ibycus
virginia
Full Member
Joined: 07/11/2012
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
 Offline
|
First off, hi all..
new to 5th wheels and have a question. I found a 5th wheel from a private seller that I was considering buying. Knowing that I need a slider hitch, I went to measure the pin box for the capture plate needed with the pullrite.
While I was getting my measurements, I noticed that something didn't look right. My truck bed looked higher than the underside of the overhang part on the trailer. So I took some measurements and sure enough, the sides of my truck bed were exactly 2" higher than the 5th wheel while the trailer was level.
So I did some calculations... first off, knowing that I can't back under the pin box unless I really jack up the trailer (or trailer will hit the bed) I determined that with the hitch installed and position of the pin, I would need to jack the front of the trailer up 11" to get it hitched. Now.. presuming that my truck didn't settle down any with weight in the bed, the trailer would hitch at exactly 10.5" of lift above level... we all know my truck is going to sag though... so.. first question.. 2011 Chevy silverado 3500 SRW duramax.. with approx 1300 lbs pin weight, how much could I expect it to drop (the truck that is)
next question, based on the answer above, how far out of level is a bad thing? I know the goal is to level it out..
Am I just asking for problem knowing that my truck is already taller than the under body of the overhang on the 5th?
also.. right now I don't have a 5th wheel hitch installed.. so maybe that extra 200 or so lbs will bring my truck down 2-3 inches..
I've learnt alot from reading these forums for the past year, and I sincerely appreciate anyone's thoughts/feedback/flames 
|
crickeydog
Marietta, Ga.
Senior Member
Joined: 01/29/2004
View Profile
|
Welcome to the forum. Safe rule of thumb is that when hitched to your 5'er, there should be no less than 4" and up to 6" between the bed rails of the truck and the bottom of your 5'er with the 5'er and truck sitting level when hitched. Too nose high and there may be too much weight shifted to the rear axle of the 5'er. Nose low and you may overload your truck's rear axle. If you don't have 4" to 6" of clearance with everything sitting level when hitched , somethings gotta give. Our truck settles just shy of 2" when hitched with our 5'ers pin weight of 3250 lbs; and rides level when hitched. More than that and I'd feel the need to do something about it.
IMHO: You certainly don't have too much truck. Unless you're towing a utility trailer with a Class VIII tractor, it's nearly impossible to have too much truck. In fact depending on what you're buying and it's pin weight, you may not have enough truck even with a 3500 SRW. Is your truck's suspension stock? Has it been raised? Have the axle's been flipped on the 5'er? Sounds like they need to be flipped? To have an 11" disparity, sounds to me like the suspension on either the truck or 5'er or maybe both isn't stock. A trip to a good commercial suspension shop may answer your questions.
Happy camping!! See y'all down the road!!!
* This post was
edited 07/11/12 05:03pm by crickeydog *
USAF RETIRED. "EITHER LEAD, FOLLOW, OR GET OUTTA THE WAY"!
PULL DOGS:
2006 GMC 3500 CC DRW D/A LBZ 4X4 SLT "THE SILVER FOX" PRIMARY
2000 DODGE 3500 QUAD CAB DRW CTD LARAMIE "THE ROAD TRAIN LOCOMOTIVE" BACK-UP
2004 HOLIDAY RAMBLER PRES. 30 SCD 5'ER
|
johnrbd
San Joaquin Valley
Senior Member
Joined: 09/12/2005
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
|
You've got way tooooo much truck. Do like most here, get a half-ton, it will definitely drop enough to get the necessary clearance, or remove the rear springs and replace with 1500 springs.
My 05 Chev 2500 ext cab, short bed, hitched with approx. 1300 lbs pin, drops approx 2 inches. The new truck have considerably taller bed rail heights. Good luck with the 11 inches.
|
avvidclif1
Texas
Full Member
Joined: 02/10/2012
View Profile
|
Welcome to the world of the nose bleed truck they are building now. I'm guessing you are looking at an older 5th wheel, probably 90's range when trucks were much lower. Look at the trailer and see if the axles are above or below the springs. If above they can be flipped to the bottom and gain some height on the trailer but I don't know if you can get that much. 1300 lbs isn't going to drop your bed over 3-4 inches, max.
Clif & Millie
Ozzie half a dog tall and 2 dogs long
2009 Ford F350 SRW CC Lariat 6.4 Diesel
2011 Crossroads Cruiser CF285RL Patriot Edition
|
Us out West
Let's see...last night we stayed in......
Senior Member
Joined: 12/13/2011
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
|
What 5th wheel are you looking at?
Our Trip Journal
2012 Jayco Pinnacle (View)
36KitchenPantryTripleSlide
MorRyde pin box and suspension
Curt Q24
Dual Pane windows
Auto Levelers
2 AC's
And more...
2009 Silverado 3500HD 4X4 (View)
CC,
Dura-Max 6.6/Allison
LB
DRW
American Tank 65 gal. Aux Fuel
|
|
|
#43
North Battleford, Sask., Canada
New Member
Joined: 09/04/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
In my opinion, your truck will settle very little with only 1300 lbs of pin weight. I have a Duramax 2500HD SRW and used to tow a 7500 lb. Jayco 5th wheel. It settled only a few inches. Your truck is more robust and would settle even less. Are you sure the pin weight is only 1300 lbs? Pin weight is about 20% to 25% of the dry weight of a fifth wheel. I'm sure others will answer your question with suggestions about raising the height of the fifth wheel etc.
|
ibycus
virginia
Full Member
Joined: 07/11/2012
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
Us out West wrote:What 5th wheel are you looking at?
it's a 2006 Wildwood (by Forest River) 245BHSS
2013 Silverado 3500 DRW Diesel
2007 Puma 28BHS
Superglide 4400
|
ibycus
virginia
Full Member
Joined: 07/11/2012
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
johnrbd wrote:You've got way tooooo much truck.
that's what I was afraid of..
|
ibycus
virginia
Full Member
Joined: 07/11/2012
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
#43 wrote:In my opinion, your truck will settle very little with only 1300 lbs of pin weight. I have a Duramax 2500HD SRW and used to tow a 7500 lb. Jayco 5th wheel. It settled only a few inches. Your truck is more robust and would settle even less. Are you sure the pin weight is only 1300 lbs? Pin weight is about 20% to 25% of the dry weight of a fifth wheel. I'm sure others will answer your question with suggestions about raising the height of the fifth wheel etc.
according to the brochure from back then, the trailer had a dry weight of 6000 lbs. The hitch weight was something like 1050 lbs. I figure once I load it up it would add a little additional weight, but not much.
|
Wind Surfer
I don't remember
Full Member
Joined: 09/04/2010
View Profile
|
General rule #1; you can never have enough truck
General rule #2; you can never have good enough tires
The hitch won't drop the truck. I'm guessing your pin weight might drop the bed 2 inches. But, I assume that pin weight you mentioned is with an unloaded trailer. As mentioned above, you want 6 inched between the top of the truck bed and the bottom of the trailer.
Most hitches are height adjustable, check into that. If your truck bed is only 2 inches taller than the trailer, then theoretically you should only need to jack the trailer 8 inched to hitch up and maintain the 6 inches of bed clearance.
Best thing to do if you are really going to get a 5th wheel is to get a hitch installed and hook up to the trailer you are considering.
2011 Dodge 3500 DRW Laramie
2011 HitchHiker 31.5 FKLS
|
|
|
