jamar and roadrat,

There were no other shims, just the (2) 15mm thick spacers. Don't worry, this is a straight forward process of removing the shims, to lower the rear of the truck.

The only downside is that if you were to ever load the truck to max payload, the rear of the truck would be riding "lower than level". Does that make sense? The Dodge Boys didn't want a Dodge truck to look like a GM "draggin it's tail" when fully loaded, so the shims were added.

Now I don't want to get ahead of Dodge Engineering but; this may become a situation where; if a new truck owner, tows a fifth wheel like I do, and needs or wants the truck lowered, the dealership would do this for you, at no cost. So before you rip into the job yourself, make your dealer aware of your situation and insist that he contact the area service/warranty group and ask if this is covered. I'm sure that the "paperwork" has been started internally at DCX, I just don't know when it'll get filtered down to the dealer level.

Yes the front end alignment was checked and there was no change in my case, but it should be checked.

And lastly, somebody asked about lowering the truck and still needing to raise the 5'er hitch the same amount. In my case if you can picture a truck sitting with a rake, where the truck is lower in the front and higher in the rear, the clearance of the bed rails was about 4 1/2" at the tailgate and 6 1/2" at the nose of the 5'er.

The hitch in the truck was at max height so I would've had to lower the pin box on the coach to get the clearance at the tailgate up to a minimum of 6". In my opinion the real problem was that the truck had a rake, or the clearance wasn't consistant from front to rear as you looked at the clearance along the bed of the truck. My coach weights in at 19,600 lbs and I'd have to believe that the hitch weight is every bit of 4,000 lbs (maybe 5,000 lbs) and the truck still had a rake when connected to the trailer.

I haven't been able to get back up to my coach and try this since the truck was lowered but I'm fairly confident that this is going to solve the problem.

Hope this helps.

 

I also installed a set of tembrens on mine, so it does not drag it's tail like a GM when fully loaded.

 

Good call Kahuner. Thanks for the info. Yes, this is what I consider part of my problem. There is less clearance at the tailgate and more at the fifth-wheel nose. Also, the fifth-wheel seems to ride a little nose high. I think checking with the dealer is a good suggestion.

I was hoping to resolve this by shifting the spacers to the top of the stack and leveling out the back end of the truck and drop the nose a little at the same time. My condern was that the back end may bottom out with the pin weight. Timbrens by be a good solution.

jr

 

It also brings your headlights up a little for better night vision. I know, headlights are adjustable.

 

SOOO Wetspirit did u get a measurment on front end going up ? Was gonna ask 13000 mi ago when I went to h2s & bfg but just went with 2 in level kit for front. However if dropping rear bring front up 1 in or so mite want to remove front kit & rear spacers. THANX

 

CAUTION hey guys I did this to my 3500 dually and it worked great for a while but IF YOU HAVE A B&W TURNOVER BALL THE BRACKETS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE FRAME WILL HIT THE TOP OF THE SPRING PLATES (WHEN YOU HAVE A HEAVY TOUNGE LOAD) going down the road it will bottem out on this before it compresses the bump stop, you will think something is going break ,because it feels and sounds like it. my brother all so experienced this same issue with his 03 dually. both trucks are 2wd quad cab duallys, i have since raised mine back up.

 

twoshot,

I'm afraid I don't understand your question. Do you mean going up in the front from lowering the back? Or going up in the front from adding the H2 wheels? It does not go up in the front from lowering the rear but the headlightes do point up a bit till their adjusted. The H2s do lift the front and rear about an inch. I got enough leveling by lowering the rear and I like the stance much better than stock. Easier to get in and out of too.

Wetspirit

 

twoshot,

I'm afraid I don't understand your question. Do you mean going up in the front from lowering the back? Or going up in the front from adding the H2 wheels? It does not go up in the front from lowering the rear but the headlightes do point up a bit till their adjusted. The H2s do lift the front and rear about an inch. I got enough leveling by lowering the rear and I like the stance much better than stock. Easier to get in and out of too.

Wetspirit

 

I think that this mod was a TSB on my 2002 for adjusting the ride height because the bed was too high when towing.

 

I don't see any need for lowering a 2WD, but the 4WD is too high in the back if you tow a 5th wheel.
I didn't even know the 2WD had those lift blocks

 

wetspirit Yes how much did front come up by dropping rear ? If your headlights came up your front end had to come up!

 

The front does not get raised, it will remain at the same height off the ground. The attitude of the truck will change and that will affect where the healights point.

I am thinking about doing this to my truck. I want a more level stance but being a short guy havin a lowered rear might work out pretty good. Maybe if I did this I could actually see over my bed rail, and see what is in the bed.

 

twoshot,

Lowering the rear does not raise the front. The back goes down and the lights shoot higher because the angle of the truck compared to the ground has changed. The truck is the same height at the front wheels. We're only changing the height at the rear wheels.

Wetspirit

 

The question about whether or not the front gets raised when the rear is lowered depends on WHERE at the front you are talking about. Yes, the truck remains the same height at the front wheels. It does not remain the same height at the front bumper or, for that matter, any point in front of the front wheel bearings. Take a number 2 lead pencil. Put your finger under it at the "2". Hold it level. Lower the pointed end. The eraser rises. Lowering the truck's rear is the same thing. The truck's frame rotates around the front wheel bearing as the rear is lowered. Simple physics.

 

For those that have lowered the rear, does it not put the helper springs that much closer to touching even when empty?