318SAB Loft height

[travelinman]

Can anyone tell me what the underside height of the loft is on the 318SAB when it is sitting level?

Thanks;

Wayne

[Jim W]

Sorry, I have never measured this dimension. (You are asking about the clearance from the ground to the under belly of the bed room floor?)
Jim

[kenn209]

I measured ours today from the pavement to the bottom of the bedroom was 65" Is that the measurement your looking for?

[travelinman]

Thank you both for the responses, Kenn209 that was the measurement I was looking for.

I am trying to determine if I can tow this trailer with my pickup. The bed rail height is 58.5 inches, so it will be close.

Thank you again;

Wayne

[Jim W]

What year and model of truck will you be pulling with?

I am pulling with a 2008, Dodge Mega Cab 2500HD and have over 7 inches of clearance between the bed rails and the bottom of the camper. I know with my hitch and the pin box that I have I can adjust the clearance between the truck and camper if I needed to. You should be able to do the same with most hitches and pin boxes to provide the clearance needed.
Jim

[travelinman]

Jim W,

thanks for the response, I have a 2010 Dodge crew cab 4wd 2500. The 58.5 inch measurement was taken at the rear most portion of the bed rail. I would assume that with the suspension sag due to the weight of the fifth wheel would reduce the bed rail height, therefore gaining more clearance.

Have you had any close calls with the bed rails, that is my biggest fear.

Wayne

[Festus2]

Not sure whether you would gain any more clearance as the weight of the 5th wheel is transferred to the truck hitch. The rear of the truck (and rail height) will lower along with the front of 5th wheel (since they are "locked" together) - so the distance between the two will remain relatively constant.
As Jim pointed out in his post, you can make adjustments in two ways -- with your truck hitch and with the 5th wheel pin - but it would most likely be easier to adjust the truck hitch.
Whatever adjustments you might make you should try to ensure that the truck and the 5th are fairly level and that the front of the 5th wheel isn't "sticking up in the air" too much resulting in uneven weight distribution on your RV axles.
It seems that 6"-7" clearance ( or more) works well in most cases. This distance should give you enough clearance when your truck and 5th are on uneven and opposing inclines.

[travelinman]

I appreciate the responses and am sorry for my lack of knowledge on the subject. I would assume that when the kingpen and hitch are set up, the trailer is somewhat in a nose high/un-level configuration and when the weight of the kingpen is placed onto the hitch, the weight of the trailer would cause suspension sag and the trailer would return to level. That is where I was assuming that an increase in the distance from the trailer to bed rail would increase?

Wayne

[Jim W]

Originally Posted by travelinman

I appreciate the responses and am sorry for my lack of knowledge on the subject. I would assume that when the kingpen and hitch are set up, the trailer is somewhat in a nose high/un-level configuration and when the weight of the kingpen is placed onto the hitch, the weight of the trailer would cause suspension sag and the trailer would return to level. That is where I was assuming that an increase in the distance from the trailer to bed rail would increase?

Wayne

Wayne,
When my 5er is on level ground and the 5er is level, the pin box (king pin) is level with the camper. In fact when I replace my pin box this year with a Trailair pin box. The instructions stated that the pin box is to be level when installed.
I checked with this web site http://www.dodge.com/bodybuilder/year.pdf and we have the same dimension from the frame rail to the top of the pick-up box. This is 20.2 inches, which is measured from the top of the frame rail to the top of the pick-up box as defined as H503 in the sketch.
The dealer who will install the hitch should adjust the hitch to provide the clearance between the bed rails and under body of the 5er. If the hitch is already installed then when hooking up have them measure the clearance and adjust the hitch as required to provide the necessary clearance.
Jim