Fifth wheel guys with a lift.

[Fordsonly]

I'm looking at upgrading our travel trailer to a fifth wheel. But I also want to lift my truck. I talked to a couple of rv dealers and they all said 4 inch lift with 35 's would be fine. I wanted to go 6 inch on 37's but they said they wouldn't. But I have heard of people doing bigger lifts and towing fifth wheels.The fifth wheel were looking at comes factory with fliped axles and has adjustable height. Put bigger tires on the fifth wheel and I should be pretty close to the height I need for 6inches and 37's right? Maybe alittle unlevel but I can live with that. Also what gears did you guy use? I was looking at 4.88's with the 35's or 5.13's with the 37's. Yeah I wanted alittle more gearing because the wieght of the trailer loaded will be 12,500-13,000. Did you guys use air bags? My truck is a 08 6.4l f350 fx4 cc longbed. Thanks and happy towing.

[run6.0run]

The airbags are a must unless you want to be one of those guys that have their truck squatting to the ground. Me personally I think that is embarassing to have a really nice truck and trailer and it looking like it is a dog dragging its butt on the ground. I haul campers for a living but I dont have a lift kit. I think you have the answer, however much you can raise the trailer will decide how much you can raise the truck. Back to the airbags, I guess if you dont go with them then the amount your truck squats will actually help your bed clearance but I think it would be a plus to stabilize the suspension. My dually held a load fine when it was new but my leaf springs have since relaxed about 4 inches(yeah 4). But with the bags I control how the ride height is. Also dont fall for anyone telling you the airbags give you a rougher ride, mine rides better than before with no trailer. Rides great loaded. Might want to get the trailer as high as possible then do the truck. The trailer axles will need to be watched because they normally only have a couple of inches between the tires from the factory. Maybe the axles can be spread apart to allow for bigger tires?

[Nitrous]

Just curious, but are you going to carry a 35' or 37' spare tire too? I wouldn't want to get a blowout and put a stock tire on with those 3 other big tires. This is a big deal when pulling 13k pounds. I myself would not lift a truck and tow that much. I pull 14k pounds 10000 miles per year and I run stock size tires and air bags. I know quite a few people who pull heavy fifth wheels and nobody has a lift, but they have the money if they wanted too. There's a good reason for that. I like the way trucks look with lifts and wheels, but when I see guys towing heavy stuff with lifts, I always think to myself how they must be really new to towing or just stupid.

[Flat8]

I personally would not lift a truck and pull a fifthwheel trailer. I've been towing up to 26,000 lbs behind my diesel trucks for 20 years and use an air ride suspension, adjustible left and right independently, and have had no problems. I once flipped a trailer loaded and if it were lifted I would have lost everything, instead the truck stayed straight on the road with the trailer disconnecting. I would think the wind would also be a factor towing higher in the air.

[Fordsonly]

Ok so I definetly need air bags it sounds like. I was leaning toward getting them anyway.More stability.I also agree it would be alittle embrassing dragging my butt on the ground.It sounds like most of you are against lifts if I'm towing a fifth wheel. I really want to have some lift to the truck so maybe I'll just go with the 4 inch lift on 35's with 4.88 gears. Yes I would leave a 35 inch spare in the trailer for emergencies.

[Kwikkordead]

Can you even get a tire that is rated for the weight in the size you want?
I thought the big tires were only lighter duty.

[Flat8]

The last post has a good point. Towing any kind of weight requires a minimum E range tire.

[nubeee1]

I think, my .02, With a lift, its hard to keep your The 5th wheel Trailer level, Even with flipped springs. The need to keep the weight evenly distributed on all 4 tires is a must.

[George D.]

I've seen some bfgs with E ratings at a tire shop I worked at years ago. Or some guys lifted there trucks enough and put big rig tires on not my cup of tea but would have a good load range.

Alos most lift kits aren't as heavy duty of springs as come from the factory on thees trucks and I've seen trucks with lift blocks in the rear wrap the axle up and mangle the load levling bags.