Shackle bolt hole adjustment

tinkerreknit · 03-16-2022, 05:35 PM

I have the recommended clearance between my 5th wheel and truck bed sides, but I get close sometimes and I touched once. In order to tow level, I am considering raising the camper by shackle hole adjustment. What are the down-sides or safety concerns to doing this?

SeaDog · 03-17-2022, 07:39 AM

I don't know that there is a down side. It looks like the holes were provided on that frame to accommodate heavier springs with larger tires to provide clearance. With that said it may be worth a trip to a suspension shop and ask them. JMHO

phillyg · 03-17-2022, 08:06 AM

There's not much metal around the lower bolt hole and I'd be concerned it could wear through. Also, putting the spring in the lower hole will allow more lateral movement of the hangar. Both issues could be fixed by adding some more steel.

**Bama Rambler** · 03-18-2022, 10:43 AM

I think it would be fine. Just be aware that you're only going to get half the distance between the holes in lift, unless you can also lower the equalizer by the same amount.

snoopy1 · 03-18-2022, 05:57 PM

I actually had that kind of issue on my 99 motor home. I solved it by adding some air bags & I could adjust as needed, also made it a lot more stable!

After a second look, I dont think what we think we are looking at is actually the place you would move a shackle too, I believe that where the axel is located! The shackles are forward of that area. How about some more pictures
Snoopy

tinkerreknit · 03-18-2022, 06:02 PM

I appreciate the responses very much. I have a different TV now and it is a tall truck. I have 6" clearance for the 5th wheel overhang. It is level and I trial towed it and was satisfied. But on a trip, I was backing downhill and really close to a right angle. The underside of the camper overhang hit the very rear corner of the bed rail. It actually broke off the front compartment lid latch - but no real damage. I was thinking if I change to the lower hanger bolt holes, and also raise my hitch, I could gain 2" or a little more and still tow level. I'm not sure what I will do at this point but I have a trip coming up and I have rigged up a camera so that I can watch the clearance closely in different situations. Perhaps that incident was only because of extreme conditions that I can avoid. I worry about the strength of the hangers too but I want to think the engineers made things beefy enough.

tinkerreknit · 03-18-2022, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snoopy1

I actually had that kind of issue on my 99 motor home. I solved it by adding some air bags & I could adjust as needed, also made it a lot more stable!

After a second look, I dont think what we think we are looking at is actually the place you would move a shackle too, I believe that where the axel is located! The shackles are forward of that area. How about some more pictures
Snoopy

When I posted, I accidentally referred to the hangers as shackles. The hanger is what you see in the very center of the picture and it has a lower, unused bolt hole below the spring.

jimmoore13 · 03-18-2022, 06:27 PM

Spring hangars can be a weak spot in the suspension. Moving the shackle bolt down an inch or so gives the spring more leverage on the hangar.

I'd suggest having a welder add some gussets and bracing to the spring hangers, and that will more than offset the additional stresses.

I broke a spring hangar on my rig, and a mobile welder came out, made the repair, and reinforced all the spring hangers for $300. Money well spent.

onetonford · 03-18-2022, 08:19 PM

My fiver was mounted to the bottom holes, and I lowered it to fit into the storage. I lowered it all six mounts and the pin box. (Now with my new storage I will raise it back to the bottom holes) The moving down of the hole shouldn't cause any difference of force of the brackets unless you make a lot of tight turns. I have several other trailers not campers, but they haul a lot more weight and they are attached to the very bottom holes which are three down on them they use the same style and thickness bracket only they have more holes and are longer never an issue. I would move to the bottom hole but would have the welds checked at the frame to make sure it is properly welded I.E., not short or spotty or to hot or cold welds which any weld shop could tell you if the welds are good.

Ballistic · 03-18-2022, 08:59 PM

Contact the manufacturer and ask them; be safe than sorry. I have no doubt there are common parts to suspension, so just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

DouglasReid · 03-19-2022, 07:58 AM

We just had that done. Our local Trailer Manufacturing business, Thibs Trailers (https://www.thibstrailers.com) looked at out camper and said it would pose no problems.

If we used the original cast iron equalizer it would have raised the camper about 1/2 of the distance between the two holes. So a 2" difference would raise the camper 1"

I found a set of New Old Stock Lippert equalizers on eBay for $39 + Shipping of $14. They retail for around $330 so I jumped on them. With them the camper was raised a full 2".

The eBay listing stated they would have defects from storage but hey looked in to be in virtually new condition when they arrived. Here is the listing, they seem to have gone up to $59 now:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/13378334038...sAAOSwjZdgvk7R

I would not hesitate to have this done. It helped us tow level with our new truck.

moose074 · 03-19-2022, 09:09 AM

They do have lift kits for 5th wheels you might want to look into. I saw an extreme ( to me at least) version last Sunday leaving Dallas followed it for awhile knew something was off from the rear as the rear window was angled up. In my opinion some of the lanes on I 30 are a little narrow so didn’t give it much thought when trailer was looking like it didn’t want to track some of the tighter turns. When the driver had to swerve hard I thought it was going to roll. That’s when I decided it would be better to be in front off than behind. As I passed I noticed it had what looked like 8-10 inch metal tube. For those of you who are familiar with single wheel ford superduties 4x4 this 5th wheel was angled down at the 5th wheel connection. That said a small two inch lift might benefit you

DouglasReid · 03-19-2022, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moose074

They do have lift kits for 5th wheels you might want to look into. I saw an extreme ( to me at least) version last Sunday leaving Dallas followed it for awhile knew something was off from the rear as the rear window was angled up. In my opinion some of the lanes on I 30 are a little narrow so didn’t give it much thought when trailer was looking like it didn’t want to track some of the tighter turns. When the driver had to swerve hard I thought it was going to roll. That’s when I decided it would be better to be in front off than behind. As I passed I noticed it had what looked like 8-10 inch metal tube. For those of you who are familiar with single wheel ford superduties 4x4 this 5th wheel was angled down at the 5th wheel connection. That said a small two inch lift might benefit you

IMHO using factory components and factory mounting holes will not create a scenario anything like what you described.

Our experience since doing it, a 780 mile round trip to Round Rock, TX caused no problems whatsoever. A good bit was on I-10 W of Houston which is under construction with a narrow and rough roadway. We had no tracking problems either.

dalford · 03-19-2022, 09:38 AM

IMHO before you start modifying your suspension I would raise my 5th wheel hitch to the next higher position or lower my pin box one bolt hole to raise the front of the 5th wheel. I tow a little high and have for years with no issues. I think many on here do. I don’t think towing an inch or two high will effect your towing performance. Try it and see how she responds.

tinkerreknit · 04-25-2022, 06:42 PM

I appreciate all the opinions and I want to update you guys about this. I did raise the hitch to the highest setting which is 1.25" higher. This might be a short-term fix, but we'll see. I've taken 1 trip since with no problems. The camper front is 1.5" high, which puts the rear lower than I really like. I thought the appearance would drive me nuts even if there was no adverse handling tendencies. But I got over it. At the dump station, the camper was level and the truck was nose down very slightly. You could barely see that, but what you could readily see was how fast that bedrail to camper clearance decreases! Anyway, I'll just watch it as best as I can and take it slow when I need to. And stop and examine it when necessary.
The camera is almost useless. Too dark and fuzzy along with blind spots.

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