Hey guys. I have a question about towing with a lifted truck. I have a 4" lift in my truck and would like to tow a 5th wheel camper, specifically a 2008 32' Wildcat toy hauler. My truck is a 2003 f350 srw, cc, long box.
I am concerned about the trailer nose height.

I backed under it last night and with the trailer level I had about 1" clearence between the top of my bed and the bottom of the 5th wheel "nose". I cant connect it to see how it sits because the hitch isn't in the truck.

Thoughts?

 

You need about 4" clearance between truck rails and trailer.....Even with that I've had contact between my rails and the lamp under the front of the 5er. I busted the lens cover pulling it off a small hill in an RV park.

 

You could always lift the 5ver too?

 

But you'll be up in the wind more then.....Center of gravity will change. Watch out for towing in a cross wind.

 

True not to mention clearances as my 5ver already comes close to some bridges. I was just saying it was an option?

 

I agree with BPofMD, you need at least 4" and I've kissed the bedrails with 5" before coming out of a drive thru.

 

I lifted my 2005 Wildcat 4". My truck has a 4.5" lift and 35" tires. I used blocks that a friend of mine custom made for me. I have put over 10k miles on them in the last year and they work great. I also swapped out my 5th wheel tires from the stock 225/70or75/15 to 235/85/16. That also gave me a bit of lift. I have 8" of bed clearance and have still kissed the rails once. I drive over some "terrain" every now and then with the 5th wheel in tow.

It has worked great over the last year.

 

Thanks guys for your input. I will hook it up and see what kind of clearence I have and go from there, 89Lx306 I will (when I get one) lift the trailer as you did. The trailer I am refering to is a borrowed one. Thanks for the pics. What are the the lift blocks made out of?

 

Looks like rectangular tubing to me, with flat plate welded on the ends.

 

I've got a very similar setup to yours and pull a 34' 5th wheel. It has an axle flip and gives me about 6-7" of clearance over the bed rails. Since you have a lifted truck and a toy hauler, I'm guessing you will probably need to do at least some mild off-roading to get where you want to go. My opinion is that at least 6" are needed if that's the case. I have had no issues in crosswinds, etc.

If your springs on the 5th wheel are below the axles, then there are kits you can get to move them to the top and give you a few inches of clearance. If they are already over the axles, then you will need to do something like the lift blocks mentioned.

 

4"x6"x3/8" wall tubing. 1/4" cap plates and a 1/4" cross support welded in the middle of the tubing.

 

Awesome thanks!!