Slide-In and Sitting Tilted

[Spyke]

I loaded the slide-in yesterday 2002 Lance and with it on the truck it sits lower in the rear then the front by what looks like 1" to 1-1/2". It is flat on the bed floor, my question has any one else seen this with the 2003 trucks, because I am pretty sure it sat level on my 99. I didn't measure the height from bed floor to the top of the rails so I don't know if the bed is in fact tapered. Thanks in advance Steve

 

[JWhitcomb]

Mine too, ('01) I use air bags for front to back and side to side.

 

[Spyke]

JWhitcomb I need to clear this up The gab is from the top of the bed rail to the underside of the camper not being even for the length of the bed. The rig sits okay for overall look.

 

[JWhitcomb]

Thats strange, well I guess either the camper overhang on the sides is not parallel to the bottom or the top of the bed rail to the bed. Let us know which it is. Not trying to be a wise guy but you didn't leave a 2x4 in the bed did you?

 

[MGordon]

I could have sworn that I read somewhere that the siderails on the 2003 slope up from front to back - now I can't find it. Anyway, that would make it look like it wasn't sitting level.

 

[JWhitcomb]

If they did slope the rails, what were they thinking? Trucks don't slope, El Caminos do.

 

[dresslered]

I seem to recall the same thing that MGordon states. Darn wind tunnels!

 

[L_Rutigliano]

Spyke, I posted the same question about a month ago.



You are correct, the rear of the bed rail is REAL close (like 1/4 to 1/2") away from the bottom of the camper overhang, while the front is more like 1". The bed appears to have slight tailfins!



I fixed this by installing an additional rubber bed mat (so now I have two). Plenty of clearance at the rear now.



Also, be advised that the fuel door is in the wrong place! If you are using Torklift frame mounted tie downs, the fuel door will only open 3/4 of the way.



Dodge also didn't fix the narrowest tailgate opening in the industry with the 2003, so if your bathroom or gray/black water tanks protrude beyond the 4' wide section, its a very tight fit with the narrow tailgate opening.



One thing they did improve though is the ride with the camper installed. My '03 (3500 SRW) without airbags handles the camper much better than the '01 (2500) with camper package and airbags IMHO, especially the corners. I attribute this to the wider spacing of the spring packs and the overloads actually engage with the camper on the truck (they didn't on the '01).





Hope this helps.

 

[JWhitcomb]

Ok, now I am really curious, why would they do it fin like. As for not touching the overloads with a camper on, I have a cure for that.

 

[JohnMcIntyre]

Firestones

Steve, I use Firestone airbags over the rear axle to give me independent left and right sides, rear ride-height adjustments (2nd gen 2001. 0 3500 with Lance 1130). Without this, I very much doubt if I could get the truck to ride level with the camper on-board.

 

[Spyke]

Okay Guys & Gals, I talked to Lance and a dealer the Dodge does have a little bit of a rake to it in the bed dept. Irutigliano I do think the 2003 rides better then my 99 did. Thanks for the help folks