5th level - 25.5" front & 19" rear. Too much or good?

[thecdnmole]

Took the 5th out of hibernation today and discovered what I expected by measuring Got a new TV since parking it last fall, went from a 2011 Chev 2500HD to a 2015 Ram 2500, and tonight moved the 5th out of it's winter parking spot. It was more or less level with the Chev, but as you can see in the title, it's 6.5" high in the front which is giving me about 8" clearance to the top of the box at the front and 6" at the rear. I am thinking I need to do the over/under conversion with the axles. What does the RV.NET community think? Thanks.

[MFL]

Yes, you need to do the axle flip. IMO, a couple inches nose-high is not an issue, but 3"s or more, it is time to make a correction. It will tow better, with less chucking on uneven concrete. Your fridge will be more level, if running while towing, and more important, running while parked, still connected to truck.

I think your tires will wear better, and axles will share weight better with trailer closer to level. Six inches nose-high is too much!

Jerry

[thecdnmole]

N-Trouble wrote:
ALL this truck designation talk does nothing to help resolve the OPs dilema. Just sayin...

Exactly, think some are getting off topic 🙂 Let's get back to the issue of 6" over about 24' is too much not level or not. Thanks!

[N-Trouble]

ALL this truck designation talk does nothing to help resolve the OPs dilema. Just sayin...

[BenK]

Ops....RAM calls it 2500 Heavy Duty...GM calls it 2500HD...

RAM 2500 (regular 3/4 ton) is ~8.6K GVWR...so which "3/4 ton" does
the OP have...

Why say to use their true designation...GVWR...not marketing badging...goes
to the forever discussion of 'which' half ton do you have...since
one OEM has over 15 different 'half ton' with different GVWR's for
each one of them...3/4 ton's has less in number...ditto 1 ton...



Capacity designations (1/2 v. 3/4 v. 1 ton)

benk wrote:
Posted: 12/23/10 11:21am

This is my nephew's Ram and it's Dodge marketing badge


Note that is the norm for a '3/4 ton' truck....2500....but it has a marketing
modifier to be accurate 'Heavy Duty', therefore modifies it to be a 'heavy 3/4 ton'
and here is it's GVWR label



To show that it's not just Dodge, but all of them...here is my buddies GM



and his GVWR label



Notice that they are both 'HD' versions and here is my 3/4 ton Suburban and it's
GVWR label



Notice that these 3 are all '3/4 ton' trucks, but that the 'HD' versions of these
'3/4 ton' trucks has a bigger GVWR than my non 'HD', which are all marketing
nomenclatures (2500, 2500HD, 3/4 ton)


Ford likewise, as marketing 'king of the hill' to non-educated or
non-beliver buyers continue to fuel this type of marketing. Ford's
answer to Dodge's 'Heavy Duty' and GM's 'HD' is 'Super Duty'

Expect Toyota, Nissan, Isuzu, etc to also pretty soon, as they sell
or pitch to the same customer base, who believe in marketing jargon
more than specific's of the 'ratings', which also has too much marketing
baked into those ratings...but with the truth in advertising law, they
weasel word it with fine print...which...these same buyers have no
clue nor want to understand how that works.

[mkirsch]

BenK wrote:
Normal, as you went down in GVWR, to a lower class TV

Some 2500's start at 8.6K GVWR and up a bit

Some 2500HD's start at 9.2K GVWR and up to just under 10K GVWR

He went from a GM to a Dodge.

There is no common nomenclature between brands.

Dodge does not have a "2500HD" model. They are all 2500's.

GM has not had a "2500" model since 2004. They are all 2500HD's.

Ratings and load capacities between the Dodge 2500 and the GM 2500HD models are comparable and competitive.

