Bed clearance for 5th wheel
 

I can't get enough clearance from the bed of my 97 4x4 dually to the frame of the 5th wheel trailer. Rear springs 3+1 leaves, 3" wide with a 4 3/4" spacer between axle and spring. The bed sets 2" high at the rear. I can't modify the 5th wheel any further. I need to get the bed down at least 2" and will still pull the trailer a little nose high. Front coil springs are about 13" high with weight of truck on them. Any suggestions?

No matter what you do there will be a time when the stars align and you will smash your bed.
Have you thought about getting a skirted flat bed with underbed toolboxes?
Duallies were meant to have flatbeds [guitar].

Bed Clearance
 

[duhhh]Already smashed the bed, at least one rear corner.
A flat bed with tool boxes would be nice but $$$$.
Think I'll have the tall blocks shaved a couple of inches. The truck should sit fairly level then.

curious how come you cant lower the pin box or move the 5th wheel hich up? is the truck lifted?

depending on the trl, you can always try to lift the trl axels.
I has to do that with my 5th wheel

Bed Clearance
 

rebal, I can move the pin box down and the hitch up. Both are adjustable but the problem is then I will be towing with the nose of the trailer high changing the weight distributation and towing characteristics of the trailer. I bought the truck used 7 years ago and don't really know how to tell if it has been lifted. I don't use the truck for anything but to tow the 5th wheel so there's no reason to have it lifted. An improvement would be to have 2" shorter leaf spring spacers(axle to spring) to level the truck and gain 2" of clearance. I can't find any reference to the spacers("spring blocks") for my spring set-up so I thought about having a machine shop cut 2" from my existing spacers. As was said, smaller 5th wheels are a pita for these tall trucks.

2 things I can say
1 my sons 06 dodge was to high for his small 5er so we put (welded)spacer block on it to lift it up to fit
2 my neighbor 99 3500 we took out the lift blocks on the real and it lowered it 2 " see if your able to do this might need to get new U bolts
just my .02

I have basically the same truck and I have over six inches of clearance. My truck is 4x4 with the stocksize tires and I use airlift overloads in the rear. I do pull alittle nose up but can correct it with the airlift overloads. If you can't correct the truck can you raise the trailer by larger wheels and tires. I have 16inch tires & rims on my 5th Wheel and use the same size tires on my truck. For height some companies mount the trailer axles to the bottom of the trailer springs.

Tony

Raise the trailer.
Some people are able to do it by flipping the axle(s) over or attaching them to the bottom of the leafs if they are on the top now.

Lowering the rear of the truck would be an option too. Dodge actually had a bulletin back then regarding this, and smaller lift blocks were available.

Bed Clearance
 

Well, I ordered 1" blocks to replace the 4 3/4" blocks under the truck springs with new u-bolts. The fuel tank will be a little closer to the drive shaft but should be ok. Drive shaft will be a little flatter. No rear stabilizer so that's not an issue. Took the air bags off and got a better ride. Hopefully I won't have to do anything to the front. The trailer's a light weight 25 footer with only 970 lbs pin weight compared to my old 30 footer with 1600 lb pin weight. For where I go the smaller trailer works better. Those little light weights are already top heavy and didn't want to make it any worse by adding height to it besides I would have to travel 125 miles to get the work done on the trailer and probably spend more. Thanks for all the suggestions. Let you know how it goes when I get the parts.

Well, I finally got the truck lowered enough to give me 6" of clearance for the 5th wheel. Rear lowered about 3" and front about 1 1/2".