I need to lower the back of my 2500hd 4x4 so my 5er will sit level. I bought a used 26ft 5er, with a goose neck adapter welded on it, and with my old truck a 1500 chevy it sat level when hooked up. Now my 5er sits up 3 inches higher unleveled, I don't want to convert it back. A local rv tech told me to remove the bottom leaf springs on the rear of my truck, and it would drop it 2 - 3 inches, and have a smoother ride.



Any advice would help !!

duramaxgoose,

How about flipping the springs on the 5'er? That'll give you a few inches depending upon the springs. My 5'er was too low as well, but has Hensen type suspension (non spring), and I ended up having to add 4" spacer between frame and axles to level it. Works well although now high for the step and jacks.

Richard

You could remove the overload springs, but then it really wouldn't be a heavy duty suspension, IMO. You could add air bags after you take out the overloads to gain back a little load leveling, but seems like a lot of trouble. . . I'd rather modify the 5er than the truck. . . JMO

Dennis

Richard, you are the second person that said to flip the leaf springs on my 5'er, so I found a place here in BR La ( Able Spring & Alignment ) that said they do this kind of work on trailers all the time. The guy told me it would add around 4 - 5 inches depending om the size of my axle, and no extra parts needed !! This will make my 5'er level, but I wounder if my fender wall will sit up too high from the tires....

Another trick is depending on what size rims/tires are on there now is to upsize to a 16" rim with a taller profile tire if it will fit in the fender well area with out hitting anything. Have seen this done to level a trailer if only 1-2 inches or so are needed.

I wouldn't remove any springs. I'd look at drop shackles to get it down, or flip the axles on the trailer.

If you remove a spring from the truck, you may get pretty squishy suspension. I use air bags in my truck and if I pull across town sometimes I don't air them up. the trailer bounces the truck suspension around a lot and it bottoms on bumps.

Is there any way you can adjust the gooseneck coupler? the shorter the gooseneck extension is, the less extra stress you add to your 5er hitch which it is not designed to handle anyway.

Thanks for all the advice !!, I went a head and converted the goose neck back to a fifth wheel. After cutting the goose hitch off the pin was still there, and now my 5'er sits level !!

duramaxgoose,
I live in Brusly, right across the river and I'm looking at 5th wheels at this time. I'd like to talk with you and find out what to look for. Today I posted in off topic the 2 I'm loking at now. I don't have any experience with camping at all, but we think it might be fun as well as using it for the hunting season.