Back end scraping on 2020 377FL Montana High Country

[Bob P]

Nmorris, I did two things, first I bought a short bed truck which I am not sure if that made any difference, 2nd I have the Anderson hitch in the bed of my truck and it allows you to raise or lower with the ball setup in which I lowered it one notch or hole in turn raises the rear end of the 5th wheel by a few inches which made a difference. Hope I didnt confuse you but if I did look at Anderson hitch website and you will see how you can raise and lower the ball. Good luck.

[Nmorris]

Thanks Bob P. I had a short bed 2500 when I bought the camper and have since bought a long bed 3500, didn't think about that but it has helped some. I'll look at the hitch, thanks

[beeje]

Originally Posted by Texan

Raising the rv at the axles does not raise the total height of the rv. When Mor-Ryde installed my I.S. they raised the rv at the wheels about 3 inches to level the rv with the truck. What you are doing is you are pivoting the rv up at the axles but not actually raising the rv in the front where your front air is most likely the highest point of your rv. My rv was 13.5'' before and after the I.S. install. It doesn't matter if you are installing the I.S. or or any other type of suspension as you are raising the rear and not the front and the rear is several inches lower than the front already. Using your rear jacks if you have 6 pt. leveling you can measure the height of the front at the start then raise the rear 3'' using just the rear jacks then measure the front and rear and you should find you have not increased the front height yet the rear will have increased but should still be below the 13.6 maximum height required by law.

Texan, I beg to differ. We just had the IS installed in June. I was concerned about the amount of lift because I only had about 3" of overhead clearance at the head of our pole building where the camper lives. As you can see from the pic, we lost most of that clearance.

So stating that raising you unit at the axles will not raise your overall height is just simply not right. It all depends on where the highest point of you unit is. If its the front a/c then your are probably right. In our case, the highest point is the fantastic fan max air cover, which is directly above the axles.

[beeje]

I would be very Leary of putting any kind of drag wheels on the unit. There is no way of telling just how much pressure/force is being applied to the camper frame when they hit the ground. Given enough, one could easily bend/crack/rack the frame and cause Permanente damage.

[kowbra]

Originally Posted by beeje

I would be very Leary of putting any kind of drag wheels on the unit. There is no way of telling just how much pressure/force is being applied to the camper frame when they hit the ground. Given enough, one could easily bend/crack/rack the frame and cause Permanente damage.

Valid concerns...
This looks interesting to me;
https://www.etrailer.com/Skid-Wheels...er/RM-050.html

Seems like the easiest thing to install, and the stresses will be on the hitch, so if there was excessive stresses I think you would see the strain on the hitch assembly welds and not the frame directly. And, really not different than dragging the hitch which is often the lowest point already and gets dragged at times anyway...

Note I've not used anything like this in the past, but our new unit will be about 4' longer than old one so this may be something I will need. If so, the above is where I think I would start.

Brad

[beeje]

Don't know the hitch situation on the newer trailers. But I know the inch and a quarter hitch on mine wouldn't do you much good for supporting the trailer. It flexes up and down like crazy just with a bicycle or two on it. I think it's only rated for like three hundred pounds or something. I think it would push that thing right into the bottom of the rear cap and destroy it

[kowbra]

Originally Posted by beeje

Don't know the hitch situation on the newer trailers. But I know the inch and a quarter hitch on mine wouldn't do you much good for supporting the trailer. It flexes up and down like crazy just with a bicycle or two on it. I think it's only rated for like three hundred pounds or something. I think it would push that thing right into the bottom of the rear cap and destroy it

Beeje, have a look at the link I sent; not designed -at all- for a 1 1/4" hitch...


Brad

[beeje]

Originally Posted by kowbra

Beeje, have a look at the link I sent; not designed -at all- for a 1 1/4" hitch...


Brad

I did look briefly just assumed it was for a 2in. I'm sure you're hitch will be somewhat stronger but I still don't think it would be strong enough for that

[kowbra]

Originally Posted by beeje

I did look briefly just assumed it was for a 2in. I'm sure you're hitch will be somewhat stronger but I still don't think it would be strong enough for that

You may be right, but it seems that it is exactly what it was designed to be used for...
I can't find many reviews on it, so wouldn't be the first time someone designed, built and sold a product that was not a good idea

Brad

[beeje]

Not sure what you guys are dragging on but I would try and avoid that area if possible. But I suspect it's at your own residence.
Friend of mine just bought a used Montana had me come over and watch him take it in his driveway which is pretty bad in my opinion. Made it in there with 2in to spare

[kowbra]

Originally Posted by beeje

Not sure what you guys are dragging on but I would try and avoid that area if possible. But I suspect it's at your own residence.
Friend of mine just bought a used Montana had me come over and watch him take it in his driveway which is pretty bad in my opinion. Made it in there with 2in to spare

Yes, this thread is "dragging on", and on, and on

Brad

[stevem]

I did both to rectify the low back end of my 377fl. The skid wheels are a no-brainer and will protect you when it scrapes, but adding the blocks to the axles will prevent it from scraping in the first place....and that was what I wanted. I added 2" blocks to the axles for about $600, which probably brought the back end up about 3". Yes, I was concerned about the overall height, but everything I read said it wouldn't add to the height of the front end (makes sense actually). And to me, it was worth the height risk anyway as the constant scraping on everything from a driveway on up was taking its toll. I nearly took the back metal plate off when I was driving down a dirt road and hit a hidden dip. After making adding the blocks, we took a 6500 mile road trip and I didn't
scrape anywhere and never had a single issue with a low bridge, although my Garmin Dezl helped steer me away from a possible problem in Missouri. What a relief!

[SharonC]

Originally Posted by Montana Man

I put 1 1/2" blocks on the axles. That raised the rear 2 1/2". Doesn't sound like much but it leveled the trailer and hasn't dragged yet.

Can you post a pic of this? We need to do the same or get rollers.

[rohrmann]

I got 2" blocks and new U-bolts several years ago and this solved our scraping problem. Photo was taken before I cut off the excess threaded part of the U-bolts. https://www.trailerblocks.com/collec...00lb-axle-kits

[432bartman]

Ditto on the blocks for my Montana........no more close calls or dragging on steep driveway approaches.

[Patrick&Mindi]

It’s a real design flaw in the 377fl model. The rear step down frame reduces clearance of the rear from the roadway significantly. You have to be very cognizant of dips in roadways, driveways, heck, even speed bumps, to try to avoid dragging the rear end. What is worse, wiring harness for rear lights, slides, and interior electrical, are run UNDER not through the truss. Consequently, the backend dragged recently getting into a fuel stop, destroying the wiring harness. Discovered it upon reaching destination, late at night of course, and nothing worked back of house.

[432bartman]

I too put 2" blocks on mine and no more dragging on steep driveway approaches. Very inexpensive and does not take long to do.

[Patrick&Mindi]

Can you tell me more about how you had the RV raised at the axle? Who did it for you? What did you ask for? What product was used, etc. etc.?

[Patrick&Mindi]

Can you tell me more about how you did this? I think I'd like to add height at my axels as well to help level my rig our while towing and, hopefully, eliminate tail drag issues.

[Patrick&Mindi]

Did you add blocks at both axles or just at the back/rear axle? I.e., 2 sets of blocks or just one set at rear?