Trucks are too tall for fifth wheel

[TURNKEY]

I'm presently towing a 1999 Jayco 23' fifth wheel. It's total weight is 6500 pounds loaded. My tow vehicle is a 2006 GMC 1500hd with a tow capacity of 7990 pounds with the 6 liter V8 and a 3.73 rear end.
I love the trailer but it's time for a new truck.
I find the 1500HD just does not have the power I want. I drive below 60 mph in 3rd gear with tow haul engaged but the truck just doesn't have the power I'd like especially we tow a lot out west through the mountains.
The problem is all the trucks I've been looking at are too tall for the trailer. The axel has already been flipped and the pin box has been raised as high as I can get it but it's still about an inch high on my present truck and all the new trucks are a lot higher.
So I'm coming to the conclusion I may have to buy a new truck and immediately lower it.
Also does an one have thoughts about whether I should get a half ton (as their tow rating are huge now!) or a three quarter ton. We will never get a huge fifth wheel, we like national parks too much, maybe a 26 foot max.

[Grit_dog]

camp-n-family wrote:
Today's 1/2 tons have huge tow ratings but they are just a gimmick, as you'll far exceed their payload ratings well before getting anywhere near it.

Not with the trailer he has or similar. Totally half ton towable. Heck he's been doing it for years already with a glorified half ton.
I'd stick w GM or Ford with leaf springs for a half ton.
For lower 3/4 ton option, assuming you are going 4 wd as the 2 wheelers are all pretty low, take a look at the Ram 2500 air ride. Alt trailer height lowers the rear a bit and you can also mod the sensor to raise or lower a bit more I believe.

[KKELLER14K]

I was thinking the same, upping tire size from 15 to 16 and gaining another inch by replacing the spring equalizer with an upgrade from Dexter. The ez-flex kit for the bigger axles is a little wider and 7/8 inches taller in the middle without bracket mods and without any blocks as a place to start.

[camp-n-family]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Since 2013 Truck MFG. have been adhering to SAE J2807 Tow Standards so now ratings are more in line with real world abilities vs the old magical marketing department tow ratings using a base model


Info on SAE J2807

It's still only based on power. It doesn't take into account the trucks other ratings required to tow to that standard, such as payload.

[Old-Biscuit]

TURNKEY wrote:
I'm only at 11'6" now but it sure feels top heavy...looks like it's on stilts too.

Can't be top heavy as almost all weight is at floor level or below

What size tires....15"?
Maybe change them out to 16" so suspension is more 'normal'



My 5th wheel is 13'4" and doesn't have any issues being towed

[TURNKEY]

I'm only at 11'6" now but it sure feels top heavy...looks like it's on stilts too.

[mowermech]

To those who recommend raising the trailer, did anybody consider that the trailer has already been raised, and the top might be getting close to the 13 & 6 maximum?
It just might be necessary to lower the truck so that the trailer will not hit some overheads.
Just something to keep in mind...

[TurnThePage]

When I regeared my old F150 from 3.55 to 4.10, my city mpg improved, my highway mpg decreased a little, my towing mpg improved.

[numberseven]

Always locked in 3rd and let it run!!! cruise control when i can and two tranny coolers out front
2800 60mph
NOW i had my prom retuned because it ran great except at "WOT" wide open throttle and if i had to use it the engine wouldn't even hold its own and would slow down over the course of a long hill, the GM dealer said "it's in spec" well my comp guy downloaded the prom with EFI Live ver 3 and it shows the timing ******** to 11* @ WOT not good for the LS1 GEN3 engine so we upped it 27* disabled the EGR and uploaded the data and know it wants to GO
The truck gets 12-12.5 mpg towing 9000# and has ran great with 175,000 miles and i plan to keep it

"D"

[TURNKEY]

Good points regarding front axle. Same thing as running in third rather than 4th but after blowing one torque converter trying to run in 4th and overdrive I figured I would spend the extra money on gas rather than transmissions.

[KKELLER14K]

A little off topic but I know that changing a rear end will get you more pulling power but a drop in miles per gallon?. SO with that, how much was the cost to do it and how do you determine how much you gained pulling wise and how much you lose in miles per gallon? Not sure it's worth it IMHO. I tried to figure this out by just going to my years truck build sheet and looking inside the glove compartment which gave me what gears it has. I then went to see what other ratios was offered for that year and was able to see what their tow ratings were for each gear set, nothing about mileage though, as I figured. But am I on the right track as to figuring out the gain on the tow capacity if I changed out the gears? I learned it's not much for mine. One more question; if it is a 4x4 wouldn't you have to change the front differential also?...mmm seems like you would have to. Again sorry for the off topic question.

[TURNKEY]

#7 what gear are you in and what rpm. I tow in third at about 2200 @ 60mph

[numberseven]

I have the same 1500HD 6 Liter truck you do but i changed the rear end to 4:10 pulls like a dream at 60-67 mph and my 5th wheel is 9000# going down the road
I plan on keeping my truck as long as i can because there are too many issues with the new ones and it's paid for

[DanNJanice]

TURNKEY wrote:
Wow thanks for that info Old Biscuit....or should I say Old Biscuit-Wan Kenobi. A little googling was very informative and somewhat reassuring in that you CAN compare apples to apples but the difference in tow ratings between my 2006 1500hd (basically a 3/4 ton drivetrain on a half ton frame) and the new half tons is huge! As I've said before I'm rated for 7990# and now you can easily get 11000# in a half ton. I can't believe manufacturers were sand bagging before, how did the ratings increase so much?

They were not "sandbagging" before. They have just realized that having more towing capacity, especially in a 1/2 ton truck...sells more trucks. So they have redesigned the trucks to have a higher tow rating. If all things are equal between two trucks, the one rated with the newer J2807 standard would have a lower towing capacity.
Regarding your situation, I agree, the height of modern trucks is somewhat ridiculous.

[TURNKEY]

Wow thanks for that info Old Biscuit....or should I say Old Biscuit-Wan Kenobi. A little googling was very informative and somewhat reassuring in that you CAN compare apples to apples but the difference in tow ratings between my 2006 1500hd (basically a 3/4 ton drivetrain on a half ton frame) and the new half tons is huge! As I've said before I'm rated for 7990# and now you can easily get 11000# in a half ton. I can't believe manufacturers were sand bagging before, how did the ratings increase so much?

[Old-Biscuit]

Since 2013 Truck MFG. have been adhering to SAE J2807 Tow Standards so now ratings are more in line with real world abilities vs the old magical marketing department tow ratings using a base model


Info on SAE J2807