bed rail clearance

Jrmike · 06-07-2017, 09:42 AM

Hi everyone, I'm brand new to the forums as well as the fifth wheel life, and I need some advice. I have a 2008 2500 ram 6.7L with 2" blocks in the rear, 37" tires, and firestone air bags will be put on this week. I'm purchasing a 2017 Prime Time Sanibel. My issue is that the bed rails on my truck are 61", and the bottom of the nose of the fifth wheel is also 61". I've never owned a fifth wheel before so I'm not really sure how its going to work out pulling it. I figure that ill allow the truck to drop 2" when the weight of the 5er is hooked up, and then if I tow the trailer with the front end about 3" higher than the rear, ill have 5" of clearance between the rails and the nose. Is 5" enough? And is the front of the 5er being 3" higher than the rear gonna be a big issue? The trailer is 43' long so I'm assuming that a 3" difference between the front and the back wont be all that noticeable. And I cant go any smaller in tire size because I have 4:56 gears in the truck. I'm already at 2,300 RPMs at 70mph. I don't wanna limit my top end even more by reducing the tire diameter, so I gotta make this work

Stripit · 06-07-2017, 10:21 AM

Going to the web site for that trailer doesn't show gross weights, only unloaded weight. Are you sure your not going to be overloading that truck when you hitch up? You should never use the unloaded pin weight as almost nobody tows empty. Using 20% of the gross trailer weight as a good guess on pin weights might put you close. Then check your truck tire max load capacity, then go to the scales and see what the truck has left from ready to tow weight to max loaded weights allowable. Bet your going to be over some number, either tire, or rear axle capacity. As far as 3 inches off level, could transfer weight from the trailer front axle to the rear axle, depeinding on those tires, and what they are allowed to carry when inflated to the max, you also could overload either an axle or tire? The scales will determine if there is going to be an issue.

Jrmike · 06-07-2017, 11:01 PM

Thanks for the response stripit! I went to the dealer today and we hooked the trailer up. Everything checks out GVWR wise, and clearance wise. Only thing I need to do is lower the front of the truck 2". The amount of squat when the trailer is hooked up is a little to drastic. So dropping the front 2" should do the trick.