clearance between bedrail and 5er - Montana Owners Club

danandbetty · 02-23-2010, 08:02 AM

I just upgraded my truck from a Dodge 2500 4WD to a Dodge 3500 DRW 4WD which has a slightly higher bed height. I had about 4" of clearance between my bed rails of the new truck and the 5er. I lowered the pin on the 5er and now have almost 5 1/2" clearance and only slightly off level (slightly high in the front of the 5er).

Is 5 1/2" on level ground enough to see me through some to the uneven ground in CG's? Anyone have experience with contact between the 5er and bed rails? How much clearance is reasonable? I'm very careful when boondocking not to get into bad uneven ground but I'm nervous about that clearance issue more than ever.

PapaBeav · 02-23-2010, 08:26 AM

6 to 8 inches of clearance has always been a rule of thumb. I have right at 6 inches of clearance on our rig. At 5 1/2 inches I would think you should be alright as long as you don't go through any big dips or over any tight little hills.

BB_TX · 02-23-2010, 08:34 AM

I have about 6" on mine. I have seen it get might close on some really uneven areas such as crossing a drainage channel in a parking lot or pulling off the street/highway into a service station or such where the transition from the street to the parking lot was a significant elevation change. But I have never seen it hit and there are no marks to show it ever has. So I guess I am good.

danandbetty · 02-23-2010, 09:57 AM

Thanks guys, this helps. Any thoughts about lowering the pin position vs. raising the hitch if I decided to gain another 1 1/4" or so? I'm not sure I understand when lowering the pin is indicated and when raising the hitch is indicated. Do they both accomplish the same thing in the end or is there an advantage in doing one over the other?

I wonder if I'm going to have to relocate the springs to the axle tops to raise the 5er height in order to keep it riding level. I hope not. Tho I love 4WD and DRW, bed height is a problem.

In my experience the situation that can creep up on me is pulling off the roadway into a driveway or parking lot (filling station, store, etc.)and discovering at a critical moment that there's a bigger dip than I thought. When my front wheels drop off I almost helplessly watch the rear of my bedrails raise toward the 5er. Typically there's a vehicle about 2 feet from the rear panel of my 5er so stopping suddenly is an ivitation to rear end damage and proceeding is an ivitation to front end damage. I hate when that happens. I really have to get better at seeing those drop offs earlier.

PapaBeav · 02-23-2010, 10:10 AM

There are four settings on our hitch in 1 1/4" increments. I did raise it one notch to get the proper clearance. We are also slightly high in the nose, but its not a problem.

boje · 02-23-2010, 10:24 AM

I don't know if this helps due to the different style of hitch, but I purchased a lift kit for my Pullrite, and it helped the clearance issue immensely. Does Reese make something similar?

PapaBeav · 02-23-2010, 10:34 AM

I have the Reese 16K slider and it has four settings, just move the bolts to a higher or lower hole. They are an 1 1/4" apart.

danandbetty · 02-23-2010, 11:06 AM

Yes..my Reese 15K is the same as PapaBeav's 16K. 4 settings 1 1/4" each. I'm in the next to lowest setting now so there's plenty that I could raise it - more than I need - I just don't know when to raise the Reese one more hole vs. when to lower the pin on the trailer one more hole. Seems like either would get the same result.

kerry · 02-23-2010, 12:46 PM

Dan, check out topic "pickup height"

sreigle · 02-23-2010, 01:06 PM

Dan, when I had the Reese I usually adjusted it instead of the pinbox just because it was easier to do. As far as I can tell, adjusting either will do the same job.

As for being nose high, just how high would it be? While it's recommended to run level and that's the best scenario, I don't think it's always easily attainable. We run slighly nose high. I measured it once at the frame and, if I recall, the frame just under the corner of front locker is about 2 inches higher than at the rear corner. Having had the rig weighed at each wheel I can see that this setup has us slightly heavier on the rear trailer axle but not enough to worry about in my opinion.

on edit - just checked my notes. We're 125 pounds heavier on the rear axle than the front one. We also had 2/3 tank of fresh water when weighed and the fresh water tank is aft of the axles on our model.

mojavemike · 02-23-2010, 03:30 PM

Taking the 5/8" spacer between the rear spring pack and spring perch on the axle lowered the tail gate height by 1 1/2". With 1720 lb pin weight the truck and Monty are level with a little over 6 inch bed clearance. I had taken out the spacer before getty the Monty just to level out the truck more.

Clyde n Deb · 02-24-2010, 02:15 AM

I apologize for kind of hijacking the thread here, but I had been pondering this issue myself lately relevant to the new GM trucks. I have an '05 2955RL, and was wondering how it would mate up with a new GM 3500HD dually?
I would be reluctant to adjust very much off level. I am very happy with my current truck, but another business venture could dictate "movin' on up".

kerry · 02-24-2010, 03:25 AM

http://www.klenger.net/dodge/lowerin...d/slide01.html

Check out this web sight

danandbetty · 02-24-2010, 02:47 PM

Hey...this is very interesting. I was just about ready to look into buying a larger set of wheels/tires for the 5er but this may be a better answer. I'll wait until I'm saddled up again and measure. If I have less than 6 full inches I'm moving spring blocks. Thanks again for the link to this article. ...dan

You may also like: