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Old 06-18-2022, 07:07 AM   #1
Brad.cook81090
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Older Outback, new Ram

Hello all! I’ve been 5th wheeling with family numerous times, but my wife and I finally decided to buy a 5th wheel for ourselves. It’s a crème puff ‘09 Outback. We are pulling it with a 2022 Ram 3500 dually.

Does anyone have any suggestions to get us level while towing? The trailer is running uphill just slightly. We can’t adjust the neck of the trailer any more or else I think we might get into the bed/tailgate. No adjustments on the axles either.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!
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Old 06-18-2022, 07:12 AM   #2
chuckster57
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Welcome to the forum

First off congrats on your great find. How much uphill is it? on level ground if you have 5-6 inches between the bed rails and the bottom of the trailer you should be good in about 99.9% of any situation. I say that because 1 time in Oregon turning off a major highway onto a road the crown was excessive and I touched.
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Old 06-18-2022, 07:19 AM   #3
Brad.cook81090
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It’s just one tick off level (according to the level on the trailer) while hooked up. Not sure how much room there is between the trailer and bedrails. I’ve only had it hooked up once just to bring it home to get it ready for a trip in a couple weeks. I don’t remember for sure, but I’d say it’s less than 5 inches. It was closer to the tail gate than the bed rails I think.
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Old 06-18-2022, 07:23 AM   #4
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Is your truck a shortbed? the tailgate shouldnt be any higher than the bed rails. You can get a variety of different tailgates if needed.
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Old 06-18-2022, 07:25 AM   #5
bsmith0404
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As was mentioned, your bed rail clearance is critical. Sometimes you just cannot achieve level and keep the clearance necessary, especially with the newer trucks, they sit sooo damn high these days. If the axles are above the springs, you can flip them and put them below, that will raise the trailer some. Most are already below the springs so people will give them a lift by placing blocks between the axle and spring. IMO, that’s a bit extreme and I wouldn’t bother unless you are extremely nose high.
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Old 06-18-2022, 07:33 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad.cook81090 View Post
It’s just one tick off level (according to the level on the trailer) while hooked up. Not sure how much room there is between the trailer and bedrails. I’ve only had it hooked up once just to bring it home to get it ready for a trip in a couple weeks. I don’t remember for sure, but I’d say it’s less than 5 inches. It was closer to the tail gate than the bed rails I think.
Is that a metric “Tick” or imperial “Tick”?

We tow a 2005 Copper Canyon with a 2016 Ram 3500 DRW. We have about 5.5 inches of clearance at the tailgate, the 5er has 16” tires and I installed a Correct Track system which gave about 2” of lift at the axles, we tow level.
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Old 06-18-2022, 07:42 AM   #7
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I think lots of folks have used blocks to add lift at the axles. If it were me I would first set the hitch height to achieve 6”+ clearance at the bed rail. The tail gate should be fine and won’t set any taller than the bed rails. After setting the best hitch height then I would check to see just how unlevel I am. You might get that far and report back for some consensus. Many (Most?) of us run a little nose high with our 5ers. But too much could place more than desired load and stress on the rear axle.

As stated, newer trucks are, IMHO, just unnecessarily too tall. But it is what it is. Trailers of the same vintage as yours tend to ride just a little lower than newer rigs so it’s possible that you would want to make some kind or correction to get closer to level. I installed the CorrectTrax on a previous 5er to gain 2”.

Anyway, welcome aboard and congrats on a good find. Let us know how it’s going.
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Old 06-18-2022, 07:46 AM   #8
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Someone else mentioned a good point, your outback might have 15” wheels. If it does and you have clearance, it may be possible to switch to a 16” wheel/taller tire combo to achieve a little more height on the trailer.
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Old 06-18-2022, 07:47 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by jsb5717 View Post
I think lots of folks have used blocks to add lift at the axles. If it were me I would first set the hitch height to achieve 6”+ clearance at the bed rail. The tail gate should be fine and won’t set any taller than the bed rails. After setting the best hitch height then I would check to see just how unlevel I am. You might get that far and report back for some consensus. Many (Most?) of us run a little nose high. But too much could place more than desired load and stress on the rear axle.

As stated, newer trucks are, IMHO, just unnecessarily too tall. But it is what it is. Trailers of the same vintage as yours tend to ride just a little lower than newer rigs so it’s possible that you would want to make some kind or correction to get closer to level.

Anyway, welcome aboard and congrats on a good find. Let us know how it’s going.
Depends on the brand and truck, our 2016 Ram 3500 4x4, is the same height as our 2001 Ram 2500 4x4 was.
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Old 06-18-2022, 07:53 AM   #10
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Depends on the brand and truck, our 2016 Ram 3500 4x4, is the same height as our 2001 Ram 2500 4x4 was.
I think the problem with the newer ones is the auto leveling systems. They just don’t allow the truck to squat onto the springs l like the older trucks did. Hitches height seems to be the main issue. I don’t own one of those trucks so I don’t know how much adjustability exists with them, if any.
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Old 06-18-2022, 07:53 AM   #11
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Depends on the brand and truck, our 2016 Ram 3500 4x4, is the same height as our 2001 Ram 2500 4x4 was.
I’m sure you’re right. We moved from a 2000 Ford 4x4 to our current 2012 RAM 4x4 and gained a few inches in height. It was definitely too tall for the 5er we had at the time. But it’s fine with our newer Monty, which is a full profile model. So the config/profile of the 5er also makes a difference. My guess that the OP’s 5er is a mid-profile model so he’s got a little bit of a hill to climb to level it up to that new RAM.
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Old 06-18-2022, 08:15 AM   #12
Brad.cook81090
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Originally Posted by chuckster57 View Post
Is your truck a shortbed? the tailgate shouldnt be any higher than the bed rails. You can get a variety of different tailgates if needed.
It’s a long bed dually. I’ve thought about a tailgate possibly. I just hate to mess with that because we use that pickup for so many different things. But it is an option.
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Old 06-18-2022, 08:53 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by jsb5717 View Post
I’m sure you’re right. We moved from a 2000 Ford 4x4 to our current 2012 RAM 4x4 and gained a few inches in height. It was definitely too tall for the 5er we had at the time. But it’s fine with our newer Monty, which is a full profile model. So the config/profile of the 5er also makes a difference. My guess that the OP’s 5er is a mid-profile model so he’s got a little bit of a hill to climb to level it up to that new RAM.
Well DRW seem to just sit lower than SRW for some crazy reason. This is the 2001 2500 back to back with the 2016 3500 DRW.
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Old 06-18-2022, 08:58 AM   #14
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So here is the same 5er hooked to both the 2500 and 3500, didn’t even need to adjust the hitch.



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Old 06-20-2022, 06:17 AM   #15
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Load the trailer and report back mine is nose high empty nice and level after she adds stuff
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Old 06-20-2022, 08:55 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by Brad.cook81090 View Post
It’s a long bed dually. I’ve thought about a tailgate possibly. I just hate to mess with that because we use that pickup for so many different things. But it is an option.
If swapping tailgates is the only option, keep the original & swap them when towing, it takes about a minute to swap them & no tools required.
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Old 06-20-2022, 11:59 AM   #17
Brad.cook81090
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Good info. Our outback has 15 inch wheels. I'm thinking there is plenty of room to go to 16's and maybe that would give us enough clearance.
Thanks!
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