Ground Clearance

[jtbuilds]

What kind of ground clearance (bottom of frame to the ground) do people have on their trailer that do back road and off the pavement camping.

Our 35' 5th has 18" of ground clearance. It is 2" nose high when we tow with 7" of clearance over the box. Some of the spot we get into we've had the trailer touch the top of the box but most often the back end scrapes the ground.

Thinking of lifting the trailer up 6". This would give us 24" ground clearance and 11" over the box

[jtbuilds]

bpounds wrote:

jtbuilds wrote:

Thinking of lifting the trailer up 6". This would give us 24" ground clearance and 11" over the box

Sounds extreme to me. I don't think I've ever seen a fiver that high above the truck bed. COG is going to be the issue. Not saying it can't work, because I don't know.

My thought as well but then I could always lift the truck 2".

[bpounds]

jtbuilds wrote:

Thinking of lifting the trailer up 6". This would give us 24" ground clearance and 11" over the box

Sounds extreme to me. I don't think I've ever seen a fiver that high above the truck bed. COG is going to be the issue. Not saying it can't work, because I don't know.

[bpounds]

Had no idea, so this was a good time to measure it.

We're at 22" to the frame and about the same to the skirting. But we've got that stupid Cougar sliding rear tray, so the bumper is only about 18". Which does help to protect the rear jacks I guess. Sewer is in front of the axles, and tucked up pretty tight, so not really likely to hit anything. That last point was something I paid attention to when shopping. I have see too many where the sewer outlet was too far back and too low hung for me to accept.

We've got about 7" of truck bed clearance.

We hit the dirt roads a lot, but stay away from anything really rough. Not so much due to clearance, but more because I don't want to shake the coach to pieces. Never have seen any clearance close calls. Being less than 29' has to be a big plus.

[mtofell1]

I ripped a jack off my 5th and bent the spare tire off last year on a rolling/bumpy back road. I already knew it was going to be close and had a buddy standing by "spotting" (still not sure why he didn't speak up :))

My 5th is pretty low slung so it wasn't too much of a surprise. I'd go measure but my pad is sloped so the trailer isn't sitting even close to level. I was surprised how small of a rolling hill it took for the back end to hit. There's just a lot of trailer behind the wheels (35' fifth wheel). The jacks and spare hanging down even further is just total stupidity by the manufacturer. I've since modified my jacks to come off with removal of a couple screws and I can always take off the spare. Unfortunately, 5th wheels just aren't the best for backwoods camping on uneven roads. Between bed rail clearance and back end clearance it can be tough.

[jtbuilds]

azdryheat wrote:
Are your axles flipped? My 41' tow hauler has 24 inches of clearance.

Axles are not flipped. I'll be taking everything (7,000lb) off and installing 8,000lb independent suspension, ABS disc brakes, 17.5" Alcoa wheels and J load tires.

The dump valve is ahead of the axles with 19" clearance. Front hyd jacks have 21" of clearance. Back hyd. jack are 16" behind the rear wheels with 12" clearance but these have never (touch wood) bottomed out

From what people are saying aiming for 24" clearance wouldn't be too much.

[IdaD]

I'm at about 2' but the jacks and sewer tube are a bit lower. I did do an axle flip to get leveled up with my truck.

[Colo_Native]

I have hit my spare tire(bumper mount) on the ground going in dips so clearance doesn't mean a lot

[goducks10]

IIRC I have around 21.5" of ground to frame clearance. Now the stab jack hangs down further so that negates the frame clearance.

[Wild_Card]

I have about 20-22" of ground clearance

[azdryheat]

Are your axles flipped? My 41' tow hauler has 24 inches of clearance.