Holy Moly the new trucks are TALL

[Mike_LeClair]

😞 So my beloved brother offered to lend me his 2012 F350 to haul our new to us 2008 Fleetwood Regal from Red Deer, Alberta to Osoyoos, BC. Today we tried to hook it up to his Reese hitch and we were unable to get enough lift out of the Regal's front jacks to get his truck under the pin. We darn near pushed the Regal off of the blocks that we had it resting on and had to place wood between the bed rails and the bottom of the neck of the Regal to prevent it from falling onto the bed rails and damaging them. What a cluster foo foo the process turned out to be. We finally gave up on trying to hook up to his truck and backed the 1999 RAM 2500 back under the pin.

As it turns out we have to cancel our travel plans and stick around in the frozen wasteland of another Alberta winter. Our eldest daughter, who has been going through a very stressful battle with a Bi-Polar disorder, is being committed to an institution for an as yet unknown period of time. As always, family matters take precedence over personal wants

Tomorrow I'll haul the RV back to Wetaskiwin for storage and momma and I will move into the kids house to look after the house and her two boys. The RAM hauls the RV very nicely BTW. It's just that with full load and all it comes in at around 13,500lbs, way over the max allowed weight for the 3/4 ton RAM. Hence the need to borrow brothers 1 ton. Although the RAM tows the Regal very well and has tons of power it was the stopping and slowing going down the mountains that was a concern to me. If I had an exhaust brake on the RAM I probably wouldn't be so worried about the stopping end of things. I guess I'll start shopping for a 1 ton that I can afford so that we can tow the Regal safely next season. We are retired and fixed income so we are not in a position to take on any debt, any vehicle that I buy will have to be of an older vintage. Careful shopping will hopefully provide a decent truck.

Cheers!

Mike and Carol

[Herzog]

Just a little clarification
Several folks mentioned that trucks with 20" wheels are taller that trucks with 17' or 18" wheels, when they typically are the same height. The bigger wheels usually come with tires that have shorter side walls....My 2016 ram sits too high and has 18" wheels....my son has the same truck with 20" wheels...both are exactly the same height from the street to the top of the tailgate parked next to each other on level ground.

[chops1sc]

fj12ryder wrote:
Lifting the trailer may be easier, but so many of the new trailers are pushing 14' it may not be practical.

Even my 1995 is pushing 13' LOL! I had to trim one of my driveways to handle it coming and going (they have an overhead canopy of shrubbery).

[fj12ryder]

Lifting the trailer may be easier, but so many of the new trailers are pushing 14' it may not be practical.

[IdaD]

crcr wrote:

chops1sc wrote:
... I will definitely have my new truck lowered to "normal" ride height when the time comes to upgrade.

Is there a way to lower these newer trucks a few inches without compromising the integrity of the suspension, nor affecting safety?

If so, how is it done, and does anyone have any idea of the cost?

Lifting the trailer is cheaper and easier, and the extra ground clearance is handy when you're off the beaten path.

[chops1sc]

I used Belltech lowering shackles to lower mine about 1.5". All they do is change the location of the rear leaf spring's mounting point. None of the actual suspension is affected. There is a point where the bump stop can come into play. If you regularly haul heavy loads in the bed I would not recommend lowering it. You can also get smaller lift blocks for the axles. Dodges and Rams are a different animal since they don't have leaf springs.

Belltech.com

[crcr]

chops1sc wrote:
... I will definitely have my new truck lowered to "normal" ride height when the time comes to upgrade.

Is there a way to lower these newer trucks a few inches without compromising the integrity of the suspension, nor affecting safety?

If so, how is it done, and does anyone have any idea of the cost?

[mabynack]

fj12ryder wrote:
I've noticed quite a few complaints about trucks being too tall for a particular 5th wheel. I've pulled up beside some of these new trucks and my gosh, they tower over my poor old 2001 Dodge 1 ton dually. It's got to be pure marketing, I can't imagine the need for that kind of height.

