Raising a fifth wheel trailer

Depending on what type of axels you have, I have torsion axels, no springs or hangers. I bought a 3" lift kit from Dexter, it leveled my 2014 Rockwood 5th wheel perfectly when hitched to my new to me 2014 Ram TCD. Before the lift I was almost 5" nose high. The Rockwood towed level with my previous truck a 2008 Tundra with airbags. I tried to post some pictures but guess I'm not smart enough to get that done

rhagfo wrote:

rhagfo wrote:

Blazing Zippers wrote:
The new Ram I bought is one of those high trucks where the fifth wheel trailer is raised up quite a bit in front when hooked up.
What have any of you folks done to raise your trailer? Blocks between the springs and axles, extended shackles, etc??
My auto levelers jacks in back are pretty low, and I know someday, I'll drag them off on something expensive. The trailer sits nose high enough to be really noticed, and I can't lower the pin into the bed any lower without hitting the bed sides when turning.
Thanks

A picture is worth 1,00 words.

back of pin box hitting bed sides how extended is your pin box, what is the clearance from 5er to top of bed rail.

How far does it appear to be high?

Options to raise are;

#1. IF axles are currently above the springs, do an axle "flip" (already mentioned). This will gain you the diameter of the axle plus twice the distance the spring perch sets above the axle.

#2. if only a couple inches need install a Correct Track system, this will gain you 2" at the axles.


#3 if neither of these will raise it enough you will need to have a sub-frame built.

To determine the amount of lift you need do the following;
Find an empty level parking lot.
With the 5er loaded and in tow, pull into the lot and stop.
Measure the distance to the top of the bed rail at the pin location (rear axle). In your case add the needed distance from bed rail to bottom of 5er, Call this Measurment1. (when there is no pin box to side rail clearance issue, this would be distance from ground to top of bed rail, and 6" for clearance).

Now, drop the 5er right there, pull TV clear and level the 5er. Now measure to the distance to the bottom of the 5er at the pin (same point as before), call this Measurment2. Now take Measurment1 - Measurment2 equals the distance you need to raise the 5er. You need to be aware you don't want to lift so much that the top of the 5er is taller than 13'-6".

Well checking back in, have you had an opportunity to see just how far out of level you are????

I just spent better part of two days washing and waxing our 32' 5er. So on the way back to the storage yard, I stopped by a local light industrial park with a level parking lot. I pulled up and put a level on the frame of the 5er, and it was level!!

I have always wanted to get the 5er to level when towing. Well now I have the 5er level, and the TV is still a bit tail high.
The last step I did was install the correct track system, for lift, and alignment if needed. I have just under 7' of clearance at the bed rail and Tail Gate.

Here is what I added and what the final product looks like.

That looks perfect front to back. Good job on setting it up!

Rich

If you already have spring over, springs on top of your axles, then you can use spacer blocks under your leaf springs to raise your RV. I have 2" blocks under my springs on both my tow haulers with no issues. I also upgraded my u-bolts too when I did that by using heavier, thicker u-bolts. If you use the blocks from Trailer Block company, just purchase their blocks only and source your u-bolts and tie plates elsewhere.

rhagfo wrote:

Blazing Zippers wrote:
The new Ram I bought is one of those high trucks where the fifth wheel trailer is raised up quite a bit in front when hooked up.
What have any of you folks done to raise your trailer? Blocks between the springs and axles, extended shackles, etc??
My auto levelers jacks in back are pretty low, and I know someday, I'll drag them off on something expensive. The trailer sits nose high enough to be really noticed, and I can't lower the pin into the bed any lower without hitting the bed sides when turning.
Thanks

A picture is worth 1,00 words.

back of pin box hitting bed sides how extended is your pin box, what is the clearance from 5er to top of bed rail.

How far does it appear to be high?

Options to raise are;

#1. IF axles are currently above the springs, do an axle "flip" (already mentioned). This will gain you the diameter of the axle plus twice the distance the spring perch sets above the axle.

#2. if only a couple inches need install a Correct Track system, this will gain you 2" at the axles.


#3 if neither of these will raise it enough you will need to have a sub-frame built.

To determine the amount of lift you need do the following;
Find an empty level parking lot.
With the 5er loaded and in tow, pull into the lot and stop.
Measure the distance to the top of the bed rail at the pin location (rear axle). In your case add the needed distance from bed rail to bottom of 5er, Call this Measurment1. (when there is no pin box to side rail clearance issue, this would be distance from ground to top of bed rail, and 6" for clearance).

Now, drop the 5er right there, pull TV clear and level the 5er. Now measure to the distance to the bottom of the 5er at the pin (same point as before), call this Measurment2. Now take Measurment1 - Measurment2 equals the distance you need to raise the 5er. You need to be aware you don't want to lift so much that the top of the 5er is taller than 13'-6".

Well checking back in, have you had an opportunity to see just how far out of level you are????

I just spent better part of two days washing and waxing our 32' 5er. So on the way back to the storage yard, I stopped by a local light industrial park with a level parking lot. I pulled up and put a level on the frame of the 5er, and it was level!!

