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Old 09-29-2007, 11:48 AM   #1
HughM
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How much bed clearance is enough?

Just got our 2007.5 Chevrolet 2500 crew cab short bed duramax. Yesterday had CW install a Reese 16K slider. Today hooked up Montana (didn't pull it yet) and had 6 inches of clearance from top of bed rails on side of bed to the bottom of Montana.
Remember the Chev. bed is deeper this year.
The top of the Reese is 3 1/2" below the bed rail.
Reese hitch can be moved up 2 bolt holes and would give me about 2 more inches for a total of 8" trailer clearance and 1 1/2" below rail.
As a last resort I would drop the extended hitch on the trailer.
Question...it just doesn't look like its enough room in case I'm going up or down a hill with trailer on an angle.
I want to make sure I don't have bed rail and Montana meeting with a disaster in the making.
How many inches do you have between your Montana and your bed rails?
 
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Old 09-29-2007, 12:00 PM   #2
H. John Kohl
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I have the snap down tonneau cover so my bed rail is raised about 3/4 of an inch. The end by the tailgate gouged the vinyl under the bedroom area on a corner and inclined hill. So today, I just dropped or extended the hitch on the trailer to the lower holes and added about 2 inches. I would say a minimum of 6" bed rail to bottom of bedroom over hang. I have already raised the Reese hitch and do not want to take it higher because it will be above the bed rail and not allow the tonneau to cover it.
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Old 09-29-2007, 12:35 PM   #3
nkwist
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We have a long bed and I'm glad we have almost 8" of clearance. We also have 4wd and sometimes go places that folks say we shouldn't go.....
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Old 09-29-2007, 01:12 PM   #4
bsmeaton
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Norm makes a good point -

A long bed might require more height than a short bed, as the long bed will hit before the short bed on the same angle from the axis. Also important to note how level the Montana is when hooked up. An inch or two at the pin can mean 6 or 7 inches at the tail on the 40' Montanas. You may not be able to raise the front too much without sacrificing some drag clearance in the back.

With that, our Montana Dealer used a highly technical measuring method when hooking up our new Monty to our Ford. He raised the landing gear on the Monty, stacked his two fists between the bed and Monty and grumbled - "look fine ta mee!". Considering his two fists equal about three of mine plus a 2x4, it comes out to about 7-1/2 to 8". I have never came close to hitting the belly, so I probably could get by with 6".
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Old 09-29-2007, 01:14 PM   #5
Countryfolks
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HughM; Remember while you're doing all that the 5er should be pretty much level when you tow. Otherwise excessive weight is on the rear tires.
I think we have about 5-6 inches of clearance.

Skip
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Old 09-29-2007, 11:00 PM   #6
dscott
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My Chevy has 6 1/4", It was installed by the dealer,the triler sets level.Works good so far.
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Old 09-29-2007, 11:48 PM   #7
Glenn and Lorraine
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Just asked this question at Keystone Customer Service.
6 to 8 inches.
Too little and you stand a chance of hitting the underside of the over hang with the bed rails.
Too much and the trailer isn't level while towing.
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Old 09-30-2007, 02:32 AM   #8
HughM
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Thanks everyone. Others have said 6" minimum. I think I'll move the Reese up 1 bolt hole and see how much I have. Just for peace of mind.
The trailer is very close to level now and 1" more is not going to make it way out of level. As usual this forum has come thru with the knowledge I needed!!!
Thanks
Hugh
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Old 09-30-2007, 09:43 AM   #9
ols1932
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by HughM

Thanks everyone. Others have said 6" minimum. I think I'll move the Reese up 1 bolt hole and see how much I have. Just for peace of mind.
The trailer is very close to level now and 1" more is not going to make it way out of level. As usual this forum has come thru with the knowledge I needed!!!
Thanks
Hugh
Hugh,
6 inches is good, 7 or 8 is better. However, I wouldn't move it up too much because even with just with the front end a tad higher than the rear will throw your weight distribution off to the point where you may find handling a little more of a problem and may cause some tire wear on the rig that you won't like.

You do what you feel comfortable with, we're just here with suggestions having to do with some of our own experiences.

Orv
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Old 09-30-2007, 03:55 PM   #10
Montana Sky
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I believe that mine has 9" of clearance and rides level as you can see in my picture below. I will be double checking that number in a few weeks once I hook up again.
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Old 09-30-2007, 04:15 PM   #11
sailer
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I have 6" on a f250 but i also run 20 " tires but that is plenty so far and i have had it in some bad places ,, we have a pullrite hitch so it slides as we go john
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