Towing 5th wheel, dropping off steep embankment [Archive] - Diesel Place : Chevrolet and GMC Diesel Truck Forums

: Towing 5th wheel, dropping off steep embankment


slaroque
06-18-2008, 08:26 PM
I have a question, I tow a 5th wheel toy hauler and I have always camped in a spot out in the woods with a travel trailer. I have to drop off the road onto a crude road, never was an issue with a travel trailer. I am worried though that when I turn off the road with the 5th wheel that the truck bedside will go up and hit the bottom of the camper. Anybody have experience in this, or think this is a problem? The turn off is not severe, but enough to worry me. The road I am dropping onto slopes down and away from the main road.

tinypeckerwood
06-19-2008, 03:04 AM
go slow and watch it is all I can suggest. I have not had any trouble with mine, but you may be going somewhere hairier than I go.

slaroque
06-19-2008, 12:13 PM
Thanks for the advice. If it does end up touching, I am planning on backing up, dropping the trailer, and then raising my hitch by two holes, which will give me another 2 inches, hopefully that will be enough. That would suck to do. My hitch is a Reese 16K manual slider and it has 4 different adjustments for hitch height, and right now I have it in the second from the top, so like I said, I could raise it two bolt holes to get more clearance.

boatman24
06-19-2008, 12:40 PM
I doubt it will hit I have gone over some pretty big embankments with mine. I try and swing out as wide as possible so that its as square with the road so its not leaning left to right much.

slaroque
06-19-2008, 01:27 PM
I will definetely do that, thanks. Another thing, I have about 7.75 inches between the bedrail and the bottom of the 5th wheel when level, does anybody know if this is good, or what the clearance you have is?

Another thing about the trailer leaning over, that does not worry me to much, I know they look very top heavy, but they are really really bottom heavy, especially when your carrying water. Two years ago, my dad was trying to get his 5ver back up onto a road from a camping spot, the truck got back up on the road, the camper only half back up on the road, two of the wheels were down off the road quite a ways down in the brush, it looked scary as hell, camper looked like it was going over, but it eventually came back up on the road. I can't imagine it being able to get any more leaned over than what it was that time, and it was fine.

Quick 6 Racing
06-19-2008, 03:17 PM
I was advised that min clearance was 3-4", so yours at almost 8" is very good.

Mine is at the 3-4" range (trying to keep truck & trailer level while driving) And in 5 years all has been fine while traveling.