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I have no experience with 5 th. Wheels. But have some knowledge about bumper tow. Yes I would say it is squatting too much. The trailer looks fairly level. If your 5th. Wheel has the adjustment to move forward without causing any touch points I would look at trying that.
Your CAT reading shows that you only added 40 lbs to the front axle with your trailer attached. There is a formula that I don’t remember off the top of my head that tells you how much should be applied to your front axle related to your load, 40 lbs is not enough.
On my current setup with a bumper pull when loaded and 1200 lbs bars adjusted properly my front end lowers 1 and a 1/4 inches.
Air bags are always nice with an onboard compressor. But your trailer is level. You need to transfer weight forward in my opinion. If your hitch does not slide forward you may consider a different hitch.
Went and got weighed and here are my numbers. Now this was after work so not completely camp ready, I did not have the kids, propane are about half full and no clothes in the camper but none of that should effect it too much.
You are good. Do nothing IMO. I have about the same setup as you except for the LB.
If your 5th. Wheel has the adjustment to move forward without causing any touch points I would look at trying that.
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You need to transfer weight forward in my opinion. If your hitch does not slide forward you may consider a different hitch.
I had not thought of that but JDski has a good point. That pin needs to be just in front of the rear axle. Some hitches allow you to configure them with the pin a few inches back for clearance between truck and trailer. Get the pin further forward. If you need more space in there, longer pin boxes are available. And a longer pin box will transfer some weight to the trailer axles...but not too much.
I had not thought of that but JDski has a good point. That pin needs to be just in front of the rear axle. Some hitches allow you to configure them with the pin a few inches back for clearance between truck and trailer. Get the pin further forward. If you need more space in there, longer pin boxes are available. And a longer pin box will transfer some weight to the trailer axles...but not too much.
And that is where the LB ( I know all the reasons why not ) comes in for pulling 5ers.
My hitch is the b&w slider, its of course locked in the forward position when towing. It is set at the 1" in front of the rear axle. I can swap the arms around and move it to 3" in front of the rear axle but dont want to get so close to the cab on turns. So with it really only squatting 1 3/4" do I need bags? Have them ordered but not installed yet
My hitch is the b&w slider, its of course locked in the forward position when towing. It is set at the 1" in front of the rear axle. I can swap the arms around and move it to 3" in front of the rear axle but dont want to get so close to the cab on turns. So with it really only squatting 1 3/4" do I need bags? Have them ordered but not installed yet
You can also just turn the base of the hitch 180 degrees without remounting the arms if you have a B&W Companion.
Longer bed allows more space between the cab of the truck and the rear axle. That allows for the connection point to be further in front of the axle before having cab interference problems when turning.
Thanks everyone for the replies. First thing I discovered is my phone did something funky with that picture, if you measure the size of the rear wheel to the front theres a size difference, I dont know if it was the angle or my phone but after remeasuring the truck only squats 1 3/4" which I believe is acceptable. Im thinking Ill send these air bags back I ordered. All my other numbers seem fine?
I would hold onto the air bags until you've had a chance to tow a full camping weight. You may find that you don't like how it behaves and even 40 lbs in the air bags may help even out the ride.
I would hold onto the air bags until you've had a chance to tow a full camping weight. You may find that you don't like how it behaves and even 40 lbs in the air bags may help even out the ride.
I did tow at full weight last weekend in 20-30 mph winds and being my first time towing a 5th wheel it towed great. No bucking, smooth ride, no problems at all.
I went with lowering the rear on my 250 and installed airbags. I had a different issue in that the camper was nose high and I needed more clearance over the bed rails. Looks like you dont have either of those issues.
So I did the shorter axle blocks and firestone air bags.
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