How to Keep 5th Wheel Trailer Level While Maintaining Bed Rail Clearance

Question:

I had to raise the head of my 5th wheel up in order to keep the rear of the pin box from scrapping my bed rails. In doing this it made the nose of the trailer higher than I think is safe. I do have Firestone air bags and compressor and up until now have been running 60psi in the bags. It feels pretty stable at that air pressure. I can reduce the air pressure to 40psi and the trailer does appear more level but the ride is less firm. I am attaching two pics. One is at 60psi the one on asphalt and 40psi on gravel. My question is how unsafe does each of these pics appear, in your opinion, based upon pics. Let me know if you have questions I can answer.

asked by: Steve G

Expert Reply:

The photo of your truck and 5th wheel trailer (only one photo came through to us, but thank you) does show your truck is nicely leveled and that your trailer has adequate clearance at the bed rails. But it also shows that the trailer is a little bit nose-high, as you mentioned. This tilt is not severe but it will tend to put more of the trailer's total weight on its rear axle and also to allow more potential for trailer sway.

The good news is that you don't have to choose between a level trailer and a comfortable ride.

You can install a simple axle over-under kit, either # K71-384-00 for 2-3/8-inch diameter axles or kit # K71-385-00 for 3-inch diameter axles, to raise the height of the trailer at the suspension. This will allow you to have both plenty of bed rail clearance and a level trailer. You'll need one kit per axle. Please refer to the linked video for more details on these kits.

The kits will lift the trailer by the sum of the leaf spring stack's height and the axle diameter. So for example, kit # K71-385-00 for 3-inch axles installed with 2-inch tall spring stacks means a total lift of 5-inches. I included a photo showing one of these kits installed; after installation the leaf springs will sit above the axle as shown.

expert reply by: Adam R