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5th wheel height questions

8.3K views 36 replies 18 participants last post by  KATOOM  
#1 ·
I'm looking at new Toy Haulers. My '12 3500 4x4 sits 58" high at the rear of the bed. I measured the height of a Cyclone today at an RV show - it was 60 inches. It looked to be sitting level. I know I want to be as level as possible when towing to distribute the load evenly between axles. My truck is sitting at the stock height and I have no plans to lift it any. I am new to 5th wheels - what is an acceptable clearance between the trailer and the sides of the bed? How do I achieve this? Install a lift kit on the trailer? Are some trailers made taller than others? I realize the truck will squat slightly when hooked up, I have air bags and plan to keep the truck level. What are your experiences with this stuff? Do I just need to shop for a trailer that is tall enough? It seems to me that this should not be a problem with a stock height truck. Like I said, I'm new to 5th wheels, all the trailer salesmen know is that their trailer is bright and shiny! They have no answers at all. I guess they might be stupid questions on my part, but I need to get my ducks in a row before I drop some big bucks on a new Hauler. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Tim
 
#2 ·
I have read where some put a 4x4 chunk of wood under the landing legs' feet to help raise the hitch of the 5er to mate with the truck. Some adjust the height of hitch on the 5er to make the necessary adjustments. You are wise to know that most salesmen are not the brightest, and only see $$$ signs. I noticed that on this truck, I have to extend the landing legs a little more to accomodate the bed height of the truck, and I have a 4x2. If your truck already has a 5th wheel hitch in the bed, ask the rv dealer to let you hook up to the 5er and see how it all goes. If he wants the sale bad enough, he will let you. If I remember, there is about a 7-9" between the bed rails & 5er. I did measure it once, but not sure on the exact number now. Do not be afraid to ask any questions, that is how we all learn. I just measured mine, approx. 53 1/2 inches from ground to level with bed rail. Best wishes, and happy RVing.
 
#3 ·
I run 5" between my fiver and truck. Let the truck drop 2" which will be running level and let the trailer run 1" high and you will be good to go. That trailer would ride great on your truck.:thumbsup:
 
#4 ·
At least you are asking the question before purchase.....5 inches is getting pretty tight.....this is one of those more is better things in life.....I've personally seen a lot more than that get really close, if not touch.
 
#5 ·
I was thinking 9" was a lot but I guess not. Here is the clearance on my setup. If I can find the picture of where I got stuck with the trailer hooked up I was almost hitting the bed rail. Trailer was leaning one direction and my truck was leaning the other. It was an odd situation though

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#6 ·
I have never had a problem with 5" but I don't go 4-wheelin with mine either. Here is my gap.....

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#7 ·
So these 5th wheels arnt like their big brothers on semis? Semis only pivot front to back not side to side. Do these pivot side to side as well

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#12 ·
Did not know this... so you really need to jack the truck in different places to verify no contact

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#15 ·
Better find a different reason than that for me because like I said I don't go 4-wheelin.
 
#16 ·
That is the main reason I have an old trailer I take mine down all kinds of rough location roads, it gets pretty hairy when it rains and you have 15-20 miles of lease road to drive down with a 5th wheel....
 
#17 ·
I have no idea on exact measurements, but I own a cyclone 4100 and a 2012 4x4 cclb drw, with airbags set at 50psi. When they are hitched together it sits pretty close to level. I have pulled it to Florida from ky and backed into to some off camber sites and have yet to have clearance issues. Don't know if this helps with your decision or not but just my 2 cents.
 
#19 ·
I appreciate all the replys. I don't intend to go 4 wheelin' either. But I do tow 15 miles down a rough and sometimes very muddy road to my hunting lease. I take it easy, but there are a few places where it would definitely do some of that side to side movement. I'm thinking I want at least 6" maybe more if I can get it. I've read about a new Toy Hauler called an Elevation, that is built with the axles on the bottom of the springs, and supposedly has some shackle adjustment as well. I hate to think that I'm limited to one brand of trailer on a stock height 4x4 truck! I could see myself in a situation like the guy with his trailer sunk in the pasture very easily! I guess I need to keep my tape measure handy, and see if I can get my truck under some 5er's at the dealers and see what it looks like. Maybe I'm just worrying about nothing, after all, there has got to be folks other than myself towing these things with 4x4 trucks!
 
#20 ·
6 inches is the min that you want. Once connected to the truck you can still adjust the hitch up and down. Quite a few toy haulers have adjustable shackles to raise and lower the trailer. I have found that the closer the trailer is to your bed, the better it pulls. Also keep the trailer as level as possible. Hope that helps.

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#21 ·
A lot of people tow 5ers and TH with the exact same truck as yours. I believe you are worrying to much. But any dealer will let you hitch up.

I don't think your pickup is any higher then a Ford. If it is its not by much. But the distance between the trailer king pin and the trailer above the pin is the same on the other cyclones. I have even put smaller tires on this trailer when I switched to 17.5's and I still don't have a issue with hitch height or the trailer not sitting level.


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#23 ·
yes. also with your long bed compared to the short bed you will need about 7" the axles and hangers are adjustable. the dealer should set the height for you. on my 5th wheel i needed just a little more height or i was going to have to flip the axles on the spring hangers, i raised the rear shackle bolt one notch and weighed both axles. weight was within 50 lbs of each other. as stated stay with a 4 way tilt and only use a maxbrake controller, it is the only safe true proportional controller made. it makes the built in controller on your truck look like a pos unsafe junk toy. with the exhaust brake and the maxbrake even with a heavy load in the toy hauler it will act as one unit that is a pleasure to drive.
 