I agree.

I've got a 2006 F-250 and the height difference is pretty obvious when coworkers park their new trucks next to mine. The bed on the newer trucks is at least 6 inches higher than mine.

[chops1sc]

My dad gave us his old 1995 Coachmen 26' 5er and he warned me several times about blowouts. He had 3 in the span of just 4 years. His TV is a GMC 2500 Sierra. Mine is a 1500 Silverado with shackles to level the truck out. I noticed the camper sits level when attached to my truck but when he had it on his truck the front was jacked up. My theory is he was putting extra stress on the back tires of the camper (the back tires were the blowouts) because the truck sits so high and the camper is on the short side for a 5er. I have been on 4 trips so far and I have had zero tire issues. I will definitely have my new truck lowered to "normal" ride height when the time comes to upgrade.

[fj12ryder]

Seems like on our last outing we noticed quite a few fifth wheels running nose high.

[53_willys]

I just picked up a new 2016 F-350 crew cab 4x4 and it sits 3" higher than my old 2001 F-250 4x4 . I didn't have any problems hitching up . The new F-350 come with 20" wheels , I've got a 1" clearance pulling into my garage a little to close for me but the only time it goes into the garage is for an oil change.

[Mike_LeClair]

vankids wrote:
To OP, if you are looking at a used Ram 3500 make sure you do your diligence on the 2011. Factory supplied trailer brake controller is not useful for anything over 4000 lbs. I bought the truck new and bought my fiver 6 months later. First two years of pulling(just short trips with limited hill) I was blaming fiver. Had trailer brakes adjusted, changed controller settings and still not stopping power unless you applied manually. Brought it to dealer to check out controller, they said all was fine.
This past summer had to make panic stop at 50 mph and fortunate that I was quick with manual otherwise I would have been on top of cars in front.
Did a google search. 2011 Rams with factory supplied controller are only good for light towing. Subsequent years have three settings(light, medium and heavy) which you can select thru your EVIC. Brought truck to dealer, they did not believe me but one day later they acknowledged that only has one setting and they can't flash an update. Solution is an aftermarket. Great, I bought a truck capable of towing 15,000 lbs but don't try and stop it. Other than that great truck, great exhaust brake and average fuel economy

Thank you for this very useful piece of information! It's doubtful that I can quite afford to move up to a 2011 model, will probably run out of funds around that 2005 or 2006 mark. You never know though, thanks for posting!

Cheers!

MIke

[Mike_LeClair]

blofgren wrote:
You may want to weigh your current truck with your new FW just to be sure that you aren't overloading it. I've been quite surprised in the past when I've done this. :E

You are quite correct - in fact I will be over my GCVW and GWAR with the new RV my old truck. I have resigned myself to the fact that I have to find a 1 ton to haul the new RV.

Cheers!

Mike

[vankids]

To OP, if you are looking at a used Ram 3500 make sure you do your diligence on the 2011. Factory supplied trailer brake controller is not useful for anything over 4000 lbs. I bought the truck new and bought my fiver 6 months later. First two years of pulling(just short trips with limited hill) I was blaming fiver. Had trailer brakes adjusted, changed controller settings and still not stopping power unless you applied manually. Brought it to dealer to check out controller, they said all was fine.
This past summer had to make panic stop at 50 mph and fortunate that I was quick with manual otherwise I would have been on top of cars in front.
Did a google search. 2011 Rams with factory supplied controller are only good for light towing. Subsequent years have three settings(light, medium and heavy) which you can select thru your EVIC. Brought truck to dealer, they did not believe me but one day later they acknowledged that only has one setting and they can't flash an update. Solution is an aftermarket. Great, I bought a truck capable of towing 15,000 lbs but don't try and stop it. Other than that great truck, great exhaust brake and average fuel economy

[blofgren]

You may want to weigh your current truck with your new FW just to be sure that you aren't overloading it. I've been quite surprised in the past when I've done this. :E