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Old 06-01-2009, 08:51 PM   #1
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Suspension setting

We have ordered a 2010 33SKO and would like to know where most of you have your suspension set (middle hole or bottom hole). We will be using a 2009 F450 Ford as a tow vehicle and want as much clearance as possible between truck bed and bottom of trailer without going overboard. The bottom hole should give us approximately 9" and the middle hole will give about 7". We will be using a Pullrite 20.5K hitch. Any concerns about getting trailer level with either setting? Thanks for any input.
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Old 06-01-2009, 09:14 PM   #2
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First I’d like to welcome you to the Excel forum and congratulate you on you’re new coach . My RKO is in the top holes, but I have a custom built flat bed. When one does a flat bed the fifth wheel hitch is no longer on the pickup’s frame. It has been raised about six inches so then the height of my hitch I only 11.5 inches instead of the 18 inches for a pickup bed hitch. I don’t know where the HDT fellows have their king pin box set at.



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Old 06-02-2009, 03:59 AM   #3
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I have mine set in the top hole. The top of the hitch is 46" from the ground. The hitch sets between the frame rails. I'm one of the HDT guy's and most of us use the height from ground to top of hitch so that we can hook on to any rig out there without a lot of problems with over loading the tires on the fiver.
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Old 06-04-2009, 07:09 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by Carroll&Eva View Post
We have ordered a 2010 33SKO and would like to know where most of you have your suspension set (middle hole or bottom hole). We will be using a 2009 F450 Ford as a tow vehicle and want as much clearance as possible between truck bed and bottom of trailer without going overboard. The bottom hole should give us approximately 9" and the middle hole will give about 7". We will be using a Pullrite 20.5K hitch. Any concerns about getting trailer level with either setting? Thanks for any input.
Just been there and done that! Bottom hole for the suspension; middle set of holes for the kingpin. (We have a 24k signature series Reese hitch.) We get a slight front end up appearance on ours, but some of that is due to the forward part of our trailer having an "up" incline along the bottom. (Does that sentence even make sense?) Anyway, we've got great clearance on ours. We have a significant drop from the road into our driveway that was a major concern. (I believe we drop about 8 ft over the first 40 ft length of driveway, then level out.) At the closest, the trailer cleared the pickup bed by a little over 2 inches. If you want to, send me a PM with an email address I may use & I'll send you some pictures. David
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Old 06-04-2009, 11:33 PM   #5
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If you want to, send me a PM with an email address I may use & I'll send you some pictures. David

DavyDee, Don’t you think we all might like to see the photos, or is this a Ford thing? I posted photos of my Dodge and it is nine years old and I wasn’t ashamed. Also if one has a 4x4 that will make a difference of the position of the king pin box.
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Old 06-05-2009, 05:35 AM   #6
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DavyDee, Don’t you think we all might like to see the photos, or is this a Ford thing? I posted photos of my Dodge and it is nine years old and I wasn’t ashamed. Also if one has a 4x4 that will make a difference of the position of the king pin box.
Skill! I know I can attach photos to an email, but post on the forum? No so sure...I'll give it a shot in a little bit. David
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Old 06-05-2009, 07:03 AM   #7
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First picture is with the hitch pin in the bottom hole. Second picture is with the hitch pin in the middle hole. (Note the nose high attitude.) The third picture is with the trailer at home. However, if you zoom in on that 3rd picture you'll see it's really nose high (and note how high the bed of the truck is setting). We've just leveled the trailer, and I had forgotten to take a picture of the rig hitched. We stopped, I walked to the road to take the picture, then we finished unhitching. From this last photo the height of the incline looks to be closer to 6 feet than the 8 feet I said earlier. Let me assure you from the garage looking back to the road, it looks like 10 feet!!!!

I do have a slight nose high attitude when the rig is on level pavement. Using a 7 inch builder's level, it's about half a bubble when measured using the basement floor. If we went to the top holes, I'm convinced we'd be nose down, and I can't have that & get into our driveway.

And for those of you who actually know how to unhitch a 5th wheel, yes, we had to lower the front of the trailer back down to get the pin off the hitch. We're still learning!!! David
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Old 06-06-2009, 05:11 AM   #8
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Double D, Great post with photos!!
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Old 06-10-2009, 07:57 PM   #9
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Suspension setting

Thanks everyone for your replies, just wanted to check things out and make sure we were headed in the right direction.
Davydee the pictures helped alot. I think the bottom hole setting on the trailer will give us enough clearance that we should not have any issues, hopefully.
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Old 06-11-2009, 05:12 AM   #10
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DD, Nice looking rig. Thanks for the photos!,

Carroll and Eva,
WELCOME! Hope you will join with us and share your experiences. We help each other. Most of us have a good heart, most of us are funloving, at least one of us is rough around the edges but 99% of us love our Excels, even when they break. Join in as you choose.
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Old 06-14-2009, 01:02 AM   #11
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daveydee, having the tail dragging by half a bubble on a small level, probably relates to 1 to 2 inches over the length of the trailer. As a result you will have a weight shift to the rear axle. Depending on the total weight you carry & how you load the trailer, you could be over loading that rear axle and the tires on that axle. You really need to put it on individual scales so you can identify if you are ok or not.

I had our '06 35' FLR weighed at a Life on Wheels Conference and was shocked to find out that our rig was out of specs. Had to raise the coach in order to get it level with our 4WD F450 pickup. That was accomplished by adjusting the Mor-Ryde IS by one inch and installing the #35 rubber springs, replacing the #11 spring that came on the rig.
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Old 06-14-2009, 01:38 AM   #12
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daveydee, having the tail dragging by half a bubble on a small level, probably relates to 1 to 2 inches over the length of the trailer. As a result you will have a weight shift to the rear axle. Depending on the total weight you carry & how you load the trailer, you could be over loading that rear axle and the tires on that axle. You really need to put it on individual scales so you can identify if you are ok or not.

I had our '06 35' FLR weighed at a Life on Wheels Conference and was shocked to find out that our rig was out of specs. Had to raise the coach in order to get it level with our 4WD F450 pickup. That was accomplished by adjusting the Mor-Ryde IS by one inch and installing the #35 rubber springs, replacing the #11 spring that came on the rig.

Alwaysfixin Welcome to the Excel Forum! What a great first post of sharing some excellent knowledge. I had the same thoughts today when I seen a Fiver that was way out of level and the tail was really dragging. Hope to hear from you often and don’t be a stranger!
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Old 06-14-2009, 08:42 PM   #13
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You really need to put it on individual scales so you can identify if you are ok or not.

That was accomplished by adjusting the Mor-Ryde IS by one inch and installing the #35 rubber springs, replacing the #11 spring that came on the rig.
And hence my dilemna - where in heck do you find places with individual wheel weighting capability? And where did you take the trailer to have the Mor-ryde adjusted? What does one do when you're already at the bottom hole of the suspension? LOW no longer available, either. Ever dealer or RV service place I've talked to has the same answer, "We don't do that."

Thanks!!
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Old 06-15-2009, 05:52 AM   #14
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I'll let my above rant stand, but alwaysfixin's comment is valid even if we were level. We had what I thought was an issue in an earlier trailer that left me scratching my head wondering why if the individual wheels need to be weighted, why isn't this service more available? We may not be as bad as it seems, but that's really just based on looks. Currently, we about 17,500 lbs. Got the Michelin XTAs at 120 (gives just over 9,000 lb per axle capacity) all around on the 8,000k axles. But that doesn't mean we don't have a wheel or axle overloaded. I'll take all advice and ideas on where to get the individual wheels weighted!! David
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