Drop the rear of a 3500 4x4

[lcarson0433]

The clearance at the back edge of my bed is really close to the bottom of my 5th wheel, it had not made contact to this point, but it has come very close Does anyone know of a way to drop the truck to give some added clearance. I know that an aquaintance has a ford (would be a friend if he had a dodge) and they had a kit to lower his. Does Dodge make one, if so does anyone know the part # Thank for the help.

 

[parcher]

Yes there is a kit for the 4x4 Dodge. Don't know the p/n but your dealer can look it up quickly. There is a TSB about this #02-001-01

 

[klenger]

I had it done on my 2500 under warranty. I'm very happy with the results.



See info here.

 

[lcarson0433]

Thanks for the info, I will give my local dealer and get the kit.

 

[Wiredawg]

Have you flipped the trailer axles?

ICARSON433:



Have you considered having the axles on your trailer flipped to make it taller? It added around 4" on my 36 foot triple axle Travel Supreme. I would think if you use the shorter blocks on your rear axle, you'll be sitting on the overloads all the time.



I don't have sway or handling problems with my 5th wheel. It sets my 3500 level and really looks cool. I have about 6 inches clearance between bed and trailer.



Wiredawg

 

[lcarson0433]

Wiredawg,

The axels on the traler are already under the spring pack, That was my first thought, but the trailer manufacture got there first, but thanks for the reply, every little bit helps.

 

[Jack in Alaska]

Take your truck to a spring shop. I had mine done, lowered 4", for $130. I also had to put on shorter shocks so they didn't bottom out. Rear shocks for a 2 wheel drive worked well.

That was done 80k miles ago and all works well so far.

 

[phoekema]

lowering rear of 3500 4x4

Yes, as mentioned above, there is a kit to lower the truck. However woe onto you if you are at all past either the time or mileage limits (time limit in my case) - then the 'stealer' will charge for the parts to the tune of $700 or more.



I ended up going to a local suspension shop and for about $100 they installed shorter blocks between axle & spring. (replace 4" with 2") This doesn't affect how the overloads work at all. What complicated my situation is I have a Coverit enclosure in which I store my 34' Travel Supreme and truck when not being used. I simply don't have the clearance to spare to flip the axles on the trailer - as it is now I have to play games tying back the fabric on the Coverit to get the height clearance I need at the door area. Once inside all is well, but the door area is really tight.



There is only one down side of the method I used so far - I notice when pulling hard there is a bit of driveshaft-type viabration. It doesn't do it under normal conditions, only when pulling the 5th wheel up hill at near 30 lbs boost. I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this. Maybe the factory kit changes the differential angle a bit which only replacing the blocks does not do?