Towing an Unlevel Trailer

[esvensweed]

I have a 29’ 2014 Chaparral fifth wheel RV that’s towed with my 2014 Dodge 2500 Ram truck (Mega Cab with a 6’ bed) using a Curt Q16 slider hitch.

After getting my RV home from the dealer I noticed that it didn’t sit level; it was noticeably high in the front and low in the rear. I measured the difference from the frame to the ground and found that the front of the trailer sat 9” higher than the rear did. Also, the pin box would make contact with my truck’s bed rails when making tight turns.

I read that a trailer should be towed relatively level so not to put too much weight on the tires which could cause blow-outs. So, I had the pin box adjusted (to its limit) to where the trailer now sits about 6” higher in the front, i.e. lowering the front by 3”. This adjustment also eliminated the bed rail contact issue with tight turns.

I then went to a certified scale with the trailer fully loaded and found that my tongue weight was well within the specified safe range, and the weight on the tires is about 10% below their maximum rating at the 75 psi pressure I am using.

There’s nothing more I can do to level my RV except changing the 5th wheel hitch to one that sits lower in the truck bed or use a different pin box that sits higher. Unfortunately, neither of these is viable as the clearance when making tight turns between the pin box and my truck bed is only about 1” now. Lowering the front of the trailer further would cause it to hit the bed again regardless of whether the slider was used or not.

I am still not happy with the front being 6” higher as the rearward tilt is pretty obvious. My questions are:

1) Is the rearward angle when towing a trailer a safety issue?

2) Is 10% enough of a safety margin for the weight on the tires?

Thank you for your help with this.

[BenK]

Today's TV's are way too tall and due to the folks buying today's full sized SUV & Pickups
demand taller and IMHO, mainly for that 'look'

Am not a fan of raising the CG of any vehicle, but if that is the only way to get
it level, so be it...just know that the CG is higher and that the clearance you
need to watch out for while going underneath any overpass/trestle/etc must be
high enough...

Good luck

[Mark_Heisler]

you need your fifth-wheel to ride level.
two things is looks poor and also you heat up your back tires which will blow and cause damage to your fifth-wheel or somebody else passing by

[SoCalDesertRid1]

Ditto what Rhagfo and Riggsp said ^^^

[rhagfo]

lawrosa wrote:
Not a fifth wheel guy but I think you need to flip the axles on the trailer to get the rear higher. Then adjust the pin accordingly...

The others will chime in..

IMO the dealer should be held responsible and fix it free of charge..

Maybe there are other options Im not aware of...

Why should the dealer be held responsible?

When buying a 5er one should measure distance to rails and distance from ground to 5er, do the math, if you see an issue make it part of the deal.

Towing nose high places extra stress on the rear axle tires, it also adds to the feeling of chucking.

One wants 6" +/- at the bed for clearance,so you need to raise the trailer at the axles. If the axles are over the springs, moving to under will gain you about the diameter of the axle plus about 1.5" for the distance the spring saddle sits above the axle.

If the axles are already under the springs you will need to have a sub-frame built to the correct height.

The best way to find the lift you need at the axles is do the following.

Find a level spot to do some measuring.

1. With the 5er hooked up and weight on the TV, drive a short distance then measure the distance from the ground to the top of the bed rail,at the location of the hitch. Then add 6" to this measurement for clearance. Call this Measurement1.

2. In this same spot disconnect from the 5er, pull the truck away, and level the 5er front to rear.

3. Now measure the distance at the nose of the 5er to the ground. Call this measurement2.

Now lets do some math.

Measurement1 - Measurement2 = distance the 5er needs to be raised for level tow.

An example if the loaded distance to the top of rail at hitch is 56", then you add 6" for the normal bed to 5er clearance you have 62".

You measure at the bottom of the front of the 5er and the measurement is 58", then 62" - 58" = 4" that you need to raise the 5er at the axles to tow level.

[thecdnmole]

Flipping axle or using the Dexter over/under conversion kit is exactly what I did. MY 5th was 7" out, the kit raised the trailer about 5.5", and now it sits level with about 7" clearance between top of box and underside of trailer. Took me about 4 hours to do the conversion.

[riggsp]

Flipping the axles (moving the axles under the springs) is the easiest way to raise the rear of the rv...if they've already been moved, check the spring shackles to see if they have adjustment holes...after that, raise the rv by having a trailer shop make a subframe to move the whole suspension down (raises the frame).
I've got a 2004 2500 Ram with a short bed, and a 2009 Outback 5er...flipping the axle made my rig almost level ( within 3 ins. front to back ) which is only 1 1/2 high in front.

[lawrosa]

Not a fifth wheel guy but I think you need to flip the axles on the trailer to get the rear higher. Then adjust the pin accordingly...

The others will chime in..

IMO the dealer should be held responsible and fix it free of charge..

Maybe there are other options Im not aware of...