Truck too tall for 5th wheel

[SCCamper]

Hi all, new member here.

My Dad has a 2014 Dodge 2500 4x4 he would like to use to tow a 5th wheel. The issue is that the truck be is 60-61" high which I believe is 6-7" too tall for most fifth wheel campers. There is no easy way to lower the truck.

Is there anyone here who has direct personal experience with a spring over conversion on a fifth wheel or some other method of lifting the trailer? My concerns (and his) are that there will be clearance issues with the AC unit with low bridges and that the trailer will be unsafe due to the loss of stability with the raised CG.

Any other way to two a fifth wheel with this truck other than lifting the trailer?

Thanks

[nguyenbio]

subdbf572 wrote:
I have a Ford F350 4x4 and tow a 28' 5th wheel using a pullrite hitch as it is a short bed and there are no problems. Is the truck bed at 60" it must be lifted. if it is stock then there should not be any problems.

What year is your F350? My 3015 F350 CC LWB SRW FX4 is stock and is about 60" at the rear. I have yet to to my 2014 Grand Design 303rls.

How much does your rear end squat with your pin weight?

[subdbf572]

I have a Ford F350 4x4 and tow a 28' 5th wheel using a pullrite hitch as it is a short bed and there are no problems. Is the truck bed at 60" it must be lifted. if it is stock then there should not be any problems.

[routemaster]

I used Correct tract and also made a cross bar to take some of the sway out

[gtsum]

this certainly seems to be an issue. I have a 2014 Ram 3500 completely stock and my bed rails are 59.5 from the ground. I am looking to order a toy hauler here real soon and the xlr I liked is right at 60.5 from the ground to the underneath of the overhang....and this is a 16500 GVWR TH with axles already flipped and 16 inch tires.

I hooked up to a couple smaller fifth wheels and they were a good bit nose high and I didnt have clearance. Hooked up to a Grand Designs unit that was around 12500-13k dry and it settled about 2-3 inches and was about perfectly level with 7 inches bed rail clearance.

If you have a newer 4x4 truck, you are most likely going to need a newer 5th that has enough pin weight to settle the truck a bit...the lighter 5ths are going to be tough to get close to level imo....

[tinner12002]

Arcamper wrote:

up2nogood wrote:

C-Bears wrote:

SCCamper wrote:
Hi all, new member here.

My Dad has a 2014 Dodge 2500 4x4 he would like to use to tow a 5th wheel. The issue is that the truck be is 60-61" high which I believe is 6-7" too tall for most fifth wheel campers.

Thanks

My F350 measures 58" from the ground to the top of the bed rails. I am surprised that a 3/4 ton Dodge would sit 2 - 3" higher, so does he have some type of lift kit or oversize tires on his truck?

If the Dodge is "jacked" or has some type of huge aftermarket tires then I would correct those issues. Otherwise, if the truck is generally stock then you probably don't have anything to worry about even if it is 61" high. As others have stated you can make adjustments to hitches or adjustments to pin boxes. Either way you are not going to be 6" or 7" too high for a 5th wheel, or at least nothing produced in the last 10 years.

I have a stock 2014 Ram 3500 ,and it sits 59.5 inches to the top of the tailgate, a little shorter then the op's 2500 . Stock tires rims etc etc

I own a 2008 Montana fifth wheel ,with the axles above the springs, my pin box is a high as it can go , and the hitch is as low as I dare go, and I am still around 3-4 inches too tall. There is nothing else I can do short of lowering the Stock truck or raising the fifth wheel more.

Maybe the newer fifth wheels will be okay, but my 7 year old fifth wheel is not.These new trucks are just too high in the rear. My previous truck with same fifth wheel was borderline high ( 1999 Superduty 350 )

I have the same problem with my new 3500 Ram DRW. I need 3 more inches in height on the trailer. I don't have a good welding shop around so my options where to put 2 inch spacer blocks or go with the Correct Track system that gives 2 inches more in height. The blocks are not recommended by anyone and the Correct Track is approved by Lippert and now standard on some trailers. I am not real crazy about the design of it either but I am going to give it a try and just pull one inch nose high. We only plan on keeping our current trailer less than a year so we will see how it does.

I made some 1.75" spacers and put them under my springs and on top of the spring pads on my tri-axle toy hauler...towed for several thousand miles with no issues at all.

[laknox]

Don't forget to check the spring hangars. There may be another hole available to raise the FW, usually about 2". I tow about 2-3" nose high, depending on load, and don't worry about it. The nearly 8" bed clearance is needed so I can get into our usual boondock site. I've thought about a flip on my FW, but it's not going to be much longer in my possession, so am not going to worry about it. If the axle is already above the spring and the springs are in the bottom hole, there are really 2 other options. A Correct Track alignment system gives about 2", but for about the same money you could have a sub-frame built to raise the FW to whatever point it needs to be to get level. Biggest issue with this is that any mods would likely void the frame warranty.