I have always wanted to get the 5er to level when towing. Well now I have the 5er level, and the TV is still a bit tail high.
The last step I did was install the correct track system, for lift, and alignment if needed. I have just under 7" of clearance at the bed rail and Tail Gate.

You might also note that I also have heavy duty shackles and wet bolts.

Here is what I added and what the final product looks like.

Been there done that with my current 5er, just search my post, and pics.

Blazing Zippers wrote:
The new Ram I bought is one of those high trucks where the fifth wheel trailer is raised up quite a bit in front when hooked up.
What have any of you folks done to raise your trailer? Blocks between the springs and axles, extended shackles, etc??
My auto levelers jacks in back are pretty low, and I know someday, I'll drag them off on something expensive. The trailer sits nose high enough to be really noticed, and I can't lower the pin into the bed any lower without hitting the bed sides when turning.
Thanks

I have a newer 4wd Ram too and I ran into the same issue. I did the spring over axle flip others have mentioned and got close to 6" of lift, and the trailer is now within an inch of level. My shocks didn't work after the lift but it seems to tow just fine without them so I haven't bothered with welding on new brackets to make them work again.

The axle perches are about $45 a pair on etrailer and I did the job myself in about a half a day. The tricky part is getting the trailer lifted high enough to do the flip. I also had to cut and extend my brake wires.

It's a pretty tall outfit but it does handle rough terrain really well and I have good bedrail clearance now too. It definitely got the sewer lines and leveling jacks up where they aren't so vulnerable.

I gained an inch with a block between the axle and spring but wouldn't consider much more then another half inch for stability and hanger integrity concerns. Even with that inch I'm in the process of adding 3 MORryde X Factor hanger supports. If I needed more height, would build a subframe and weld in as suggested earlier. With a couple earlier trailers, I did the Dexter over/under axle flips for added height but be aware that this can cause some tail wag with some trailers.

Blazing Zippers wrote:
The new Ram I bought is one of those high trucks where the fifth wheel trailer is raised up quite a bit in front when hooked up.
What have any of you folks done to raise your trailer? Blocks between the springs and axles, extended shackles, etc??
My auto levelers jacks in back are pretty low, and I know someday, I'll drag them off on something expensive. The trailer sits nose high enough to be really noticed, and I can't lower the pin into the bed any lower without hitting the bed sides when turning.
Thanks

A picture is worth 1,00 words.

back of pin box hitting bed sides how extended is your pin box, what is the clearance from 5er to top of bed rail.

How far does it appear to be high?

Options to raise are;

#1. IF axles are currently above the springs, do an axle "flip" (already mentioned). This will gain you the diameter of the axle plus twice the distance the spring perch sets above the axle.

#2. if only a couple inches need install a Correct Track system, this will gain you 2" at the axles.


#3 if neither of these will raise it enough you will need to have a sub-frame built.

To determine the amount of lift you need do the following;
Find an empty level parking lot.
With the 5er loaded and in tow, pull into the lot and stop.
Measure the distance to the top of the bed rail at the pin location (rear axle). In your case add the needed distance from bed rail to bottom of 5er, Call this Measurment1. (when there is no pin box to side rail clearance issue, this would be distance from ground to top of bed rail, and 6" for clearance).

Now, drop the 5er right there, pull TV clear and level the 5er. Now measure to the distance to the bottom of the 5er at the pin (same point as before), call this Measurment2. Now take Measurment1 - Measurment2 equals the distance you need to raise the 5er. You need to be aware you don't want to lift so much that the top of the 5er is taller than 13'-6".

Blazing Zippers wrote:
The new Ram I bought is one of those high trucks where the fifth wheel trailer is raised up quite a bit in front when hooked up.
What have any of you folks done to raise your trailer? Blocks between the springs and axles, extended shackles, etc??
My auto levelers jacks in back are pretty low, and I know someday, I'll drag them off on something expensive. The trailer sits nose high enough to be really noticed, and I can't lower the pin into the bed any lower without hitting the bed sides when turning.
Thanks

Some newer trucks have spacer blocks in their suspensions that can be removed to make them about 2" lower.

If you have extra holes in the factory spring hangars, drop the entire suspension to the lowest holes.

=Slightly= longer and heavier spring hangars (the part welded to the main frame, not the shackles) can sometimes work OK, but you =have= to add cross-bracing. I'd say general rule of thumb is a max of about 2" lift by this method. More, and you can start having main frame issues.

Axle "flip" unless it came from the factory with springs on top of the axles already.

Sub-frame between the main frame and the suspension. Customize to the height needed to level things out. Cross-frame bracing is desirable here, too. Also, if the lift is significant enough, you might have to replace your entry stairs.

Since you're likely to have the suspension apart, install a good wet bolt kit. Greaseable bolts, bronze bushings and heavier shackles only prolong the life of your FW.

Lyle

I just did a spring over axle conversion, and gained 4 3/4". Also installed a heavy duty greaseable shackle and bolt kit at the same time.