Do any of you guys tow 5th wheels and goosneck trailers with say a 6" rcd kit on your truck? Do you have to get a custom hitch on the trailer to level things out? And how does it tow relative to a stock truck?

My truck is stock height with 265's. I wouldn't want it any higher. Sure it could be done but you would start lifting your trailers up too. This is the main reason I will stay at stock height.

With 6" lift you will likely have to raise the trailer at the axles too, not just at the hitch.

That's what I was thinking. Lifting a trailer wouldn't be such a good idea would it? With all that weight up even higher would it get tippy?

Yes. Especially when you consider that lots of trailers (expecially campers) already have to be lifted to fit under a stock Duramax. Another 6" on top of that would be scarry IMO.

overslung axles (flipping the axles) is common, and will net about 5 inches. this is done routinely for ford and dodge vehicles do to the higher ride height. some manufacturers are beginning to build some models this way because of taller vehicles. while I do not advocate this, I also do not say it cannot be done. you will notice the ride of the trailer (fifth wheel anyway) to be a bit mushy and white nuckled the higher you go in strong winds. you can also used extension equalizers to gain another 1.5 inches. Buddy works for an rv dealer and says this is not uncommon or unsafe, just have to be careful

Thanks, good info to know for down the road if I can ever afford all these toys!

You can lift your trucs, you can lift your trailers, but you can't lift the low overpasses. If your lift brings any part of the vehicle over 13'6" (that includes the A/C unit, Dish and antenas), you will be oversized and may require permits, escort(s) and/or CDL.

overslung axles (flipping the axles) is common, and will net about 5 inches. this is done routinely for ford and dodge vehicles do to the higher ride height. some manufacturers are beginning to build some models this way because of taller vehicles. while I do not advocate this, I also do not say it cannot be done. you will notice the ride of the trailer (fifth wheel anyway) to be a bit mushy and white nuckled the higher you go in strong winds. you can also used extension equalizers to gain another 1.5 inches. Buddy works for an rv dealer and says this is not uncommon or unsafe, just have to be carefulI had to do this on my 5er to get it to the stock height of my truck. I think you will need more then that for a 6" lift.

Remember, if you lift your truck, the ratings are for stock height. While you may be legal since rating is for the stock vehicle, it may not handle the weight when lifted. I'm bumping against limits and wouldn't even consider lifting my truck.

That's a good point too. I don't know how much I ever will tow but it's just another thing to evaluate before figuring out what i want to do with my truck. I guess the lift could always be taken off if need be in the future...

It's a good thing I can't afford a lift right now ;)

Max, how did you lift your trailer exactly? I'm gonna need to do mine I think. Looks like my new truck is about 4 inches higher than the old one. Thanks.

I moved the the axles from above the springs to below. You need to buy new axle seats, U bolts, nuts and you have to weld the axle seats to the top of the axle. A lot of people call this flipping the axle which is technically correct. You can't just 'flip' the axle.

Thanks for the reply. My 5'er came from the factory with a spring-over-axle config. I need to figure out how to get some more height......

you can replace the suspension equalizer and gain about 1.5 -2 " inches. other drastic measures are replacing the spring hangars, but that is labor intensive as you have to cut off the old, grind away, then weld on the new.

the equalizers run less than $15 each.

And where can I find these equalizers? Is there somewhere on the web that I could see these things? Thanks

Sherm

I added 2'' in height by getting longer U bolts and adding some 2x2 - .25 wall tubing between the axle seat and the springs. I'm not worried about it being the weak piont as it's heavier that everything else it's bolted to.

Hey Max, when you raised your fiver, what did you do about shocks on the trailer. I just had my axles flipped on my 30 foot Fleetwood Wilderness and now the trailer and truck are dead even, I did notice about a week after I got it home that the shocks (trailer) were gone. When I called the place that did the job, (It was highly recommended by my RV Dealer who didn't have the equiptment to lift my trailer). They said that after lifting the stock shocks are too short and they forgot to mention I would have to find longer shocks. I'm looking for idea's, what did you do?

go to the dealer that lifted your trailer and tell them that they're retarded then make them buy you new shocks. If they had told you, you could have spaced them out like the guys are doing on the front of our trucks with the Tbar cranks and not have blown up your shocks.

as requested, info on the equalizers
http://www.etrailer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=E&Category_Code=Eq

this mod, installed yourself, is very cheap and not difficult. if not enough, next step could be blocks as mentioned before

Hey Max, when you raised your fiver, what did you do about shocks on the trailer. I just had my axles flipped on my 30 foot Fleetwood Wilderness and now the trailer and truck are dead even, I did notice about a week after I got it home that the shocks (trailer) were gone. When I called the place that did the job, (It was highly recommended by my RV Dealer who didn't have the equiptment to lift my trailer). They said that after lifting the stock shocks are too short and they forgot to mention I would have to find longer shocks. I'm looking for idea's, what did you do?
I better correct my original post when I said GONE I meant't that they were physically removed and not put back on because of the lenghth after the axles were placed below the springs.

oh gotcha, I thought you meant they became trashed. nevermind then ;)

4" rancho 35" pro comp MT/s, pull gooseneck all over Fl, Ga and the Carolinas with no problems. Not a 5er but dad just bought new TT and had to raise his equalizer ball up to the top to make a level set up. Seems to me that there more and more taller trailers out there, must be so they don't scrape the larger holding tanks used today.BTW he has 04 ecsb 6.0/4L80E 4x4 bone stock