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Old 03-19-2016, 04:12 PM   #1
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5th wheel lifting

Hi all, I am new to this forum. I have a 2013 Rockwood 8281 5th wheel with Revolution pin. I put about 6000 miles on it with my 2005 Dodge 4x4. When I replaced the 2005 with our 2014 Ram 4x4 2500 I discovered I only had about 4-3/4 inches of clearance on the bed rails. Also the trailer sits a llittle nose high. The hitch is in the second from top hole. The only way to get more clearance and level the trailer is to raise the trailer. This is done every day with leaf spring suspension, however I have Dexter Torflex axles. Not sure its a good idea to lift it.
Has anyone gone through this. I would assume there are hundreds of these trailers being towed with newer model trucks. The situation would be worse with 350/3500 trucks are they whould not squat as much as a 250/2500, therefore pulling even more unlevel.
The trailer does pull great as is. I am just a little concerned about tagging the bed rails with the trailer coming in and out of steep drives into truck stops, ect.
I have put fewer than 1000 miles on the trailer with the 2014 Ram.
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Old 03-19-2016, 04:22 PM   #2
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not sure if this is the correct one for you, but there are kits available. http://www.amazon.com/Casita-Dexter-.../dp/B0092TU2GM
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Old 03-19-2016, 04:27 PM   #3
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At 1 time, there was a lift kit available through Forest River for lifting torsion axles, so you might want to check with Rockwood to see if that is still offered.

I installed a lift kit on my Trailmanor. I ordered the lift kit from Trailmanor. It was basically 2 ~2x2" steel tubing that already had the holes drilled, plus longer bolts. They were pretty easy to install.

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Old 03-19-2016, 04:29 PM   #4
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not sure if this is the correct one for you, but there are kits available.
If I used these kits, I would certainly add a 2" x 2" x 1/8" tube from side to side in front and back and duplicate the 2 x 4 tube that comes from the factory. I would either weld it myself or take it to a welding shop and have them weld it. There is a tremendous amount of lateral force on the mounts when you are making turns or jackknifing the trailer. JMO.
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Old 03-19-2016, 05:51 PM   #5
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5th wheel lifting

You can buy new axles with higher ride height instead of a lift kit.
They clock the spindle higher or lower.

Is this a possibility?


http://youtu.be/vKvxTwKChxA



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Old 03-19-2016, 06:00 PM   #6
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If after talking with Rockwood I decide to proceed I will still have some work to do on this. I will be tracking down the components as well as a proper shop. The proper shop will be the toughy as no one wants to take responsibility for something like this. I am too old to climb under and work and too poor a welder to do it myself if welding in needed. And of course the budget comes into play.
I don't know how others are handling this issue, or do they know there is an issue? I have seen others on another site raising trailers easily by manufacturing their own frame work but mostly for leaf spring setups. I think that is basically what OLDCOOT is suggesting.
When looking at the suggestions so far it appears to be an easy fix but one that needs to be done very carefully to ensure a safe mod.
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Old 03-19-2016, 06:13 PM   #7
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If there's clearance would taller rims and or tires work?
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Old 03-19-2016, 07:21 PM   #8
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If there's clearance would taller rims and or tires work?
Bigger tires would help slightly. I have been viewing some of those utube videos and it's turning me to think the hubs may have some adjustment for the start angle. Or as earlier stated I may have to change axles to get the correct angle. Tomorrow I am going to crawl under and take a good look.
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Old 03-19-2016, 08:00 PM   #9
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Can you move the pin box down on the trailer


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Old 03-19-2016, 09:49 PM   #10
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I had the problem you are having when switching to a different hitch....cheapest way was to lower truck and then adjust pin-box.....step height stayed the same, same old wind drag, just a little labor involved.....
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Old 03-20-2016, 06:07 PM   #11
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Can you move the pin box down on the trailer


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Thats a good question. When it stops raining I will go find out. hadn't thought of that. Thanks

I am thinking I would have to raise the hitch to the next hole to give me more clearance then raise the pin to allow the nose to drop and I may be back where i started. I dont really want to raise the hitch because that whould interfer with the bed cover when not pulling.
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Old 03-24-2016, 07:47 PM   #12
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Lifting 5th wheel

I fretted a lot about this a couple of years ago when I moved from a Silverado 1500 to an F350. I even calculated the additional weight being carried by the rear axle due to the trailer out of level, and verified it at a scale. Even then, I was still within the specs for both tires and axle. I had a good opportunity to change the start angle on the axles last fall when I lost a bearing and had to replace one of the axles. However, it was going to cost me another $1000 to replace the second axle. I've never had any issues with towing, so I just decided to live with it. I did upgrade the tires to Load Range D to give a little more margin on the real axle, and I have about 6" clearance to the bed rails, so clearance is not a problem for me. By the way, if you do decide to change out the axles, I had great support from Axleinc, in Elkhart in getting a replacement axle.
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Old 03-24-2016, 07:50 PM   #13
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Lifting 5th wheel

I didn't mention that I am 3 to 4 inches out of level when hitched.
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Old 03-25-2016, 09:22 AM   #14
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I ordered the lift kit from forest river for my 8281 and it made a world of difference. I put it in myself in one day. Now I pull level.


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Old 03-25-2016, 09:30 AM   #15
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Remember when measuring from back to front for level, say 4" out of level, you only have to lower. or raise, 1/2 that distance as the tires are the pivot point

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Old 03-25-2016, 09:42 AM   #16
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I would be more concerned about my over all height than being level while towing. I am right at 13'6" now and any raising would not work to well
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Old 03-25-2016, 09:43 AM   #17
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Originally Posted by historybuff View Post
the hubs may have some adjustment for the start angle. Or as earlier stated I may have to change axles to get the correct angle.
They don't (have any user-adjustability, that is).

Here's some research I did when this topic came up last year.

The start angle is set by the way the square hole is cut on the axle-end of the spindle arm and then its permanently welded on. The start angle is indicated by the axle part number so you could buy new axles with a different start angle.

The lift kit that Dexter sells is probably by far the better option.
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Old 03-25-2016, 09:47 AM   #18
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I would be more concerned about my over all height than being level while towing. I am right at 13'6" now and any raising would not work to well
Rear axle carring more weight...
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Old 03-25-2016, 10:06 AM   #19
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I had a lift kit installed at the Goshen rally. Tow level was number one reason, Second reason upon checking with thermometer rear tires and hubs they were taking more load. Third benefit is close to 8 inches truck bed to trailer clearance with the Superduty, the F 150 had 6 inches.

Dexter makes a kit that is engineering for the job, comes complete.
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Old 03-25-2016, 05:52 PM   #20
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I ordered the lift kit from forest river for my 8281 and it made a world of difference. I put it in myself in one day. Now I pull level.

After spending the last couple days trying to wade through Turbo Tax I am back on the axle project. Looks like it could be an easy install. I wont do it myself but I dont see it being over about three hours in an axle shop. I will definantly give forest River a shout Monday and see what they have. Thanks for all the good ideas on this subject. I will post what I find at FR
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