Sierra fifth wheel cap hit top of tailgate in a sharp turn on very unlevel ground.

[quick83]

As it says, in my subject, we were at a harvest host camping for the evening and set up in a parking area at the winery. When I made a sharp turn on extremely unlevel ground, one side of the RV cab came down and smacked the top of the tailgate. I’ve had my B & w hitch on 2020 ford four-wheel-drive DRW truck for 2 years with no problems. I have 6 “ of clearance btw cap and truck bed. Has this happened to anyone else?
I guess I will have to raise my hitch another inch or buy a fifthwheel tailgate replacement. It may never happen again and then again it may. 🤷*♂️

[NMWildcat]

6" is the MINIMUM clearance you should have.
I primarily boondock in very rough country. I have 9" of clearance and sometimes get close enough to touching that I still have to back up and retry some angles.

[quick83]

Hi, thanks for responding. I can raise my hitch up one more inch I just don’t wanna have my fifth wheel kicked up in the front like I’ve seen some people going down the road but I wouldn’t think 1 inch would make that much difference as far as the way it sits on there when you look at it. That still might not be enough and then I find out the hard way again. I guess I can see if my pin box can be adjusted to help also with this problem. It does look like there’s an adjustment on it. I wonder what the torque is on the bolts that holds up the pin on there? Thanks again.

[NMWildcat]

I hear ya about all the fifth wheels running down the road nose high! A lot of that has to do with truck manufacturers making taller trucks with deeper beds and RV manufacturers not keeping up. New stock trailers now have taller or adjustable gooseneck structures to compensate, why not friggin RVs?
I am about 1.5" high in the front of the RV with my old truck, so not enough to notice or make any difference.
Torque requirements depend on bolt size and grade. Either use your hitch manual or a bolt torque chart to determine.
I would think 7" of clearance should work fine for most normal towing situations. But when you get in a weird spot, just watch how close you are (or use a spotter) and then you can renegotiate instead of modifying your truck

[yukongold]

See post #6 here (and click on the picture):
https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...ue-175711.html