Suspension mods to lower height of TT

[merlin8735]

I have a 2013 Keystone 19FBPR TT that Keystone chose to stick way up in the air. Not sure what their intention was by doing so, but it causes this small TT to tow like a 35 footer.

I won't say that I talked to anyone at Keystone about the height of the unit, and I won't say that anyone there told me that the overall design of the coach is determined by the parts available on the build date. Nor would I ever say that anyone at Keystone ever said anything other than modifying the suspension in anyway would void the generous one year manufacturer's warranty on the coach which has since expired.
After looking at the underside of the TT, there appears to be a considerable amount of clearance under the coach to allow it to be lowered.

That being said, I am wondering if any of you have tried lowering your TT's in this way and if you were successful or if you encountered problems that made you wish you hadn't tackled the project?

[merlin8735]

The good thing about lowering the TT is that it is completely reversible. None of the existing parts will be harmed during the process!

I appreciate everyone's comments, opinions, and especially the advice on which parts to buy from Dexter.

Assuming that I go ahead with the project, I will post pics and information about both the horrors and benefits of the whole experience. That will include costs, measurements of before and after.

Thanks again! Happy Camping!

[GaryWT]

merlin8735 wrote:

GaryWT wrote:
Not sure why you are blaming the factor, all Premiers are set up the same way. The factor builds to the engineering specs and for the Premier it is built as is, it is not like they pick and choose what trailer will have what axles and what goes on top or on the bottom. I guess they use to use smaller axles but they started to bend so they changed what they used. As I said before I hope it works out for you.

If you notice, I did not blame the factory for anything other than designing this coach to be so blasted high when there was no need for it to be that way. And, as I mentioned in my original post, I wouldn't say that anyone at the factory in anyway told me that they used parts inventory on hand to complete their units. I just wouldn't say that anyone told me that who works at the factory. No, sir, I would not even want to infer that anything like that happened.

I am please with the Premier in most every way....except the overall height. I wasn't pleased with the one year manufacturer's warranty. I sort of feel like they should stand behind their work a little better, but it is what it is. I bought it with that warranty which has expired. But, short warranties for RV's is a topic for another post.

Happy Camping!

All Premiers are made the same way and my Premier needs to be the height it is, that is why I bought it so again, the person to blame... And again I hope i works out for you.

[JJBIRISH]

Lowering the unit will barely have any effect on fuel mileage…

It isn’t simply air flow but the air turbulence that is created across the entire front of the trailer, high or low… turbulence and harm fuel mileage as much or more… most air foils don’t work very well for that very reason, they are not positioned close enough to direct air flow without increasing turbulence…
Airstreams body design reduces both wind drag and turbulence on the front, sides, and rear… even if they were raised a couple of inches would still work well…

My guess is if your only reason is for fuel mileage you will spend your money and still be just as disappointed with the fuel mileage and you will find in many places your three steps will be too much, and you will find places that the rear will drag where it never did before…

[goducks10]

merlin8735 wrote:

goducks10 wrote:
3-4" lower won't do diddle for mpg's IMO. Look around at all the TT's being pulled on the road. Almost everyone is a different height. Then read about towing and mpg's. It's always the same range for gassers. Your 250-6.2 isn't shy about going to a gas station.

Granted the F250 doesn't have any issues not passing a service station. As far as mileage goes, neither was the F150 5.4. But, a 12 foot 6 inch sale is harder to move through the wind than an 11 foot six version of the same sale. We could go into formulas for drag coefficient and come up with some nice numbers too. All of this should have been done at the factory. But, the factory chose to use whatever was on hand and stick the unit way up in the wild blue yonder.

By the way, I wonder why the people pulling fivers will put wind deflectors on their tow vehicles? Might it be for the same reason I want to lower this one? Thanks for your comment though.

I'm sure lowering it some will help, but 3-4" is a far cry from 1'.
FWIW I towed a 31'OAL 11'9" tall TT with a 2010 F150 5.4 3.73. Averaged 8.5-9mpg. Traded up to a 12 Ram 2500 CTD 3.73. Got 10.5+ with the same TT.
Now have a 28' 12'6"H 5'er and get 10.5-11.9mpg. The 5'er is a mid profile front. Taller but more aerodynamic. JMHO but lowering your TT a few inches probably won't register enough to really matter.
No harm in trying though.

On the wind deflectors. I've only seen a few in my travels. If they really made a difference then more RVers would have them. My guess is the cost of installing one and the gains in mpg are too far apart.

[merlin8735]

GaryWT wrote:
Not sure why you are blaming the factor, all Premiers are set up the same way. The factor builds to the engineering specs and for the Premier it is built as is, it is not like they pick and choose what trailer will have what axles and what goes on top or on the bottom. I guess they use to use smaller axles but they started to bend so they changed what they used. As I said before I hope it works out for you.

If you notice, I did not blame the factory for anything other than designing this coach to be so blasted high when there was no need for it to be that way. And, as I mentioned in my original post, I wouldn't say that anyone at the factory in anyway told me that they used parts inventory on hand to complete their units. I just wouldn't say that anyone told me that who works at the factory. No, sir, I would not even want to infer that anything like that happened.

I am please with the Premier in most every way....except the overall height. I wasn't pleased with the one year manufacturer's warranty. I sort of feel like they should stand behind their work a little better, but it is what it is. I bought it with that warranty which has expired. But, short warranties for RV's is a topic for another post.