Lyle

[thedoghouse]

RCMAN46 wrote:
This whole issue is rather simple without having to hitch up.

Measure the distance from ground to the trailer when trailer is level.

Now measure the distance from the ground to the top of the truck bed rail.

If the distance from the trailer is not 4 inches or more than the truck there is nothing you can do but lower the suspension on the truck or raise the suspension on the trailer.

t


X2. Very good

[lillyputz]

RCMAN46 wrote:
This whole issue is rather simple without having to hitch up.

Measure the distance from ground to the trailer when trailer is level.

Now measure the distance from the ground to the top of the truck bed rail.

If the distance from the trailer is not 4 inches or more than the truck there is nothing you can do but lower the suspension on the truck or raise the suspension on the trailer.

Exactly. The squat doesn't matter. I ordered my 2014 Lifestyle with the 2" riser, between the frame and I.S. suspension as my bed rail is 59 1/4". With the I.S. 17.5 tires and 2" riser, my coach is approx. 5 1/2 " higher. loaded, setting level, I have 6 1/4" of clearance between the coach and top of bed.

Lillyputz

[RCMAN46]

This whole issue is rather simple without having to hitch up.

Measure the distance from ground to the trailer when trailer is level.

Now measure the distance from the ground to the top of the truck bed rail.

If the distance from the trailer is not 4 inches or more than the truck there is nothing you can do but lower the suspension on the truck or raise the suspension on the trailer.

[Dandy_Dan]

SCCamper, get ahold of ib516 on the forums. He has a new Dodge and had no problems hooking to the 5er. Truck settles and appears to be level,

[okan-star]

This may not be the easiest , but on my Dodge 4x4 I changed beds to a Flatbed . It raised the bed height about 4 and a half inches , but no bed sides to worry about . I dropped the hitch down as low as it could go to the flatbed by getting rid of the rails and the hoop side mounts , and mounting the upper hitch part to 4x4 x 3/8" angle , there are flatbed hitches available pre- made also . The hitch dropped down is about 8 " tall, with the flatbed raising the bed ht 4.5" , I ended up lowering the hitch height about 4" inches overall from the regular hitch in the fleetside bed
I have side boards that are 12" tall that are 12" away from the fifth wheel , also use the truck for a overhead camper
I find the flatbed has many uses

[kohai]

jtallon wrote:
I've got a 2014 Ram 2500 4x4, and we've been considering a fifth wheel for our next camper within the next year or so. How common of a problem is this with newer units? Am I going to need an axle flip on almost anything we look at?

My brand new 2014 trailer came from the factory with the axle flipped and it was still too short for my stock 2015 GMC 2500HD. I bought both within 2 months of each other.

So, the answer is it depends on the trailer manufacturer. (The toy haulers seem to be higher, for what that is worth.)

[cummins2014]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
I would suggest your Dad just goes to a RV dealer and hook up. You will be surprised at how the truck will settle to a "level" ride loaded. He will be fine with any of the newer RV's.

What are you calling fine, and what is a newer fifth wheel, mine is a 2008, and it was far from fine, still borderline high after all I could do without raising the fifth wheel with blocks.

Good friends 2015 Ford Superduty 350 sits lower then my 2014 Ram 3500, I don't think GM sits as high as the Ram either.

I keep hearing you ,and others with this level ride loaded thing ,sure the pin weight pushes it down , if it didn't , I would be in big trouble. I would definitely have to raise my fifth wheel . My point is they are too high in a lot of the application with fifth wheels., they just don't have to be that high. I have seen older fifth wheels going down the road behind the newer trucks, and some look like they are ready for lift off.

My 99 Ford Superduty 350 with a level kit in the front , and slightly taller tires then stock was still not as high as these new Rams. Granted as time goes on the " newer " fifth wheels will hopefully be a better match, but a lot of the 5-10 year old fifth wheels in some applications are not a good fit, this thread is not the first to point that out .

[azrving]

Sunshineinal wrote:
We have a 2011 Montana Mountaineer and are about to buy a 2015 Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel. Would you recommend we get a 2 wheel or 4 wheel drive? We are concerned about the height of the 4 wheel drive truck.

I would say it all depends on what you are doing with it. I wouldn't buy 2 wheel drive just for this issue. I would make a 4x4 work. But that's me not you. I like 4x4 and have used it when pulling my 5er. I believe the resale is better and I may live in an area that I need it in the winter. I hope to not be in snow again but I wont have to change trucks if something in my plans changes.

I have an 18,000 pullrite hitch. My hitch plate is sitting at 55 1/2 in and the bed rail at the wheel opening is 56 1/2 in and the tailgate is 57 1/2 at the center. This may vary a little because of the driveway I'm in etc. I have about 550 pounds in the back.