Minimum Bed Rail Clearance?

[skidsareforkids]

I am pulling a 42' Forest River with a Ram 3500 long bed using an Andersen Ultimate. *To get the trailer level I have my Andersen ball in the lowest setting which only gives me about 6 inches of clearance between the bottom of the 5er and the top of my truck bed. *We watched it closely on the 300 mile trip home and it never got close to contacting the *bed rails. *Is this an acceptable amount of clearance or do I need to find a way to get some more clearance between the bottom of the 5er and the top of the bed? *If I need more clearance do you have any ideas without raising the 5er past level?

[Jim34RL]

6 to 7 inches is adequate clearance between the bed rails and the underside of the 5er.

[donanddona]

Is your 5r level when connected?

[skidsareforkids]

Originally Posted by donanddona

Is your 5r level when connected?

Yes, maybe slightly nose-up with six inches of clearance. If I adjust any higher it will definitely be out of level. At 42' long I will run into some issues with my trailer bumper contacting the ground in dips and curves.

[boaski]

Six inches is rule of thumb

[hbillsmith]

I tow my Wildcat with a 2500HD and my clearances are as you describe for yours. What I've incurred over the last 2 years is that it tows level at the lowest Andersen setting, however, a couple of times when I was in a state park I had to adjust. It seems that where they have drainage ditches on both sides of the road that runs in front of the RV spots and the spot you want is down an incline or at an extreme angle, you may have to do a sharp jack turn to get in the spot and while doing so, you find that your truck goes down or up the ditch to a point where the trailer is angled down and close to scraping the bed rails.

In those extreme cases, that 5 or 6 inches isn't enough. And here's why I love the Andersen, I just pull over to a level spot (parking lot, block the road if not much traffic, etc.), I drop the trailer front legs, raise the nose, pull the Andersen ball up to it's highest position (I gain a few inches), drop legs and re-hitch (total time is usually about 5-10 minutes). Now I've got extra clearance to park.

I've never had an issue towing out on the highways or pulling into service stations etc. As a matter fact, I've only had to do the "stop and raise" exercise twice in 14,000 miles and 30+ campsites. The fact that adjusting is easy and quick is an Andersen bonus as I see it.

[Jakieboy]

If your fifth wheel hitch is not a "slider", then you should be fine with 6 inches of clearance between the bottom of your trailer and the truck bed sides. We tow a Cardinal 3250RL with a Silverado 2500HD Diesel, and we have an auto-slide PullRite needed because we have a short bed. We had to raise the hitch height by about 1-1/2 inches after we installed a sliding tonneau cover to prevent interference with the Mor-Ryde King-Pin mount. So far, so good.

[Doug357]

Originally Posted by hbillsmith

I tow my Wildcat with a 2500HD and my clearances are as you describe for yours. What I've incurred over the last 2 years is that it tows level at the lowest Andersen setting, however, a couple of times when I was in a state park I had to adjust. It seems that where they have drainage ditches on both sides of the road that runs in front of the RV spots and the spot you want is down an incline or at an extreme angle, you may have to do a sharp jack turn to get in the spot and while doing so, you find that your truck goes down or up the ditch to a point where the trailer is angled down and close to scraping the bed rails.

In those extreme cases, that 5 or 6 inches isn't enough. And here's why I love the Andersen, I just pull over to a level spot (parking lot, block the road if not much traffic, etc.), I drop the trailer front legs, raise the nose, pull the Andersen ball up to it's highest position (I gain a few inches), drop legs and re-hitch (total time is usually about 5-10 minutes). Now I've got extra clearance to park.

I've never had an issue towing out on the highways or pulling into service stations etc. As a matter fact, I've only had to do the "stop and raise" exercise twice in 14,000 miles and 30+ campsites. The fact that adjusting is easy and quick is an Andersen bonus as I see it.

I just bought a whole setup. 2017 Rockwood 8244BS and a 2017 Ram 2500 power wagon. Thought all 2500's were the same but power wagon is higher. Forsee problems with angle of trailer but trailer still on way to dealer so will not know if I need a lift kit for trailer until it comes an. Any thoughts would be great?

[skidsareforkids]

Originally Posted by Doug357

I just bought a whole setup. 2017 Rockwood 8244BS and a 2017 Ram 2500 power wagon. Thought all 2500's were the same but power wagon is higher. Forsee problems with angle of trailer but trailer still on way to dealer so will not know if I need a lift kit for trailer until it comes an. Any thoughts would be great?

I wish I had s me advice for you but my limited experience doesn't allow me to weigh in.