 psi. What kills tires is flex. Higher pressure reduces flex as the tire rotates which also reduces the amount of heat generated in the tire which ultimately causes separation and a host of other issues.

Pulling Trailer with 2014 Ram 2500. Balance question.

17 Replies

akronharry
Explorer
Mar 21, 2015
Thanks everyone. Looks like I am going with the Reese 63971 (2 of you mentioned this item) UNLESS someone has an inexpensive alternative to the Reese.
APT
Explorer
Mar 19, 2015
I had the same Reese shank and bought the Reese 63971 when I changed TVs. That gains you about 4" extra drop if needed.
akronharry
Explorer
Mar 19, 2015
ib516 wrote:
You need some grease on that hitch ball and where the wd bars mount. :)

Will do!
ib516
Explorer II
Mar 19, 2015
You need some grease on that hitch ball and where the wd bars mount. :)
Houston_Remodel
Explorer
Mar 19, 2015
Yes, several people do. The downward leg on ours is just shy of 15 inches with plenty of holes for mounting. The different brands are interchangeable from my experience.
akronharry
Explorer
Mar 19, 2015
This is my current set up

I need to come down two inches.

Another pic.

Sorry I am a little slow here but I want to get this right. I assume I need a drop hitch approximately a foot (or more?) because my Reese drop hitch bar is about 9 inches from top to bottom but the hitch head does not go down a full 9 inches because the bottom bolt of the head will not go any lower (out of holes at the bottom). Does my explanation make sense ? Does Reese make a drop hitch lower than what I currently have?
mtofell1
Explorer
Mar 16, 2015
Airing down will not work. I tried this once for leveling my TT on a tricky site and I had over half the air out of them before anything moved. And even when it did move it was verrrrrry slight.
blt2ski
Moderator
Mar 16, 2015
Another option if you do not have this. Is do a spring over axel on the trailer, this will net you 4+" to the trailer height.

The drop hitch as noted is option 2.

Option 3, is lowering psi in tires. might net you 1/4" at best.

Option 4, smaller diam ties. BUT, you will have to go 4" difference. as you only get the radius smaller. So if you have 34" tires, you need to go to a 30" tire......not always the best option either.

Choose your poison, or some combo there of.

Marty
IndyCamp
Explorer
Mar 16, 2015
I just went through the same thing (1500 to 2500) and bought this longer shank:

http://www.amazon.com/Curt-Manufacturing-17120-Hitch-Rise/dp/B001EP0HVM/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1426481918&sr=1-1&keywords=Curt+Manufacturing+17120+Adj+Hitch+Bar+12+In+X+5+625+In+W%2F8+875+In+Rise

This fits my Reese Dual Cam and is much cheaper than the shank the dealer wanted to sell me ($150).
mdamerell
Explorer
Mar 16, 2015
2" Receiver Drop Hitch 10" Adjustable Rapid Hitch

Seen a few of these on the guys who deliver RVs.