Help w/ level 5th wheel towing.

[RWtoy255]

Hope someone can give us some assistance with this issue.
It appears the nose of the trailer is riding too high.
Background - Tow vehicle is a 2019 GMC 2500 HD Crew cab, 6.5 bed,
4WD. Truck has also been lowered 2 inches.
5th wheel hitch is a Curt 16A
Trailer is a 2019 Forest River Cherokee 225RR.
Truck was initial lowered because the trailer, with its
original pin box. road too nose high, even after
adjusting the hitch and pin box.
How, with the hitch lowered to its lowest position and the new Reese Airborne/Sidewinder pin box high as possible in the Wing box on the trailer, the trailer is now setting quite nose high. I have 8 inches between truck and trailer. 5.5 inches from level from front to rear of trailer.
Is this too high?
Will this set up cause too much stress to the rear tires and axle vs, the front axle on trailer?
Will this affect the function of the refrigerator being so far out of level?
Thank you for your assistance with my dilemma.

Ron

[RWtoy255]

[nayther]

Mine is the same angle but a bit more bed clearance. Depending on where you tow you might get by with 6" above the bed rail.



How did you lower the truck? Damn new trucks are so tall it's hard to get the correct setup without raising the trailer too much.

[RWtoy255]

Got a set of lowering shackles and had them installed by my local shop.
lowered the rear by about 2 inches.
will have the front lowered when I take truck in for an alignment by adjusting the torsion key for one inch lower front.

[frank4711]

Guy that bought my 5th wheel had a brand new GMC 2500 and his truck was 4 inches taller than my RAM ... New trucks are much taller.

[Bama Rambler]

I had the same issue when deciding to buy my truck. I bought what I did partly because it could be lowered. I lowered the truck 3" in the rear and 2" in the front. The 5er is still about 2" out of level, but that I can live with.

These darn trucks are getting taller and taller every model year. Pretty soon we won't need an RV, we can just camp under them.

5½" out of level is a little too much for me, but I see them being towed all the time more out of level than that.

P.S. If you have spring mounted axles, the equalizer will make up for the out of level and load the front and back tires equally.

[DouglasReid]

If you have lowered the Fifth Wheel hitch as low as it will go, and raised the sidewinder pin bos as high as it will go there i snot much else you can do.

This will not affect your reefer while traveling at all, as the up and down motion of the camper while driving will keep the fluid moving.

If you park temporarily at night you will still have to level it for the night.

We keep a couple 2x6s to put down and drive the camper up on to to level it for the night, or you can always drop the 5er and level it perfectly with the landing gear.

[RMWSierra]

Originally Posted by RWtoy255

Hope someone can give us some assistance with this issue.
It appears the nose of the trailer is riding too high.
Background - Tow vehicle is a 2019 GMC 2500 HD Crew cab, 6.5 bed,
4WD. Truck has also been lowered 2 inches.
5th wheel hitch is a Curt 16A
Trailer is a 2019 Forest River Cherokee 225RR.
Truck was initial lowered because the trailer, with its
original pin box. road too nose high, even after
adjusting the hitch and pin box.
How, with the hitch lowered to its lowest position and the new Reese Airborne/Sidewinder pin box high as possible in the Wing box on the trailer, the trailer is now setting quite nose high. I have 8 inches between truck and trailer. 5.5 inches from level from front to rear of trailer.
Is this too high?
Will this set up cause too much stress to the rear tires and axle vs, the front axle on trailer?
Will this affect the function of the refrigerator being so far out of level?
Thank you for your assistance with my dilemma.

Ron

Are trailer axles mounted on top of springs? If so have them moved to under springs to raise trailer. This will slightly raise step height when trailer is level.

[Walholler]

One thing that makes the newer trucks and also older trucks higher is the diameter of the wheels. I have a 2015 Chevy 2500HD Crew Cab Diesel with 17 inch rims. I am towing a 2016 Crusader Lite using a Reese 16K 5th wheel hitch, my trailer sits level with the truck. If I was running 20 inch diameter wheels then my truck would be 3 inches higher and I believe that would present a problem.

