Bed height problems with newer pickups

I have a 2000 lightweight 23 foot 5th wheel.  I pull it presently with a 1994 Chevy K1500 which is legal for the weights involved.  Bed height of this 4wd truck is about right for this trailer, and the trailer tows level when hitched.  Distance from the flat of the tongue on the trailer to the ground is about 43" when the trailer is level, which means that the saddle of the 5th wheel hitch is about the same distance off the ground when mounted in the truck.

Newer trucks have much higher beds, with the Ford Super-Duty series being incredibly high.  I can only lower the saddle of the hitch in the truck so much before we run into clearance problems between trailer and truck box rails.

What can be done to compensate for the higher beds in newer 4wd pickups?  I don't want to raise the trailer as it just barely fits under our carport now.

The reason I ask is that we hope to upgrade our pickup sometime this year with a 1-ton 4wd SRW.  It appears that the GM trucks have the lowest beds, but those are still higher than what I have.

Where can I find bed heights for newer trucks without actually going to the dealer and measuring them?  Those specs are not common in standard reviews of pickup trucks.  Is there a trailering magazine on the web somewhere that might have this sort of information?

What is the safe minimum clearance between trailer and truck box rails?  We don't go 4x4ing with our setup, but we can end up on some rough roads going up and down some steep driveways, etc., which tends to twist the trailer in relation to the truck.

I know the trailer does not have to tow dead level, but how much of a slope on the trailer can one reasonably tolerate when towing?

Thanks for any suggestions anyone can offer.

Frank.

I went through much of the same process when we were looking for a truck to pull a fifth wheel.  I was looking for a used 2005 or later F-350 2WD/SRW because of the lower bed height, but it was next to impossible to find unless I wanted to drive to Florida.  I found plenty of 2WD/DRW which do have a much lower bed height, but my non-trailering duties made an SRW a requirement. BTW, I did go to both the RV dealer and the Ford dealer with a tape measure and measured the heck out of everything.  It didn't give me much confidence.

Then I heard about a lowering kit for the F-Series Super Duties, but once again, this didn't pan out.  I was told by the parts manager at our Ford dealer that it was only for pre-2005 F-Series and that Ford and "fixed the problem."  When pressed, he didn't have a specific answer.

I do now have a 2005 F-350 4WD/SRW which does just fine pulling our 5'er fairly level with about 4 to 5" clearance.  I think what the parts manager meant was that Ford changed the variable rate springs in the back which lower the bed significantly when under load.

I'm only offering this as anecdotal evidence.  I'm sure the technical people on this forum could help much more than I can.

-Dave

cougar3514v said:

I went through much of the same process when we were looking for a truck to pull a fifth wheel.  I was looking for a used 2005 or later F-350 2WD/SRW because of the lower bed height, but it was next to impossible to find unless I wanted to drive to Florida.  I found plenty of 2WD/DRW which do have a much lower bed height, but my non-trailering duties made an SRW a requirement. BTW, I did go to both the RV dealer and the Ford dealer with a tape measure and measured the heck out of everything.  It didn't give me much confidence.

Then I heard about a lowering kit for the F-Series Super Duties, but once again, this didn't pan out.  I was told by the parts manager at our Ford dealer that it was only for pre-2005 F-Series and that Ford and "fixed the problem."  When pressed, he didn't have a specific answer.

I do now have a 2005 F-350 4WD/SRW which does just fine pulling our 5'er fairly level with about 4 to 5" clearance.  I think what the parts manager meant was that Ford changed the variable rate springs in the back which lower the bed significantly when under load.

I'm only offering this as anecdotal evidence.  I'm sure the technical people on this forum could help much more than I can.

-Dave

Click to expand...

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I did want to ask Dave a brief question.  I noticed you ended up choosing a F350 4x4 SRW instead of a F350 4x2 SRW.  Was that because of the low availability of the 4x2?  The reason I ask is because I'm going through the same decision process now (for a 2008 Super Duty) and am leaning toward the 4x2 due to lower height, better mileage and also I hear they ride better than a 4x4.  Now that you have a 4x4, do you find all of these "alleged" advantages of the 4x2 over the 4x4 to actually be true?

Thanks
Gary

The bed height doesn't seem to be too much of a problem.  When hooked up, the trailer rides close to level.  I really did fret over this because I was unable to find a 4x2 anywhere, and we looked for close to 4 months at dealers from Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.  Of course I was limiting myself to 2005 or 2006 because I wanted the integrated brake controller.  If I'd wanted to go with a DRW set up, I could find a number of 4x2's.  I don't know anything about the 2007's.

