Newbies

[Karrie74]

Good morning. We just purchased our first RV from RV Nation in Hamilton, Ohio. We bought a Cedar Creek 36B4. We are excited, anxious, overwhelmed, and nervous! We have 3 kids - 15, 12, and 8 and wanted to find a way to spend some time together without the hassles and stresses of everyday living.
We stayed at Kentucky Horse Park on our way home and was very pleased with the cleanliness of park. we would go back again.

One quick question, my husband wants to screw some diamond plate onto the underneath of the front to keep it from put damaged. Does anyone know if there is a solid piece of plywood across there or just 2x4's?

Thanks, Karrie

[OldCoot]

A little better explanation would help, do you mean on the front surface below the front storage door or under the front where the landing jacks come out of the bottom?

[donn]

There is no such a thing as a 2X4 in trailers except maybe Teton.
Your fiver is aluminum frame construction. There will be aluminum studs all over the place. Generally 16 inches OC, but in that area all bets are off. Just wax the heck out of the area and you will be good to go. Mine has been like that since 2005 and still looks good. Yea, there is some dirt and tar on it that i should scrub off, but under there is extremely hard to get at and work on for an old man, so I wash it and leave it alone.

I sure hope you have a dually, because that is one heavy mother. And once you get it loaded up with "stuff" and drive across the scales you will probably find that you are very close to the trailers GVWR.

[Karrie74]

Sorry, this is not my area of expertise. The area around the hitch that hangs over the bed of the truck. Its the "bottom" of the closet for the upfront bedroom. when we brought it home there was a small hill and coming in from an angle the front of the trailer dipped down and scrapped along the bed of the truck. He wants to cover that up after he caulks it, so that it doesn't happen again. He needs to know if there's anything to screw into.

We have a 2008 Dodge 3500 Diesel Dually. thank Goodness my husband has pulled equipment trailers in the past because this camper this rather long!

[OldCoot]

As was said before, there are no 2 x 4's in the unit. He should be able to find some supports either steel or alum to attach it.

[TURBS]

look where the cover there now is attached . the screws there already show you where supports are .

[donn]

Originally Posted by Karrie74

Sorry, this is not my area of expertise. The area around the hitch that hangs over the bed of the truck. Its the "bottom" of the closet for the upfront bedroom. when we brought it home there was a small hill and coming in from an angle the front of the trailer dipped down and scrapped along the bed of the truck. He wants to cover that up after he caulks it, so that it doesn't happen again. He needs to know if there's anything to screw into.

We have a 2008 Dodge 3500 Diesel Dually. thank Goodness my husband has pulled equipment trailers in the past because this camper this rather long!

OK, now that makes far more sense. First things first. When hitched up and ready to travel you need to measure between the bottom of the trailer and the top of the bed rails. You need to have about 6 inches. Any less and you will hit. Adding sheet aluminum will only make it worse. He needs to crawl under the trailer and see if there are different holes in the spring hangers. If so then you need to move the springs down to the bottom set of holes. This will raise the trailer a couple of inches. While he is at it you need to install a wet bolt kit. Do a search on that subject for more information. Then as a final step you need to readjust the hitch to get your trailer back towing level. Any questions so far?

[Karrie74]

Thank you all for your advice, I will relay this to my husband.

[OldCoot]

He may want to raise the fifth wheel in the truck or lower the hitchpin on the trailer to increase distance between bed sides and the trailer. Wouldn't mess with the springs on the trailer other than the "wet" bolts.

[donn]

Originally Posted by dunnnc

He may want to raise the fifth wheel in the truck or lower the hitchpin on the trailer to increase distance between bed sides and the trailer. Wouldn't mess with the springs on the trailer other than the "wet" bolts.

That makes absolutely no sense? Moving one up and one down will in effect leave the bottom of the trailer overhead in exactly the same place. The OP is hitting the bottom of his fiver with the bed rails and the only solution is 1) get the truck lower or 2) get the trailer higher. Which option is easiest and most cost effective? Getting the trailer another two inches up in the air, unless there are no other adjustment holes.

[OldCoot]

If you lower the hitch pin on the trailer, it moves the plate farther away from the trailer and raising the hitch in the truck increases the distance from the bed rails to the hitch. If you lower the hitch on the trailer 1" and raise the hitch in the truck 1" you will increase the bed rail to trailer distance by 2".

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by dunnnc

If you lower the hitch pin on the trailer, it moves the plate farther away from the trailer and raising the hitch in the truck increases the distance from the bed rails to the hitch. If you lower the hitch on the trailer 1" and raise the hitch in the truck 1" you will increase the bed rail to trailer distance by 2".

Donn just didn't understand that by lowering the pin box
in affect means its raising the trailer.

I had to read your first post several times to and beat it
into my head what you were saying.
but you were correct.

[donn]

I understand perfectly well. You don't change the distance from the ground to the bottom of the overhead one bit by moving the hitch around. Just does not happen! If you lower the pin one foot and lower the hitch 1 foot, your trailer is still level, but your overhead is still going to touch the truck bed rails if you do not change the distance from the ground to the bottom of the trailers frame at the axles! Think about it.

[TURBS]

Sorry to disagree but reread his first post your not getting what hes saying.

He means lower the pin box on camper
raise the hitch on truck

He said hitch pin but meant pin box.

[TURBS]

To clarify
raise hitch in truck 1 inch brings plate higher
Lower pin box on camper 1 inch brings pin lower

That Brings camper up 2 inches when hooked up since you now have to
Raise camper higher to get to the higher hitch and lower pin box.

As I say to my dw do I need to draw a picture?

[trudinator]

And this DW would say....."yes." Most of the time he doesn't even have to ask. He just looks at my face and starts drawing.

[Hoo Dad]

Originally Posted by dunnnc

He may want to raise the fifth wheel in the truck or lower the hitchpin on the trailer to increase distance between bed sides and the trailer. Wouldn't mess with the springs on the trailer other than the "wet" bolts.

Good suggestion. dunnnc post reads raise the fifth wheel in the truck OR lower hitchpin. Anyway I had to raise my fifth wheel 1 inch in order to back down into my driveway. This saved me from finding somewhere else to park it. It appears to be very slightly raised in the front but after 14,000 miles everything including the tires look great.

btw I luv the OBX

[donn]

OK, I will agree that raising the nose of the fiver will help. But in the process it will make the trailer a tail dragger and place more weight on the rear axle and tires. I was assuming most people understood that and the need to keep your trailer as level as possible. Guess I was wrong!

[Karrie74]

Thanks again, I will give all this information to my husband and let him have a go at it! Great to know there's a place to ask questions without having to call the dealer for every little thing.