Have you given any thought to air bags? One fellow at work has them on his 5er and claims the trailer tows better than ever. Don't know how much lift you can expect out of the air bags before they take all the weight off the springs. Just a thought.

 

Smaller tires on the truck and larger on the trailer. Remove the rear lift block and have new ones or milled down.

I'm ok with 6 to 7 inches of clearance on my rig. Good luck. Srigs

 

Don't know if this will help..but have you looked into a gooseneck extension for the trailer and replacing the 5th hitch with a gooseneck ball? It might get you lower and you will pick up use of your bed again. Camping world has them.

 

Carry some short pieces of 2x4 with you and when changing a tire on a multiple axle trailer, pull a good tire up on the blocks. This will either eliminate the need to jack or minimumize it. Either that or find a curb to pull up on. I never use a jack to change a tire on the trailer.

On my three axle trailer, the usual tire to blow is the center axle, figure that one out.... I also keep the nose high on purpose, the handling is better, the ramps are lower, and pivot turns are easier.

Jack, just go to a heavier tire and don't worry about one blowing. Without tire damage causing it, the only blowouts I have had were on the seven new Dayton tires that came with the trailer. Only one made it to worn out status.

 

I appreciate the thought, but I've seen too many trailers get ruined because of goosneck extensions. They put more wieght or pressure on the 5ver, and some of them have no had good results. I don't think I want to go there. It's a good thought but the bed clearance would go down too. I can't lose any more bed clearance.

 

Hey Jack,,,,,,,,
Trade trucks with me! My two wheel drive sits lower and you won't have any problems.


OK,,,,,,,,, it was worth a shot anyway.

 

 

Hey Jack, Dennis has an idea there. And mine's a DUALLY!!!!

 

Seems you have my luck with tires too.............and on the center one there is no easy way to jack that rascal up either

 

I think, I dont know for sure but I am going to have the same problem with my 2 wheel drive. Jack have you measured from the to the top of your bed rails to the ground. I measuersd mine and it is 57 inches. The problem I am going to have is that my truck dont sit level. The front end sits alot lower than the rear. And with it being a 1 ton and having a rear kitchen in my camper I dont have much pin weight to began with. I am hopeing to get my hitch installed in the next week or so. Anyone having a 4x4 could you measure from the ground to the top rail of the bed and tell me what you get. Thanks

PS If I have to tell the wife that the camper wont fit the truck, well sir I really just dont want to think about it.

 

Wow! 57 inches to the top of the tailgate of a 4x2! My '99 3500 4x2 is only 51 inches at the tailgate. I feel short It does work out well for towing the fiver, though.

Jack, how tall is your 4x4 at the tailgate?

 

Ok DPG. I went back out there with my tape measure and backed it out onto the street for a more level surface and found it to still be at 551/2 inches. What do you think? Think that will be too high? One of the reasons I went with the 4x2 was so that I wouldn't have this problem.

 

Floridacamper:

I don't know if 55 1/2 is going to be a problem or not. I know that my fiver (1996 Jayco 31') was too high at the front when hitched before I flipped the axles, now it's dead level. I do know that some of the bigger fifth wheel trailers have a higher pin height. Can your axles be flipped? Some trailers have spring brackets that will allow you to raise the trailer height. Also, I believe that the back of the truck can be lowered without too much trouble or expense. Good luck and keep us posted.

DeWain

 

57 inches on my 4x4 SB

 

Jack,
Where does your pin set in relation to the rear axle? The reason I ask is because when I first got the Ram, we still had the older model 26' Nomad. This was an 85 Model trailer, so it sat rather low (made to match the heights of trucks of that period). When I hooked to the Ram, it too sat nose high. I ended up moving my hitch to its most rearward setting (my idea was to move more of the pin weight towards the back of the truck to get it to squat more). This worked very well and had no adverse affects on towing, matter of fact,,,,,, it towed better because the trailer was more balanced. Keep in mind that that trailer was probably only 6000 lbs, and I don't know what the pin weight was. But, when we bought the Cougar (pin weight of 1130) I left the hitch in the same location and it rides great plus sits level.

Now I know there are going to be folks out there saying that having the pin directly over the axle or an inch or two behind the axle is a NO-NO, but honestly, it rides and handles great. I have also had the displeasure of being in a panic stop with this rig and it could not have performed any better than it did. I was impressed,,,,,,,,,,, well first I was scared poopless,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, then I was impressed.
My point is,,,,,, ya might try playing withthe hitch adjustments along with changing the spring blocks and see if you can make any difference.