Bed Rail Height, and a 5th Wheel

[Doupe]

I am going to purchase a new 5th wheel soon. My concern is the height of the bed rails, the truck is a 2005 3500 4x4, SRW, stock except it has 305 tires, and 2" leveling spacers in the front. The rails measure 57" tall at the center from the level ground at the center of the rear wheel well, this may be a problem. The rig I am thinking of buying is a 35' Montana. From those who have a 5th wheel, will my truck work, or do I have to remove some things to make it work?, I don't care for the trailer to be high in the front when towing.

 

[jelag]

I own a 05 3500 dually and 4x4 and have just bought a new 06 Challanger that is about the same length... . both are made by Keystone... . I have good clearance with the set up..... but I can see that with the space I have, I'll still have to watch it in some cases... but its a least 2" more than the old trailer I had. .

 

[ScottLewis]

Although my '06 Laramie was nearly 6" higher at the tailgate than my '98 4X2 I discovered that the spring package was sufficiently softer and allowed the truck to settle nearly to the same level as the '98 (which had BIG overloads and air bags. I didn't even have to adjust the pin box or hitch. The front of the fiver rides a little higher than before but is actually more level. It worked out just fine. If concerned, stack up a number of wood blocks in the bed of the truck to the level the hitch would be and lower the trailer pin down in the bed. If you have 6" or so of clearance and you can live with the level, you're good to go.



Dan

 

[Doupe]

Both replys are very helpfull, but a dual rear wheel truck has smaller tires, and the 2" front leveling kit does raise the rear a tad, so if someone has a trailer close, and is parked level, what is the height from the ground to the bottom of the overhead part, and how much space is required between the two, I would think 5 inches would be OK. The thought of removing the front spacers, the rear spring spacer, and replacing the 305 tires with 265's may cause me to just replace the truck with a new one.

 

[Grizzly]

If you know which 5er you are going to purchase, take the truck to the trailer dealer, do the stack of blocks as suggest by "danavilla" and lower the 5er on for size. If you need more trailer height, you can get taller trailer tires and/or adjust the pin box on the 5er. If you should get taller trailer tires, I suggest Mechelin XPS Rib LT. The ST's that come on new trailers are China junk.

 

[jelag]

The dually has a smaller tire in width... . there is less than 1/2" difference in height as the aspect ratio on the two tires is different.....

My boy owns a SRW and I own DRW trucks. . . we've had our tires side by side and there is no difference...

 

[mach92bill]

I had a 2001 dually 2wd which I used to pull a 35 foot fiver. When I purchased a 2006 4wd, I was concerned about the height, however after installing a B & W companion hitch and hooking up the trailer, there was very little difference in the height. Maybe 1/2 to 3/4 inch. No problems towing.

 

[hilda]

Doupe



Don't remove the front spacer. I just put my 25ft 5th on the new truck, I don't have spacers and the rear of the bed rails is about 4" from the trailer, where the hitch is I have about 6". If the truck were level the clearance would be perfect. I don't want to raise the hitch (the trailer's level) so I'm going to level the truck . Even if it raises the truck a little I'm better off with a level trailer.



Just my 2cents



Hilda

 

[JHardwick]

and the 2" front leveling kit does raise the rear a tad,

The leveling kit should lower the bed rails from the rear axle back with the greatest difference being right at the tailgate.

 

[nunya]

I had to use 2" leveling on the front end after installing and using airbags @ 35psi on the rear, truck n trailer both level with 5" clearance minus 1" for the height of the tonnuea rail, all good now and tows great!

 

[proflow]

Heres what I did---Proflow



http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m297/in2proflow/dons pictures/?action=view&current=1958ba21.pbw

 

[LHanks]

Doupe, what kind of camping/CG do you plan on going to? Most consider 6" as a minimum, with 8" preferred (not talking about women here) LOL. If your plans are to go offroad or frequent some state parks, 5" will probably cause you problems. If you are only going to improved private CGs with paved/concrete roads and pads, then you may be OK.



Don't know about your "05, but my "07 DRW has three 1/2" spacers between the spring pack and the OL springs. You can move these spacers to the top of the OL springs and this will drop the rearend at the TG 1 3/4" according to a thread on one of the Dodge forums. I plan on doing this, just haven't had the time yet.



Here it is:Slide Show

Good luck in whatever you decide.

 

[Erniek]

Here is what I did to solve the problem with my 97 SRW.

Flip the axles on the trailer so they are under the springs instead of over the springs. This will effectively give the trailer a "lift kit", and should alleviate any clearance issues. You can then probably raise the hitch in the bed of the truck to make the whole set up level if you want to. I have flipped the axles on the last 4 trailers I have owned, (one of them was a 1990 30' Snobird 5th wheel) and the one I have now had it done at the factory(Desert Fox Toyhauler). The added clearance under the trailer is nice if you take it "off road" at all, and I never had any handling issues associated with this setup.

Just an idea FWIW.



Erik

 

[proflow]

Erik has a good point 'if' the Montana has spring under now. If so ,this still must be done correctly. One thing often forgotten is the camber & toe built into those axles. Most flip upside down & side to side. That will leave you with changing your brake wiring side to side as well. If just done spring under your towing that trailer backwards geometry speaking. The best way to go spring over is to weld new spring perches onto the axles . Brakes stay same, camber & toe as well. Dexter makes a pretty easy squeezy kit, not too pricy either. If its already spring over, Youl'l have to do something like I did. My 2-c-. Proflow

 

[RJOL]

My NuWa HitchHiker II (2006 29. 5FKTG) came with factory adjustable spring brackets, on the trailer. They have three positions, or levels. I have mine set to the middle position and I have just under 6" of clearance over my bed rails. I have a 2005 3500 4X4 Dually long bed. The trailer tows level. I'd caution against towing not level (the the front up several inches over the rear), as it will put a lot of extra weight on the rear axle. I'd also agree with the 6" being the minimum. If you plan to go off asphalt, you would be better served with 8" of clearance, as sometime the trailer can be rocked side to side quite a bit, as well as front to back. JMHO...