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Old 12-16-2019, 05:45 PM   #1
Viet_Vet
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5er lower in the back than front

Greetings all,
I have a 2015 Hideout 299RLDS that I am pulling with a stock 2011 Ram 2500. I just ripped one of the rear scissor jacks off of today on a dirt road.

The problem is that the tail of my 5er is quite a bit lower than the front. I think I've heard it referred to as a "tail dragger".

What is the easiest and/or cheapest way to fix this? Is there an adjustment on the hitch (either the one in the bed or the one on the trailer) that I can make with common tools?

Any help and advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Wallace
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Old 12-16-2019, 05:55 PM   #2
tech740
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You can adjust the hitch head height, and also the pin box height. Keep in mind you need to maintain a minimum of 5-7 inches between your bed rails and the camper. (some say more some say less) If those areas cannot be adjusted and keep adequate clearances you can look into lift kits for the trailer provided it wont be taller than 13'6" for highway travel.
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Old 12-16-2019, 05:57 PM   #3
flybouy
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You'll most likely get more/better responses if you give the brand of your hitch and some measurements. Bed rail clearance, hight of the frame at the front and the back of the trailer.
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Old 12-16-2019, 07:22 PM   #4
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I had a similar issue with the tail running lower than the front. We have hydraulic jacks, so no issue with jacks near the back end dragging but more with the skids making contact with the pavement at driveway entrances. Saw a post, possibly on this forum, about a company called trailerblocks.com. I did some calculations and decided 2" blocks would do the job. By lifting at the axles, you are raising the back end of the trailer with barely any effect on the tallest point of the rig, which is the front A/C if there is one, because the front of the trailer is still attached to the hitch which doesn't move.
Don't panic when you see the price of the kit, which will include the two blocks, four new 9/16" U-bolts and two new tie plates for the U-bolts for each axle. The price quoted is Canadian dollars, so my kits, needed two, were shown to be $317.76 Canadian each, but were actually $241.18 US dollars for the 2" kits. My rig now tows almost perfectly level and rides much better, even on rough roads.
https://www.trailerblocks.com/collec...ing-tie-plates

This photo was taken prior to cutting off the excess length U-bolts.
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Old 12-18-2019, 06:52 AM   #5
sonofcy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Viet_Vet View Post
Greetings all,
I have a 2015 Hideout 299RLDS that I am pulling with a stock 2011 Ram 2500. I just ripped one of the rear scissor jacks off of today on a dirt road.

The problem is that the tail of my 5er is quite a bit lower than the front. I think I've heard it referred to as a "tail dragger".

What is the easiest and/or cheapest way to fix this? Is there an adjustment on the hitch (either the one in the bed or the one on the trailer) that I can make with common tools?

Any help and advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Wallace
Is it that the RV is lower in the rear or is your truck higher than 'normal'. Besides telling us all the usual make, model, trim etc, measure the height of your bed rails. Have you done anything to your truck that would lift it? If everything is normal a simple hitch adjustment may be all you need.
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Old 12-18-2019, 05:26 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Viet_Vet View Post
Greetings all,
I have a 2015 Hideout 299RLDS that I am pulling with a stock 2011 Ram 2500. I just ripped one of the rear scissor jacks off of today on a dirt road.

The problem is that the tail of my 5er is quite a bit lower than the front. I think I've heard it referred to as a "tail dragger".

What is the easiest and/or cheapest way to fix this? Is there an adjustment on the hitch (either the one in the bed or the one on the trailer) that I can make with common tools?

Any help and advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Wallace
If you could post a picture it would be a great help.
Depending on how high you need to go, depends on the fix.
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Old 12-18-2019, 05:33 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tech740 View Post
You can adjust the hitch head height, and also the pin box height. Keep in mind you need to maintain a minimum of 5-7 inches between your bed rails and the camper. (some say more some say less) If those areas cannot be adjusted and keep adequate clearances you can look into lift kits for the trailer provided it wont be taller than 13'6" for highway travel.
I did exactly what teck740 said and was able to level out the RV. This advice was right on. I had trouble in the past when I had a 2006 Heartland Bighorn 3500, I had too much weight on the back axles and had a lot of flat tires and finally axel problems too.



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Old 12-27-2019, 10:59 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by sonofcy View Post
Is it that the RV is lower in the rear or is your truck higher than 'normal'. Besides telling us all the usual make, model, trim etc, measure the height of your bed rails. Have you done anything to your truck that would lift it? If everything is normal a simple hitch adjustment may be all you need.

Everything is stock factory equipment on both my 2011 Ram 2500 and on the 5er. No lift kits or added leaf springs.

From the road to the top of my bedrail measures 56 inches.

My hitch os a Reese Titan 16K #30866. I took out the bolts that hold the cross member onto the hitch to lower it, but it won't go any lower. Its already in the second hole from the top, and rhe top hole wont line up.

I spoke to Reese, and they said that some of the crossmembers were built that will not allow the top hole to be used. They are being kind and generous and say they will send me a new crossmember that will allow me to utilize the top hole and further lower my hitch another inch and a half.


As for clearance between bedrails and 5er, it is about 8 inches. The Kingpin portion of the hitch on the fifth wheel seems to be raised as high as it can go. There are two holes above it, but I don't believe that will leave any clearance between the metal and the body of the fifth wheel.

I hope this clarifies my issue.
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Old 12-27-2019, 11:20 AM   #9
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It looks to me that you could raise the kingpin more unless I'm missing something.

You're best bet, though, is the previously mentioned advice to add spacers to raise the rig a bit. This seems to be a common issue with newer trucks and low or mid profile 5ers. I had the same issue with my 2016 Open Range Lite. I had to raise it a couple of inches as well.
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Old 01-02-2020, 08:47 AM   #10
sonofcy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Viet_Vet View Post
Everything is stock factory equipment on both my 2011 Ram 2500 and on the 5er. No lift kits or added leaf springs.

From the road to the top of my bedrail measures 56 inches.

My hitch os a Reese Titan 16K #30866. I took out the bolts that hold the cross member onto the hitch to lower it, but it won't go any lower. Its already in the second hole from the top, and rhe top hole wont line up.

I spoke to Reese, and they said that some of the crossmembers were built that will not allow the top hole to be used. They are being kind and generous and say they will send me a new crossmember that will allow me to utilize the top hole and further lower my hitch another inch and a half.


As for clearance between bedrails and 5er, it is about 8 inches. The Kingpin portion of the hitch on the fifth wheel seems to be raised as high as it can go. There are two holes above it, but I don't believe that will leave any clearance between the metal and the body of the fifth wheel.

I hope this clarifies my issue.
It looks to me that your hitch is a good 2" off the floor of the truck bed. You might want to consider getting a dealer installed hitch that is attached to the frame under the truck so that the hitch is much lower.
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Old 01-08-2020, 10:05 AM   #11
razahoryin
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similar problem.
MY 2017 F350 4x4 stock sit higher then the 2011 F350 4x4
after adjusting my hitch,
I used a 3 inch lift from trailer blocks.
solved the problem and trailer is close to level when towing.

I had a few shops offer to add a sub frame rail
below existing frame to accomplish the same thing.
seemed excessive.
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