I bought a 1991 fifth wheel Avion 35' in great shape. A friend hauled it home for me, because I haven't bought a hitch yet. Started measuring the top of my truck bed and the bottom of the camper where it sticks out of the truck and I only have 2" clearance.

I thought about:

-Lowering the rear of my truck by switching out the 4.5" blocks with 2" blocks. Hopefully a true 2" gain
-Switch tires from 265/75 to 245/75 (last resort) Hopefully a 2" gain
-Truck should squat at last 3"

That's about 9" total clearance, is this enough?

 

all your doing is lowering the whole rig, that wont give you clearance between the 5ver and bed.

 

Lower the truck what ever you can, and raise the 5th wheel by flipping the axles to the top of the springs.

 

ok i see what your asking now. your talking about the slant that the trailer has when hooked up right. wouldnt putting the axles on top of the springs lower it?

 

You should be able to adjust either the pin box on the trailer or the hitch you put in your truck to gain clearance. Assuming you measured the two inches of clearance with the trailer level and assuming the truck will squat 3" like you said, you should be able to adjust the hitches to give you 5" of clearance with the trailer sitting level. As long as you're careful that should be more than enough clearance.

 

He meant flip the axle on the 5er to the bottom of the springs. 91 was probably before adjustable jakeplates - shackle plates are extended downward and have more holes to lower the springs. My bro cut his entire suspension loose on his TT and welded in a box tube for more space. Craig

 

I forgot to mention, I can't flip the trailer axles, because the axles are torsion bar axles. I could add a spacer between the frame and axle though. That would be a tough job.

 

Dodge had a TSB out a while back for 5th wheel pullers. I remember reading that they lowered the back of the truck with smaller blocks (2.5") if I remember right. They also shortened the driveshaft so it wouldnt bin in the t-case when the truck had a load on it.
I know there is a couple of people on this site that have lowered the rear of their trucks with Ford f250/350 2.75" blocks.(search lower rear of truck)
I have a set in my garage waiting to go on.
I dont like the raked look of our trucks and the front spacers/levelers I dont like either. So lowering the back end is what I am going to do next.
Right now I have the front leveling kit (1.5" spacers) and dont like the gap in the wheelwell. I also dont want to go to a bigger tire, it slows the truck down in the 1/4 mile, and from what guys have said it makes it handle better. So thats the next best idea I have.

 

I think Summit has a 2.5" kit around $84. I wonder if that's cheaper than the *******'s price.

 

If I remember right the dealer wanted something like $1000 to do the work.
I picked up the Fords blocks at the junkyard for $25, and they are cast iron and the same width as ours.

 

Good idea!!! I'll check into that.

 

You said you should get 3" of squat. Is that going to put the truck level? (3"squat) plus the spring block out is a lot, thats 5". Is your truck on that much of a rake?

 

Aren't the torsion axles welded to their own frame and that frame welded to the trailer mainframe? I was thinking... cut the welds between the frames and weld in a spacer. The axles would still be in alignment. 9" clearence would be great but the 5-6" that some guys have wouldn't get me thru some intersections. Craig

 

Yes, my truck is raked, the track bar hits the front axle housing if I hit a speed bump to fast.

I noticed the axles welded to a subframe today. There's 8 welds for each side. Welding a spacer between the frame and subframe wouldn't be that bad and the axles would stay aligned. thanks C Schomer.

I did notice the tires where Carlise 7.00 x 15 bias ply D range, they're pretty new, but the weight capacity is only 2040 lbs per tire = 8160 lbs max weight. The camper weights 9600 empty, that's not good.

Do they make E range in a 15" tire?

 

Since your are buying tires anyway buy yourself some 16" inch rims and tires to go with it. That should also raise the fiver a little also.