[thecdnmole]

N-Trouble wrote:
Doing a spring over conversion (aka axle flip) will lift the trailer 5-6". I was 5-6" nose high and did the axle flip recently and it now sits perfectly level and tows much better than before. If I had a choice between higher center of gravity or towing nose high I will take the higher center of gravity any day... We have a portable step we place under the factory 3-step that is on the trailer. Had it done at a local shop who does a lot of these and also had them install Dexter EZ-flex and wetbolt kit at the same time.

Yes, my thoughts exactly on doing the EZ-flex and wetbolt upgrade all at the same time. We bought an aerobics stepper for $20 last fall for an additional step if required because of un-even pad at campsites.

[N-Trouble]

Doing a spring over conversion (aka axle flip) will lift the trailer 5-6". I was 5-6" nose high and did the axle flip recently and it now sits perfectly level and tows much better than before. If I had a choice between higher center of gravity or towing nose high I will take the higher center of gravity any day... We have a portable step we place under the factory 3-step that is on the trailer. Had it done at a local shop who does a lot of these and also had them install Dexter EZ-flex and wetbolt kit at the same time.

[BenK]

Normal, as you went down in GVWR, to a lower class TV

Some 2500's start at 8.6K GVWR and up a bit

Some 2500HD's start at 9.2K GVWR and up to just under 10K GVWR

Depends on which marketing options you ordered or the original owner
ordered

Won't touch on ratings and whether you are 'good for it or not', but
suggest if leveling is what you are after, then any of the after market
rear TV axle aux spring systems will do that.

I've never liked flipping the trailer axles, as it raises the CG to
reduce that performance. Check it's total height BEFORE you spend the
time and money to flip the trailer axles. Some are at the max legal
height as it sits. Flipping might raise to the point you will need to
watch all over passes/etc for height signs and then to know what your
'new' height is in order to safely go underneath them

Nothing you do, short of hiring a licensed company/person to do the
modifications to raise your TV's GVWR

[ACZL]

I was in same boat last year. 5ers axles had 3 mounting holes for springs. Put them in the lowest holes and lowered the truck hitch to lowest setting too. About as level as I can get w/ stock/factory components.

[IdaD]

thecdnmole wrote:

IdaD wrote:
I had to flip the springs from under to over the axles on my fifth wheel to get it to level up with my Ram. I got nearly 6" of lift and it sits within an inch of level now with pretty good bed rail clearance. If you can do an axle flip that's probably the easiest way to lift it, or if your springs are already on top of your axles you could look at blocks or having longer spring hangers welded on.

My unit is stock, which is why in my OP I suggested my first option would be to do the over/under conversion. I was more curious if the community thought this needed to be done, but the feeling I get is it should be as close to level while towing. So, looks like I will be ordering the kit today! 🙂

It's a pretty easy job once you get the trailer jacked up and safely blocked. I had to cut the brake wires and spice in extensions, so you might think ahead and order some heat shrink tape and electrical connections along with the flip kits.

[thecdnmole]

IdaD wrote:
I had to flip the springs from under to over the axles on my fifth wheel to get it to level up with my Ram. I got nearly 6" of lift and it sits within an inch of level now with pretty good bed rail clearance. If you can do an axle flip that's probably the easiest way to lift it, or if your springs are already on top of your axles you could look at blocks or having longer spring hangers welded on.

My unit is stock, which is why in my OP I suggested my first option would be to do the over/under conversion. I was more curious if the community thought this needed to be done, but the feeling I get is it should be as close to level while towing. So, looks like I will be ordering the kit today! 🙂

[IdaD]

I had to flip the springs from under to over the axles on my fifth wheel to get it to level up with my Ram. I got nearly 6" of lift and it sits within an inch of level now with pretty good bed rail clearance. If you can do an axle flip that's probably the easiest way to lift it, or if your springs are already on top of your axles you could look at blocks or having longer spring hangers welded on.

[time2roll]

I agree trailer needs to be lifted.

[azrving]

When you are done I think you may need a wood box or new steps too. 🙂

Drive it onto some 2x lumber to see how much you need.