Level/balance truck 5er combination

[Searching_Ut]

I had to replace the pin box on my Bighorn 3270RS bighorn due to damage, and went with a reese fifth airborne, which unfortunately results in the nose of my trailer now being high. With my previous configuration, the nose of the trailer measured at the pin location was approximately 1 inch higher when connected to the truck than when the trailer was leveled disconnected. My Ram has the factory rear air suspension so it doesn't sag any when hooked up, and I use the alt height setting which lowers the back approximately 1 inch.

With the new pin box, I'm now approximately 3 inches high, with my B&W hitch adjusted as far down as possible and the pin box raised as high as it will go. The only issue I noticed while towing is that the TPMS would show my rear trailer tires running hotter/more pressure when on the road than the fronts, with the difference being about the same as the difference between sunny and shaded side of rig. IE. 3 or 4 PSI

While in Washington state, I got to play on a set of closed scales by the campground and and WOW! hadn't ever measured the trailer axles individually before.

Front Trailer Axle 4920
Rear Trailer Axle 6400
Both Axles on scale 11240
Pin Weight 3680

Truck 2015 Ram 3500

My pin weight has gone up over 700 lbs from last time I weighed loaded (I did add 2 GC batts). I suspect the axle weight balance is new as well due to the change in what I'm seeing on the TPMS, but I never weighed individually so I can't quantify. Obviously though, it's far from ideal?

Suggestions? I have about 8 inches of clearance on the bed rails, so I have room to lower the pin, but no way I can see to do so without replacing either the hitch, or pin box. The trailer is already over 13'3" feet tall, so I don't have any good options I can see with raising the trailer either.

 

[NYSUPstater]

Not sure if this will help you or not, but have read many threads on things like this and a common suggestion/solution is to have the RV's spring shackles lengthened to raise rear of coach up. Haven't a clue if it does anything to overall height. We too have a 5th AB on our BC 3560SS and a B&W 18k Patriot. Hitch is as low as it will go as well and I think we could go up 1 more hole on 5er as our coach is a lil nose high. And like you, we're at 13'3". Overall, it's pretty much level and have not seen any appreciable wear on tires.

 

[danemayer]

Not sure if this will help you or not, but have read many threads on things like this and a common suggestion/solution is to have the RV's spring shackles lengthened to raise rear of coach up. Haven't a clue if it does anything to overall height.

Changing the length of the shackle links may have unwanted side effects, like increasing wear on the parts. Although my original shackle links were the standard length, the placement of the hangers on the frame is thought to have caused unusual wear on the center hanger.

 

[Searching_Ut]

Not sure if this will help you or not, but have read many threads on things like this and a common suggestion/solution is to have the RV's spring shackles lengthened to raise rear of coach up. Haven't a clue if it does anything to overall height. We too have a 5th AB on our BC 3560SS and a B&W 18k Patriot. Hitch is as low as it will go as well and I think we could go up 1 more hole on 5er as our coach is a lil nose high. And like you, we're at 13'3". Overall, it's pretty much level and have not seen any appreciable wear on tires.

I've debated doing that being as how I'll need to change out the bushing shortly anyway. I have about 16k miles on my 2016 Bighorn 3270 to date, and the suspension is showing a fair bit of wear. My concern though is that the existing hangers look to be marginally designed to begin with, and I'm afraid of putting any additional stress on them. There isn't anything on the frame of my 5er that is overbuilt by any stretch of the imagination. Our 10 year average for towing our RV's has been about 7k miles per year. We retired back the end of May, and our plans will result in our exceeding that more than likely. Hard to say as now we don't have to take so many short out and back trips.