Need information please

[Mundgyver]

A friend of mine has a 2001, 2500 LB Auto, I need to know what the kit is for lowering both the front and the back for towing a 5th wheel. We know there are kits and we have looked at the TBS for the rear. What about the front, can it be lowered and is there a kit for this.



Or can we just mill down the blocks?? Has anybody got any experience with this.



Thanks in advance.

 

[mbrolin]

The kit just lowers the rear. It also cannot be used with the overload springs. I have a 01 4x4 and havent had any problems with the height. Probably has a lot to do with the 5er height as well. Pull a 01 HR 30ft.

 

[KenHokie]

Instead of lowering the truck, has your friend considered "flipping" the axles on the 5th wheel? I needed to have this done to mine to raise it up enough to get clearance above the sides of the truck bed. Most RV's service shops can make this change. It involves putting the axles below the springs instead of the factory position of being above the springs. This will usually give 3 - 5 " of height to the 5 th wheel. The only draw back is that you may need to add an extra step to the trailer's stairs to make it easy to get in out of it.

 

[Mundgyver]

My friend Dave wants to lower it by about 2 inches all the way around. I forgot to mention it is a 4x4 also. The stock blocks are almost 5 inches. My concern would be the drive shaft play and he thinks that attention would need to be with the sway bars and steering linkage also. We know there will be other items as well.



The reason he wants to lower the truck is that when he tows his 5th wheel, it is nose high. 1st Problem is he can't drop it without hitting the box. 2nd problem and more important is that because the trailer is nose high when towing, the airflow is trying to blow out the first 3 feet of each side of the leading edge on the walls. He has already put a set of aluminum "L" runners on each side, screwed into the walls (outside) in a horzontal fashion to keep the vacuum developed by the air flow off the front from sucking them out. It looks like someone just ripped out the corner seam and then the air gets in it and blows it out more. Thats the problem in a nut shell.



I'm going see if I can get him to try my AirTabs in a configuration up on the front. What we are trying to do is eliminate the vacum that is developing on the front side walls of the trailer.



The factory has advised him that he needs to lower the truck to lower the trailer to a more level towing stance. They beleive that this is the problem.



I will pass on the suggestion of flipping the axles, but I think he will resist it as the trailer is close to 12 1/2 ft hight in front and I don't think he wants to go higher. Trailer is 29 1/2 long and I think it a Mallard. Has the metal sides.



Any suggestion will be passed along. Thanks for taking time to read this.

 

[KenHokie]

Mundgyver, Wow I have never heard of an RV being torn apart by the airflow over it while driving . My 5th wheel is a '99 Wilderness 25' (same manufacturer as your friends Mallard) and I have pulled it all over the West at speeds up to 75MPH and in some very strong cross winds without any problems. If the trailer is still under warranty, I'd recommend that your friend contact the manufacture directly. My guess is that the trailer was not put together properly. A good place to contact for information or to see if others have had similar problems is: http://www.rv.org/ . Tell Dave I said "good luck".