#24 ·
I would guess mine is 8-9" of clearance (I can just squeeze my head through). I have the standard height toolbox and definitely have to pay attention during tight turns. I need to either switch to low profile or below the rail. I see you have a b&w turnover ball. I highly recommend the b&w companion for the fiver. Simple and strong and head pivots as well. You are completely fine for whatever rig you decided to buy. Happy haulin!

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#25 ·
I am definitely going to go with the B & W Companion, unless I go with the Reese Goosebox gooseneck adapter. I understand it is the only gooseneck adapter that some trailer manufacturers will allow without voiding their warranty. I'm thinking there would be less pin weight if I used the Goosebox, but I haven't actually compared the weights between the two yet. I could also subtract the weight of the pin box that would be removed. I've never actually towed a 5er or a gooseneck before so any comments/ opinions are appreciated. I need all the room and weight capacity in the bed of the truck that I can get! I also have the Bak Flip Tonneau cover that I'm hoping I can tow with in the folded forward positon. I have seen a few going down the road this way. I also read that B & W has come out with a sliding companion hitch. Would this give me a tighter turning radius if I needed it? Even though I have the long bed truck? It is extremely tight where I live getting a trailer in my driveway. So the extra manueverability my be worth it even though I'm not worried about cab clearance.
 
#26 ·
The slider is unnecessary. That just gives you room between the cab and trailer during tight turns. I wouldn't go the adapter route. You are not going to gain much as far as weight wise changing it out. TH's have higher pin weights because of the added cargo that can be put in the garage.

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#28 ·
Don't forget that as you put weight on truck it will settle down and then your trailer will not be level if you hookup with it level from the start. My truck goes down about 2" with the pin weight and the truck is level and so is trailer loaded ready to travel. So if you are 2" different before hookup you will 2 to 4 inches more between truck and trailer with trailer level. I hope this helps you understand the situation better.
 
#31 ·
CCLB, LB in general, won't need a slider. You can get to, and with most setups even beyond 90 without needing any of that, that's all for short boxes. Your biggest problem will end up being the simple fact the truck is like 20+' long lol. I have a 35' FZ305, they generally are delivered with the spring over the axle and that is just enough room, I think I have a bit over 7", and it wasn't enough once getting in and out of my parking area...same problem as another poster, truck went one way,trailer goes another. I got lucky and only scraped the cheap plastic bed rail crap and broke off the latch that holds the generator door open.

With a toy hauler and an SRW you end up basically right at the weight limits for the tires. For non toy haulers you've a fair amount of room. Make sure you get setup right. Mine was too far back and that made it pretty rough pulling, especially compared to my goose neck (truck rides like its a Cadillac pulling the GN and loaded to just abt 800lbs shy of the rear axle limit)

Take it across the cat scale unloaded and fully loaded so you know what your weights are. Be prepared to shift things around inside if you have to. And you're not going to be able to use much of the bed except the front bit below the rail, assuming you even have any carrying weight left over after the 5er is hooked and loaded. The pin box sweeps around most of the back the..and anything light will get sucked out by the air currents (lost a set of wheel chocks that way...)

The 2012 ITBM isn't half bad. Its a decent inertia based controller,similar to the Prodigy P2 I replaced my itbm with. The 2011s have a pile of crap for a trailer brake module. Mine goes full on when approaching a stop, regardless of the setting its on. Locks the brakes up.

Air bags can be a great help for the handling of the truck. Make sure they isolate side to side or you'll increase sway and body roll. I am another vote for the B&W companion, I will warn you the ubolts stretch and eventually cross thread if you take it in and out a lot like I do. Cheap fix by visiting a spring shop they can bend new ones, but it can ruin a trip if you're expecting to pop it in the day before and go.
 
#33 ·
6" is really about the minimum, even some truck stop entrances and campgrounds will push that going in and out. If you have the B&W already, go with the companion, folks like me now wish we had done it that way the first time and wish we could go back. I have a standard 16k fifth wheel with rails in the bed (4 way pivot) and wish I had the gooseneck hideaway and companion fifth wheel (best of all the options).
The trailer will squat your truck plenty. If you already have the hitch, go to the dealer and say "I'm going to hook that one up and go to the scales, care to ride along?" I bet they see you are a serious buyer and hop in. Go to the scales, weigh the rig so you have your true weights for one and so you know you have the clearance you want. Remember when you load the garage the nose is going to get lighter and lift a little, but you aren't going to see the difference looking at it sitting in the driveway and say "man that trailer is nose high now". Yes, the spring hangers have multiple holes so you can lift the trailer a little to give you more height, but the hitch and pin box also have multiple mounting holes so you can get your bed rail clearance right first.
Happy hunting.
 
#34 ·
Remember when you load the garage the nose is going to get lighter and lift a little, but you aren't going to see the difference looking at it sitting in the driveway and say "man that trailer is nose high now".
Any idea how many pounds the pin weight can be reduced by adding 2500# to the rear of a 41' toy hauler with a separate 16' garage? Looking at fifth wheel toy haulers and are curious?