Lifting my class C

[Nomadist]

I have a new-to-me Class C, a 1997 Four Winds, 23ft long.

Often, when I enter a gas station or other driveway, I drag my butt on the pavement. Technically, I drag the hitch (see pic below). I'm afraid this will get worse when I'm towing my 7x14 trailer that will carry my motorcycle. I also want to go onto dirt roads and perhaps a tiny bit offroad to do some boondocking.

This picture shows the problem:



And how low the hitch has been placed is making it worse:



My options seem to be:

• add castor wheels
  
• raise the vehicle permanently with a lift kit; I've identified one for $2k (installation extra) that will do the job
  
• raise the vehicle on-demand with air bags
  
• raise the hitch
  
• a combination of the above

I'm sorting through the options and, as this is my first RV, I'm learning fast.

A few notes and tips I've learned from others:

• the lift kit will bring up the entire rig by 5", front and back
  
• the geometry of this type of vehicle does not allow for many good options (agreed! who designed this with so much cabin behind the rear wheel?); the person who mentioned this to me stressed getting castor wheels no matter what else I do
  
• like the castor wheels, I've been advised to add airbags no matter what as this helps firm up the rear when loaded with the trailer; this person also suggested foregoing the lift kit and just going with the castor wheels and air bags because lifting the entire rig will make the steering less safe. This makes sense to me and I'm leaning toward this (castor wheels plus air bags, no lift kit).

But the problem is made much worse with the hitch placement. My question to the folks here is whether the hitch can be raised in some way. The visible part appears to be attached to a long bar that appears, in turn, to be attached to the frame. Is there a hitch design that isn't so low? It looks like that alone would give me four more precious inches.

Then again, with the wheels and airbags, maybe lifting the hitch isn't necessary. Perhaps I should spend only a bit of time and money since I expect this to be my training rig to be upgraded within 24 months.

Thoughts?

Edit: got the pictures in

[pianotuna]

membt,

Do you mean 3 feet--or three inches?

[opnspaces]

Looking at your last picture I think the first and easiest way to gain clearance is to remove the spacers between the rollers and the frame. It sure looks like the bolt holes are lined up the same. As long as the rollers still keep the hitch of the ground you might gain just enough clearance that you need. And it's completely free to boot.

But, check carefully that raising the rollers does not allow something else like the drain pipe to start dragging.

[memtb]

nomadist, if I may suggest. Instead of dolly wheels, go with a frame to frame roller. It won’t miss the high spots on irregular grade surfaces. A dolly wheel may be at a low point on the grade, or fall into a hole.....doing you no good! Our 5th wheel has a full side to side roller, our class c roller is only about 3 ft wide, but still offers an advantage over dolly wheels. You have a lot of rear overhang.....get the most that you can get to provide as much protection as possible! Maybe even several types of protection.....lift, roller, air bags, ect! memtb

[Nomadist]

@Grit dog and @DrewE

agreed...moving forward with getting the airbags operational. I followed the tubes and they terminated here:



I took a look at 12VDC compressors just now and there a lot to choose from, so that's a research project on my plate. Air Lift has a good page that describes how to select one.
airliftcompany . com/workshop/choose-on-board-air-compressor-system

One thing I'm seeing is that perhaps a dual-path system will allow me to level the rig left-to-right when it's uneven. Hmmm.

And I agree with this: "Personally, not worth putting a pile of money into the back of an old RV for a couple inches ground clearance."

I'm happy to be finding lower-priced solutions as I proceed (it doesn't hurt that my solutions also happened to be already installed). In particular, it seems I should flip the order of my last list above and get the air bags going right away:

1. Get air bags working
2. Consult with suspension shop
3. Replace the leaf springs
4. Replace shocks
5. Install rear stabilizer bar

@pianotuna thanks for the suggestion; never heard of that product and I can see the value. Will keep that in mind.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Consider Air Tabs. They gave me better truck isolation--and reduced wind noise a LOT.

[DrewE]

Definitely ask the local spring place. It's entirely possible the springs need replacement, but it's also entirely possible they're okay. The rear springs on the E-SuperDuty chassis (and I assume some other years of at least the E450 chassis, and maybe other E series chassis) have nearly flat springs by design. I don't see anything obviously wrong in your picture, but I'm also no spring expert, not by a very long shot.

Getting some air in the helper springs will be a good start (and free), and probably coincidentally make the ride a bit better as well. They don't take a lot of air; a bicycle pump is very practical for putting air in if you don't have or don't want to mess with a compressor.

[Grit_dog]

Try the airbags first since they're there. It’s free.
May be the angle of the pic but those springs look a little sacked out.
Again, airbags to the rescue. Air them up, see how much more tippy it feels and then decide pressure vs ride quality vs height.
Then if you get that thing up a few inches and it’s too top heavy feeling, a sway bar will help that.
Personally, not worth putting a pile Of money into the back of an old RV for a couple inches ground clearance. You don’t “want” it considerably higher anyways. It’s not a hot rod, it’s a RV. Should be close to level.

[Nomadist]

@Gary45 very good, I'll go looking for the other end of that tube. Too funny.