Happy Camping!

[dodge_guy]

GaryWT wrote:
Not sure why you are blaming the factor, all Premiers are set up the same way. The factor builds to the engineering specs and for the Premier it is built as is, it is not like they pick and choose what trailer will have what axles and what goes on top or on the bottom. I guess they use to use smaller axles but they started to bend so they changed what they used. As I said before I hope it works out for you.

Engineering specs? HA HA! as you even stated they put the wrong axles under them and when they failed went to a larger one.

To the OP. if you have the room and the clearance I would lower it. I had an Award and it sat very low! never had an issue bottoming out on anything. personally I would rather have it lower as it does make an improvement in stability (center of gravity) and fuel mileage.

Go for it!

[merlin8735]

JBarca wrote:

merlin8735 wrote:


After looking at the underside of the TT, there appears to be a considerable amount of clearance under the coach to allow it to be lowered.

That being said, I am wondering if any of you have tried lowering your TT's in this way and if you were successful or if you encountered problems that made you wish you hadn't tackled the project?

Hi Merlin,

The step, dump pipe, stabilizers and ball height will all drop 3 3/8" from where you are today.

You will need a longer drop shank on the WD hitch unless you have a real long shank now.

That will give you a start on this. Before doing, post some pics of the axle setup and the shortest fender well height in case you have something different than normal as we are doing this site unseen

And head up, do not rotate the axle over 180deg or pick up and turn the axles around. There is a front and back to the axle tube and there is a top and bottom. If you actually rotate or flip the axle tube you can royally disturb the wheel alignment.

Hope this helps and good luck

John

John:

Thanks for much for the information. This is exactly what I was looking for in the way of information. My TT came from the factory with the tubes on the underside of the springs. I think that goes back to using parts on hand to complete a build. There is plenty of room for the dump valves and my jacks have to be nearly completely extended to touch the ground on a level pad. I use 4x6 blocks under each of the jacks on level ground to keep from having them extended so much. On a less than level spot, I use lots of blocking. I would estimate that clearance from the bottom step on the TT to the ground is in the 15 inch range. It is so high, that I built an auxiliary step that doubles as a holder for the 4x6 jack blocks. The hitch is not an issue either. I do appreciate all the information you supplied. Thank you.

[GaryWT]

Not sure why you are blaming the factor, all Premiers are set up the same way. The factor builds to the engineering specs and for the Premier it is built as is, it is not like they pick and choose what trailer will have what axles and what goes on top or on the bottom. I guess they use to use smaller axles but they started to bend so they changed what they used. As I said before I hope it works out for you.

[69_Avion]

The most significant difference for mpg would be a trailer that is rounded, like an Airstream or Avion. Both of those are also much lower to the ground. The real advantage to a lower trailer is that it is more stable. The higher the weight, the less stable it will be. It is a trade off however, since the low trailers will get hung up on relatively small bumps. My Avion will get hung up on steep driveways. I had to put small industrial wheels under the rear bumper to keep from dragging it.

[merlin8735]

goducks10 wrote:
3-4" lower won't do diddle for mpg's IMO. Look around at all the TT's being pulled on the road. Almost everyone is a different height. Then read about towing and mpg's. It's always the same range for gassers. Your 250-6.2 isn't shy about going to a gas station.

Granted the F250 doesn't have any issues not passing a service station. As far as mileage goes, neither was the F150 5.4. But, a 12 foot 6 inch sale is harder to move through the wind than an 11 foot six version of the same sale. We could go into formulas for drag coefficient and come up with some nice numbers too. All of this should have been done at the factory. But, the factory chose to use whatever was on hand and stick the unit way up in the wild blue yonder.

By the way, I wonder why the people pulling fivers will put wind deflectors on their tow vehicles? Might it be for the same reason I want to lower this one? Thanks for your comment though.

[Highbeam]

My trailer is tall too. Really tall. Just under 12' but most problematic is the hitch height. On my F350 4x4 I have a full drop hitch flipped over and am on the top holes!!!

[goducks10]

3-4" lower won't do diddle for mpg's IMO. Look around at all the TT's being pulled on the road. Almost everyone is a different height. Then read about towing and mpg's. It's always the same range for gassers. Your 250-6.2 isn't shy about going to a gas station.

[Tvov]

Really think hard before lowering your trailer.

Our 21' Forest River has the torsion bar suspension, which I think is about as low as you can go. I wish my trailer was higher, like our friend's 19' Jayco.

I have to keep in mind the low rear end, and also how low the hitch setup is! When I'm all hooked up (level), the bottom of the hitch jack seems to be only a few inches off the ground - one of these years I'll measure it.

When I put the awning out and angle it for rain run off, it is really low -- I have to crouch walking under it sometimes. This is not at a crazy steep angle. Our friend's TT is no problem, the awning is way up there.

Do you like to store things like coolers and toys under the camper? Very convenient to do. But usually we can't, again, trailer is too low.

Just some things to keep in mind as you look at trailer height.

[brulaz]

I know wind resistance is more important the faster you go, and that trailer frontal area (not including its distance to ground) is a big part of that.

But not sure how important actual ground clearance is, especially at 60mph. I know race cars like to be close to the ground ..., but always thought the low-to-ground trailers were that way more for stability reasons.

Will lowering the trailer 3-4" do much in terms of mileage, at 60mph or so?