I've used the 4WD setting twice, both times while towing the camper.  I was backing up on wet grass and the rear wheels spun.  I was happy then to have the 4WD.  Give me a shout if you have any specific questions.  I can take measurements of my truck and camper if it would help.

-Dave

GaryB:

I don't mean to hijack this thread,

Click to expand...

Yeah, that is always a problem with a non-threaded message board.  Thread drift is a fact of life on any board.  With the OLD compuserve web interface, and the even older HMI interface, at least you could keep track of what sub-discussion was going on.  Sadly, it seems that all web-based forums have given up on truly threaded message board interfaces of the 'newsgroup' style.



Dave:

I do now have a 2005 F-350 4WD/SRW which does just fine pulling our 5'er fairly level with about 4 to 5" clearance.

Click to expand...

How much distance is between the flat of the tongue and the ground on your 5th when the trailer is level?  Am I making an issue out of nothing here?  Is a 5 or 6 inch difference between tongue height and hitch height really of little concern?

Thanks.

Frank.

Frank,

Give me a day or so to measure. The ground here is pretty wet from some recent rains, and the camper is parked on the grass.  I'll give you some measurements as soon as I can trust the truck not to sink into the mud. 

-Dave

Sorry that this response has taken me so long, but life just hasn't been conducive to hooking up the camper.  Anyway, here are my promised measurements.

I have a 2005 F-350 SRW with 4WD and I tow a Keystone Cougar that came from the factory stock with the axles beneath the springs.  Without the 5'er hooked up, the bedrails of the truck are 57" high at the tailgate and 55.25" next to the cab.  When I hook up the 5'er, the bedrails of the truck are 55" high at the tailgate and 54.25" at the cab.  I have a Reese 15K hitch with the top part of the hitch mounted on the highest position. The flat of the hitch is 2" below the top of the bed rails.  The trailer rides quite level.  There is 8" of clearance between the bedrails and the bottom of the fiver when I'm hooked up.

I hope this helps although I'm assuming it might be a bit late.

-Dave

Dave:

No, the information is not too late.  Thanks for going to all the trouble.  I'll check those measurements with my rig and see how they compare.

I decided to pass on the 04 dually as it is just more truck than I need.  We'll just bide our time over the next 6 months and see what turns up.  There are always more trucks for sale.

Thanks again for going to the trouble of passing this on.

Frank.

Frank,

No problem getting the measurements.  One more thing to note is that the DRW trucks are a bit lower than the SRW.  I know that in 2005, the DRW 4x4 was around an inch and a half lower.  (I don't have the brochure with me right now, so I can't be sure exactly.)  There was almost no difference, however, between DRW and SRW trucks for the 4X2.

-Dave

Dave:

>I know that in 2005, the DRW 4x4 was around an inch and a half lower.<

You know, I wondered about that.  I am guessing that the spring rate on the DRW trucks is much higher as no one expects them to ride like a car anyway.  Kind of like springs in a dump truck.  They don't give much when loaded either, so you don't have to start off so high to maintain your height when loaded. 

Still haven't measured my own truck yet according to the figures you gave me from yours, but I did find the Ford to be the highest of the three when I went with a tape measure to a local dealer and measured bed heights directly.  The new GM trucks are about 3 inches higher than my current truck, the Dodge is next at 5 inches higher, and the Ford is highest at 6 inches higher than my current vehicle.  I've no idea, of course, what would happen as soon as any of them were loaded with a few hundred pounds.  I'm sure that some will sink more than others.

Frank.

Look at the Kelderman

http://www.keldermanairride.com/category.php?id=1

air suspension for the rear of the pickup. This allows you to adjust the bed heigth at the touch of a button. I've got it and love it.

Chet18013

Chet18013:

Looks interesting.  I assumed that it replaced standard suspension.  Not so.  I appears to only modify standard suspension.  Will it allow LOWER ride heights than stock?  What is the cost?

Thanks.

Frank.

On my Dodge Dually, the entire rear spring shackle  was removed and replaced with an airbag assembly on either side. This gives the bed about 6" of height adjustment up and down. Don't recall the cost--it's been 11 years.

Chet

I am not experienced with all of this but can't they "flip" the axles on the 5r for more height.  I have heard this mentioned several times but was not sure if it applies here.
Phil

After installing the Kelderman rear suspension on my Dodge 4x4, I was able to lower the truck bed enough so that our 5th wheel was perfectly level--fore and aft-- when parked on level ground. Didn't need to flip the axles.

Chet18013

In my case, the axles came from the factory already flipped.  I wonder if the 5'er manufacturers are taking into account the taller trucks.

-Dave

Re 'flipped' axles:

Yes, I know.  But as I mentioned at the outset, my trailer is already as tall as it can be, and still fit under my carport, so that option was out in square one. 

Frank.