rear axle spacer blocks

[Nekkedbob]

Well I finally bit the bullet and bought a 5th wheel. As most of you know our 4x4 trucks sit a little high and the rear of my bed is a little closer then I like. I did some research and found that dodge made at one time shorter spacer blocks that was 1 7/8 inches shorter then stock. I checked today and the local dealer said that they are not available and none are listed in stock in there system. Soooo I had a thought that I should be able to just have a set machined off and shorter u bolts installed.. The RV dealer that installed my hitch said that they send there rigs with this problem to a local welder (I have dealt with him and he does excellent work) to weld dropped attachment points on the trailer to raise the ride height of the trailer. I don't like the last idea and would like to hear what the rest of you have done when you had this problem. Just for reference the trailer is a 1987 21 foot Aries by Aljo and is not much higher then a bumper pull trailer.

[dripley]

I did not have that problem with either one of mine. Slapped a hitch on and never looked back. This is the current one.

[Nekkedbob]

Unless it is a optical illusion your trailer looks to ride nose high by a few inches(comparing it to the curb in the back round). It is not as noticeable as mine because mine is less then half your length.  Because of the angle  that mine sits at and the axle position it looks like it will touch the bed if I have to go over a large speed bump!! I may just be paranoid but at my age this will probably be the last truck and trailer that I will buy unless someone hits it. As I  look at mine I think that if I was to drop it by 1 1/2 to 2 inches it should level the truck and give me the clearance that I would like.  

[01cummins4ever]

personally I would look into raising your trailer axles to level it out, I dont know if they have been flipped yet or not but its a common procedure for people wanting more ground clearance on the trailer. If the axles are already flipped,(riding on the underside of springs) you might be able to go with some taller spring hangers, towing with the nose high like yours is going to cause issues as rear sway with all the weight going to the rear. I really dont see an issue with your bed clearance but if their is you might be able to adjust the 5th wheel pin box on the trailer to gain a couple inches, but you would have to raise the rear up more to compensate for it.

[dripley]

 

Here is another picture. It rides mostly level. Goes down to the overloads and stops. It appears we have about the same space between the bed and trailer at the hitch but not at tailgate. If you lower the rear you might end up looking squatted while towing. I think I would agee with @01cummins4ever on trying to raise the trailer instead of lowering the truck.

[Killer223]

how about rolling the axles over on the trailer? lets you get it off road easier.

the pin box on the trailer isn't adjustable? mine has 3 settings.

 

[Nekkedbob]

I am against raising the trailer as I go through some high wind areas during my yearly trip to Nevada. About 50% of the time that I hit Wyoming there is a wind warning and I have seen 50 MPH winds and the only thing that kept me going was that my bumper pull trailer is only about 6 inches higher then my camper shell.  The axles are all ready flipped and the ground clearance is way more then I would ever use. My pin box only has 2 settings and they are 4 inches apart. When I picked up the trailer my hitch height was 2 inches higher then the PO and he pulled it for 27 years without any problems. As I look at mine I think that I could use a little drop in the rear to ride level when loaded. As it sits it is only 4100 lbs and it doesn't squat the rear as much as my 2500 lbs bumper pull trailer. I did find a set of 4 inch blocks on a 1 ton in a scrap yard that they will remove for me next week. I am going to save my original blocks and new u bolts so if I feel the need to restore it to stock I can.

[Royal Squire]

What do you have mounted to rear bumper of trailer? Is that heavy enough to squat rear of trailer?

[Nekkedbob]

That was a storage box but it was removed and I am going to build a motorcycle rack for my old Honda 200 dirt bike.

[015point9]

                                               If I recall right most people like 6 inches clearance between bed of truck and RV.  You need to confirm, so you don't mess up bed rails. 

 

You say axles already flipped (done)

 

Other things to think about...

Do you have enough room on RV for larger tires?  (Don't forget travel play of wheel in wheel well)

Are you running oversize tires on tow rig?  

OEM spring blocks around 4 inches I think?  Did previous owner add something to jack up? Maybe different spring block or added a spring?

LAST RESORT... is a chuck of square tube between spring and axle.  If you have to go this route, get good quality u bolts.  Even though RV is not much weight, thread stretch is a concern on cheaper strength u bolts. Dexter axle actually has some U bolts made of good metal. http://www.sixrobblees.com/products/?c=151&n=u-bolts   (link is where I get my trailer stuff from, mostly likely available closer to you. 

Last resort because you are raising RV even more. But that might come down to your only choice.   

 

1st thing I would do is jack up or roll RV up on some wood to see exactly how many inches you need. 

Then I would call these folks in below link.  Have been told in past these folks are customer friendly. There were a few 5th wheels marketed as easely towable with small pick ups 1/2 ton and a couple towable with small pickups as S-10 type that were built lower.  

link has more info, such as listing of how bolt holes per side which means more adjustability. 

 

https://www.etrailer.com/faq-measuring-a-fifth-wheel-pin-box.aspx

Edited November 25, 2017 by 015point9

[dripley]

The blocks on my 02 are 4 3/4". Unless yours are different I dont think the 4" will make much difference. Mine do appear to be 2 on each side. Maybe one can be removed, dont know. 

 Just a personal opinion here but if it is towing good and and does not appear to be putting too much weight on the rear trailer axle, I would probably live with it. Just be aware of going over any large humps where the truck will be going down hill while the trailer is going up hill. With my first 5th wheel I had just such an occurrence 2 days after buying my truck. Crossed a 4 lane highway between 2 islands. For some reason there was a large hump there probably 1 foot high or more and one lane wide. I crunched the left rear corner of the bed. That trailer may have been nose up a couple inches at the most IIRC, I am sure you are aware of that as I believe you already mentioned it.

Edited November 25, 2017 by dripley

[Nekkedbob]

I do have 285s on the truck and per the PO the truck was not raised. The spacer blocks are about 4 3/4 inches with a 1/4 inch plate under them and one of them has a casting mark that looks like it could be a two pieces. I thought about spacer blocks for the trailer but am worried about axle rap under heavy braking or even in a panic situation flopping a shackle. As it sits now the rear tires are 11 inches to the fender and the front are 8 1/2 inches and I think that 1 1/2 inch drop in the rear should look level. I cant move the trailer until next spring as it is mothballed for the winter but I will get the truck to a flat parking lot and do some more measuring next week.

[Nekkedbob]

I went to a flat parking lot today and did some more measuring. The truck is 3 inches high at the rear axle as measured at the tire to fender height. I put 3 inch block under the front tires and it leveled it out at the top of the bed. Went home and set the trailer on the hitch and it only squat 1 inch from unloaded. The clearance from the bed rails at the front of the trailer is just under 6 inches but even with a short bed right now I lose 1 inch at the end of the bed. I am going to start collecting the parts and drop the rear 1 1/2 inches and see how it looks next spring. Thank for the response and the ideas. I will start a new thread in the spring when its all done.