@Jack Spratt my guess is you are saying that replacement is required because they are almost horizontal. The rig has 70,000 miles and perhaps they have yet to be replaced. With extensive towing, that likely wore them out at an accelerated rate.

@gjac yes, this is a good time to determine what the design specs are and compare. I'll look for a scale near me.

@travisc I might get away with leaving those alone with the other changes below.

@Booner I, too, am new to hitches but by replacing the leaf springs and with the airbags I may be able to leave that alone. Definitely taking your advice to add a stabilizer and replace the shocks.

@DrewE you mentioned that the leaf springs may look flat...and @Jack Spratt mentioned that they look like they need to be replaced. My inclination is to replace but I will ask the local suspension shop for their opinion, as well.

@ron.dittmer I'm definitely going with the stabilizer. The rig does seem tippy to me (one caveat: this is my first RV so I have no experience to compare against). And I may get back to you on the brakes. Another goal has been to find a mechanic to give the rig a once-over but I haven't found that mechanic yet; car mechanics I've asked uniformly have said it's not their specialty so I continue to look for one.

Well, the new task list has become:
1. Replace the leaf springs; get some extra inches that way
2. Replace shocks (they look original to me and this is a good time to do it)
3. Install rear stabilizer bar (not for height but to improve the handling)
4. Get airbags working

Given that I'll get only two inches extra height from the trailer manufacturer, that I already have castor wheels and that I already have airbags, this seems like a good list for Phase 1. I'll leave the hitch alone for now.

Phase 2 can be new tires more suitable for the tiny amount of off-road I intend on doing—but only when these are worn out.

[Jack_Spratt]

Yes you have airbags
Yes your spring pack needs to be replaced.

[Gary45]

Add on helper air springs, the red "wire" is most likely the inflation tube and the fill valve should be accessible somewhere near the hitch. Firestone makes them for a lot of vehicles.

Your motor home looks level, the hitch installed low probably to suit what ever previous owner was towing,the trailer you are towing needs to be level otherwise it will drag at rear, mount receiver higher, get rid of the rollers, select the correct ball mount for the receiver to get correct tongue height for trailer.

The distance from front wheels to rear is a compromise, longer wheel base would make turns more difficult, backing into campsites more difficult.

[Nomadist]

@BurbMan yes, that's exactly my concern. I started this process thinking of a lift kit (and found one that would work at actionvansuspension . com) but others warned of the raised CG. And I'm not trying to turn this into offroad vehicle; I just need a bit extra occasionally.

@time2roll yes, 5" is a lot...and then that causes an issue with the trailer I'm having made. The manufacturer says he can do 2" from the factory no problem but is not set up to provide more than that.

I haven't put it on a scale yet...the rear does look saggy.

And yet another interesting find underneath. Please don't laugh as suspensions are new to me but does this look like it already has airbags to you? That red wire is there for some reason.

[Gjac]

I would start by taking the MH to a flat area parking lot and check the front and rear ride height and compare it to specs for your chassis. On a 30 year old MH chances are the springs are probably weak. Next weigh the front and rear wheels. Ideally teach tire should carry the same weight, just looking at your MH I would guess the rear carries more weight and the front end is too light. My guess is your WB is 138 ins, if so it will be hard to redistribute the weight but you should try. Once the ride height is fixed by adding spacers or springs you may gain a few ins of GC. Higher aspect ratio tire would help some also. I think someone on here added air bags but said they did not add much ride height if the suspension was good, only added if weak. Good luck.

[travisc]

I suggest giving a visit to a loacal fab shop to see if they can raise the hitch for you and put the receiver higher up snd raise those casters, that would be quick and easy

[Booner]

By no means do I know much about hitches, but from the picture alone it appears that a square spacer was used for the hitch to attach to: is this normal? I would think you'd want the hitch to attach directly to the frame rails. So perhaps if you investigated a new hitch design you could gain the height you wanted and the towing capacity you want. A new hitch would allow you to get rid of the casters, which is what is probably causing you to drag your bottom, and nobody I know wants a dragging bottom. There also seems to be some rust in that area and I would investigate that too to see how bad it is.

I recently put HD Bilstein shock all the way around my motor home along with a steering stabilizer. I purchased them from Amazon; the shocks were around $90 each and the stabilizer $115. It greatly improved the handling. I put the stabilizer on myself; it was simple to do and the factory stabilizer was well past worn out. If your going to tow something, you'll want a good handling rig. Also, I'm wondering if you lifted the rear end of your MH, if that would change the caster on your front wheels either for better or worse as far as handling goes? If you still are running on the factory shocks and stabilizer, it's probably time for a change anyway.

[DrewE]

Replacing the shocks will not increase the ground clearance. It will, of course, improve the ride and handling if the existing shocks are not good or not in good shape. Similarly, a rear stabilizer bar won't increase the ground clearance.

I would take the rig to a reputable spring and chassis shop (one that deals with trucks, etc.) and listen carefully to what they recommend. It may well be that simply repairing or replacing/upgrading the rear springs will help a lot. The rear end does appear to be riding low; possibly that's because of worn or broken springs, and possibly it's due to poor weight/balance as manufactured; both are entirely possible.

Note that the rear springs will (probably) not appear to be arched greatly on this chassis; they're nearly straight, albeit mounted at an angle.