[OldSoldier]

If you’re going to keep the trailer for a while, flip the axels on the trailer. That’s what I had to do with my 24 foot Jayflight. Worked perfectly and leveled things out very nicely. AND lots of room to adjust 5th wheel and trailer kingpin.

[RWtoy255]

The axles are already flipped by the manufacture as stock. Trailer is already 13' 5" tall so raising the trailer is out of the question to stay RV legal.
Thanks Bama Rambler, I'll look into the equalizer suggestion.
Ron

[SlowrideHD]

Originally Posted by Walholler

One thing that makes the newer trucks and also older trucks higher is the diameter of the wheels. I have a 2015 Chevy 2500HD Crew Cab Diesel with 17 inch rims. I am towing a 2016 Crusader Lite using a Reese 16K 5th wheel hitch, my trailer sits level with the truck. If I was running 20 inch diameter wheels then my truck would be 3 inches higher and I believe that would present a problem.

It would only sit an inch and a half higher. (20-17)/2=1.5

[Tall frog]

Originally Posted by Walholler

One thing that makes the newer trucks and also older trucks higher is the diameter of the wheels. I have a 2015 Chevy 2500HD Crew Cab Diesel with 17 inch rims. I am towing a 2016 Crusader Lite using a Reese 16K 5th wheel hitch, my trailer sits level with the truck. If I was running 20 inch diameter wheels then my truck would be 3 inches higher and I believe that would present a problem.

You have to check the tire size, I have 20" rims and a 275x60x20 tire, the same hight as a 275x70x18 apx. The larger rim is offset by shorter tire, the 20" will give a fimer and more side control ride than 17-19:

[rmoore0852]

Following this thread. I just bought a 2018 Silverado 3500. Haven't got my hitch installed yet, but this new truck is at least 4-5" taller than my 2006 3/4 ton. Basically the same truck, just 12 years newer. My setup was level with 9" of rail clearance on my old truck. I have to keep the 9" since I do go into some rough areas with my trailer.


I agree, people buy HD trucks to haul trailers. Why on earth are the making them so dang tall??

[Chappy31rla]

I would suggest getting the weights on both trailer axles and compare them to the axle and tire limits.

[menekaunee]

When hooked to my RV, there is 5” bed rail clearance, my truck and trailer are level. I was thinking about buying a new truck, I measured the bed of the 2019 F-250, it was 5 inches higher than the bed on my 2016 F-250, I stopped thinking about new truck.

I was at a seminar once about RV refrigerators. They recommended these minimums:

Refrigerator Level
Level 6° front to back
Level 3° side to side

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by menekaunee

I measured the bed of the 2019 F-250, it was 5 inches higher than the bed on my 2016 F-250, I stopped thinking about new truck.

I was at a seminar once about RV refrigerators. They recommended these minimums:

Refrigerator Level
Level 6° front to back
Level 3° side to side

If the height and nose high attitude of the 5er that should not necessarily stop you from getting a new truck.

Those level maximums for yoru reefer are for when it is stationary, so the fluid flows through all the coils in the back. When you are traveling, the movement of the camper up and down, side to side keeps the fluid moving Hence it is not damaging the reefer.

[wwalker2984]

I towed my old 5 th wheel like that and after a wile it broke my rear spring so I got new springs and the spring shop we re arc the springs witch made the trailer two inches higher then it was perfect and level

[Curly2001]

I have the same problem when I changed from my 2007 Chevy 2500 to a 2019 Chevy 2500. I have gained about two inches of height and it has made my 5th wheel ride nose high. To make matters worse, I had a new slider hitch installed on my new truck which added 3 inches to my hitch height. I didn't realize it would do that so now I pulled the slider off the truck and have a stationary hitch, which is fine. I am still about 2 inches nose high with about 6 inches of rail clearance. I may drop down to the bottom hole on the hitch and see where the bed rail height goes. The new trucks are terrible as far as bed height goes. I had to search around to find a new truck with only 17" tires on it which I did.
Curly