Suspension mods to lower height of TT

merlin8735 wrote:


After looking at the underside of the TT, there appears to be a considerable amount of clearance under the coach to allow it to be lowered.

That being said, I am wondering if any of you have tried lowering your TT's in this way and if you were successful or if you encountered problems that made you wish you hadn't tackled the project?

Hi Merlin,

A few things to work through.

1. Tire clearance. 3" is the spec Dexter Axle uses for clearance from top of tire to fender wheel. 2 1/2 will work but that is the limit. Anything less than 2 1/2" and odds are high your tire can bottom out in the fender wheel on a large fast bump.

2. Looking up your trailer, I'm making an assumption the axle tube is a 3,500# axles tube and most are 2 3/8" OD.

3. We are also assuming the leaf spring pack is now on top of the axle tube. You will be moving the spring pack to the bottom of the axle tube with an over/under conversion kit.

See here. Granted most folks are raising the camper so you will see more lifts, than lowering but the process is the same.


Here is my older camper, it was an under slung axle setup with the spring on the bottom of a 3,500# axle tube.



4. Here is the kit sheet from Dexter http://l.b5z.net/i/u/6149609/f/Trailer_Height_Adjustment.pdf

5. These are the parts
http://www.dexteraxle.com/over_under_conversion_kits

I'm making an estimate doing an over/under conversion this will lower your camper, 2.375 (axle) + ~0.5 top axle seat + ~0.5" new axle seat = 3 3/8" Lower. You need to verify the axle seat thickness from spring to tube. I estimated they where 1/2"

This means right now you need 6 3/8" clearance between top of tire and inside fender well to later drop down to 3". Check both sides.

The step, dump pipe, stabilizers and ball height will all drop 3 3/8" from where you are today.

You will need a longer drop shank on the WD hitch unless you have a real long shank now.

That will give you a start on this. Before doing, post some pics of the axle setup and the shortest fender well height in case you have something different than normal as we are doing this site unseen

And head up, do not rotate the axle over 180deg or pick up and turn the axles around. There is a front and back to the axle tube and there is a top and bottom. If you actually rotate or flip the axle tube you can royally disturb the wheel alignment.

Hope this helps and good luck

John