Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum > GENERAL DISCUSSIONS > Tow Vehicles & Towing
Click Here to Login

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 02-07-2007, 08:27 AM   #1
CanDo
Montana Fan
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Sioux Falls
Posts: 322
M.O.C. #2106
Height of 5th Wheel Hitch

I have read with interest much of the discussion on this forum about air hitches and air pin boxes. As we are going to begin fulltiming later this year I am leaning toward an air hitch for the most comfortable ride and to minimize stress on the TV and Monty.

I went to the trailer saver website and noticed that it stated that the basic hitch (TS3) is 14 inches high with 2-inch and 3-inch "lift kits" available if a greater height was required. It never occured to me that the height of the hitch was an issue - the dealer from whom we purchased our Monty installed the hitch in our original TV, a SRW Dodge 3500. We have since traded that truck for a dually and had Camping World install a new set of rails in the new truck on which we mounted our original Reese 16K hitch. We have not towed the Monty with this new TV yet so we don't know if this will be a problem or not.

Being the curious type, I measured the height of my hitch from the bed of the TV to the top of the hitch: 15.5 inches. Assuming (and you know what that does!)that the beds in the dually and the SRW trucks are the same height from the ground, I would need to buy the 2-inch lift kit with the hitch.

Here is the question (I know, FINALLY!): Can anyone tell me where I can find out just how high the hitch has to be off the ground? Am I making this too hard? Since we are going to be fulltiming, it is important to have the Monty level when towing, right? How do I make sure that happens?

Any assistance with this problem would be greatly appreciated!
 
CanDo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2007, 08:35 AM   #2
bsmeaton
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Lone Tree
Posts: 5,615
M.O.C. #6109
CanDo -

Don't forget your pin box itself has multiple height adjustments and can compensate for the hitch height. The Dealer makes these adjustments all the time based on the customers Tow Vehicle height.

Good choice on the trailer saver by the way
bsmeaton is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2007, 10:11 AM   #3
skypilot
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Manhattan
Posts: 1,144
M.O.C. #1846
CanDo: When my hitch was installed the instructions that came with the hitch gave a diagram that showed to measure the distance from the road to the kingpin with the trailer level (using the landing gear to level it to the street, not to level by front to rear pitch -- hope that makes sense -- basically what I'm trying to say is that you were to measure the front of the trailer at 18 inches, then the back of the trailer should also be 18 inches up from the road). This tells you how high your hitch plate needs to be on the truck. You now need to measure from the road up to the bed of the truck and then add the distance of the hitch from the bed of the truck to the top of the hitch plate. Then adjust either (or both) the hitch and pin so that they match as closely as possible.

Hope this helps.
skypilot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2007, 10:26 AM   #4
William H. Collier
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Machesney Park
Posts: 534
M.O.C. #798
The key measurement here is the distance between the top of the truck bed rail and the bottom of the Monty. It should be about 6 to 8 inches.
Bill
William H. Collier is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2007, 12:33 PM   #5
ols1932
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Cedar Rapids
Posts: 4,876
M.O.C. #1944
Quote:
quote:Originally posted by CanDo


I went to the trailer saver website and noticed that it stated that the basic hitch (TS3) is 14 inches high with 2-inch and 3-inch "lift kits" available if a greater height was required.
Being the curious type, I measured the height of my hitch from the bed of the TV to the top of the hitch: 15.5 inches. Assuming (and you know what that does!)that the beds in the dually and the SRW trucks are the same height from the ground, I would need to buy the 2-inch lift kit with the hitch.

Here is the question (I know, FINALLY!): Can anyone tell me where I can find out just how high the hitch has to be off the ground? Am I making this too hard? Since we are going to be fulltiming, it is important to have the Monty level when towing, right? How do I make sure that happens?

Any assistance with this problem would be greatly appreciated!
CanDo,
When I purchased my TS3, we measured my old Drawtite height by measuring from the truck bed up to the hitch plate. It was 18" so I had to get the 3" lift kit.

Since you haven't had your rig hooked up to your new truck yet, you'll have to set your rig so that it is level lengthwise, then measure from the ground up to the base of the king pin (where the king pin meets the hitch plate on the rig). Then you need to measure up from the ground to the floor of the truck bed, then to the top of where the king pin makes contact with the hitch plate. This should give you a pretty good idea of what lift kit you need.

You also might hook up your Montana to your existing rig and see if it is/is not level. If it's level, you know what your hitch height is. If it isn't level, raise your existing hitch the amount you think you need to make your rig ride level. Then rehitch the rig and see if it's level. This should tell you how high your TS3 would have to be.

Incidentally, I had someone who "knows" install my TS3, with my help. I wouldn't trust just anyone. Before you go to the trouble of getting the TS3, try and see someone who has one already. That's where you'll get your best information. If you talk to someone who heard from someone else whose cousin said it wouldn't work, is not a good idea.

Orv
ols1932 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-08-2007, 03:41 AM   #6
sreigle
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Oceanside
Posts: 20,028
M.O.C. #20
CanDo, there are two factors I consider important and hitch height affects them both. One is how level the coach rides and the other is how much room between bedrails and coach.

Our rig runs a bit nose high. Not a big deal so long as you don't shift too much weight to the trailer axles and go overweight on them. With the ways ours is set up I have about 7 1/2 to 8 inches of clearance between bedrails and coach. I've read the absolute minimum acceptable clearance is 5 inches. I'm not comfortable with anything less than 7 inches of clearance.

I also would not be comfortable with an extreme nose high or nose low situation. But I have had no problems with a slightly nose high attitude on our rig. To get it level I'd have less clearance than I'm comfortable with. I've not measured to see just how much higher the nose is than the rear of the Montana but would guess it's not more than a couple of inches, measured at the frame.
sreigle is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Hitch height Luc Tow Vehicles & Towing 4 04-14-2016 12:05 PM
Hitch Height bikefever Tow Vehicles & Towing 1 05-19-2011 04:38 AM
Maximum Recommended Height of 5th Wheel Johnsonw General Discussions about our Montanas 27 01-18-2011 01:48 AM
5th wheel height garyka General Discussions about our Montanas 9 08-24-2006 03:00 AM
Hitch height Ozz Tow Vehicles & Towing 15 08-20-2006 02:56 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Montana RV, Keystone RV Company or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:12 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.