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raising 5th wheel


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i need a tall 5th. my 5th wheel slider is the style with a L bracket mounted to the fame and then the 5th wheel slider bolts to that flat with the top flange of the frame. i was thinking of buying some 1/4 wall rectangular tubing drilling out the bolt holes to match the slider and bolting it in under the slider. any reason not to do this? i would probably box the ends as well to keep the dirt out of the tubing. i could also drill out the holes bigger and weld in 5/8's ID round tubing in the bolt holes to make it stronger yet but i don't think that would be necessary.

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im not opposed to half inch wall as long as its available, i have bought 1/4 wall in a similar size tubing for another project so i know that is available. 1/2 would take more time on the drill press and more drill bits than 1/4. i haven't measured it but it seems like the factory L bracket is 1/4 or 3/8 so i think 1/2 would probably be overkill.

as far as replacing the legs it looks like id have to replace the whole slider to get taller legs.

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Considering my frame is only 1/4", it isn't beyond the scope of reality that the 1/4" wall tubing would suffice. You just have to make sure the strength of the alloy is going to be up to the job. In theory, it could be 1/2 as strong as the frame steel and still be more than strong enough because it is doubled up (square tube as opposed to C channel) and it ONLY supports the weight carried by the 5th wheel, not all of the stresses the frame rail sees. 1/2" wall might be overkill. So just how much are you trying to raise the 5th wheel?

When approaching a 4-way stop, the vehicle with the biggest tires has the right of way!
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i need to put a tape measure to it to figure out exactly how much to come up. somewhere between 2-5 inches. my problem is with the low 5th wheel and 11'r 24's on the truck then my belly dump has a pivot on the 5th wheel to help keep even ground pressure on your drives in uneven terrain the trailer fenders can touch the tires. then on my side dump if you have the bucket tipped all the way over you can hit the drives as well plus i want to put full fenders on the truck so as it will be impossible to do that as you will ether hit the fenders with the trailers or hit the fenders with the tires and tear them up. so i need both adequate clearance for tire travel plus adequate clearance from the top ass well.

i found a old post on ttr where someone had these risers 1/2" plate top and bottom 4 inch tube but didn't say what the wall thickness was on the tube. i think i might like this idea a bit better than mine as you would still use short bolts and would probably be less likely to sheer the bolts.

post-19171-0-85134500-1420142896_thumb.j

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EZ, the trunion fixture that the 5 wheel pins to is also available in different heights we use to change out the one on our lowboy truck when moving certain loads to stay under height it seams like it was a 3" difference. We just cut the welds (on the Plate stop ) at the end of the slide plate and pulled the two pivot pins to the 5 wheel and removed the plate, then unlock slide and remove slide assy. out the back unpin the air cyl. and change out fixtures. We made heaver stops to replace the ones that we cut the welds on and then drilled and bolted them on with 3 ea. 5/8 bolts per side. So check your pedestal / trunion height to see if you have a low mount if so this may be a easy fix.

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I've seen rectangle. 025 wall tubing used to do this before. I'm guessing your truck didn't come with 11r24.5's so you've filled in some gap there. Make sure you can't use a taller stand first and if not the tube will work, don't get too carried away just enough to work.

"Any Society that would give up a little LIBERTY to gain a little SECURITY will Deserve Neither and LOSE BOTH" -Benjamin Franklin

"If your gonna be STUPID, you gotta be TOUGH"

"You cant always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you get what you need"

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That's only 2" overall so 1" clearance

"Any Society that would give up a little LIBERTY to gain a little SECURITY will Deserve Neither and LOSE BOTH" -Benjamin Franklin

"If your gonna be STUPID, you gotta be TOUGH"

"You cant always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you get what you need"

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Do you have the stand set up so you can block the 5th wheel when pulling your dump, having both pivots ain't great.

"Any Society that would give up a little LIBERTY to gain a little SECURITY will Deserve Neither and LOSE BOTH" -Benjamin Franklin

"If your gonna be STUPID, you gotta be TOUGH"

"You cant always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you get what you need"

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no i dont have anything to block my 5th. on the belly dump the 5th pivot front to back and the kingpin side on the trailer pivots side to side. never had a issue without having blocks. on the side dump there is no pivot on the trailer side the trailer frame stays flat other than some weight transfer to the side can flex things a bit but the tub tips to the side and the clearance between what would normally be the top corner of the trailer and the drive tires can be a bit of a issue when you have to turn while dumping or dump at a angle.

im not sure exactly what i got for a 5th wheel setup so if someone can identify it for me i do plan to look into taller legs first.

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post-19171-0-34440900-1420328473_thumb.j

post-19171-0-74770000-1420328477_thumb.j

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I agree with Rob, looks like a Holland. There should be a tag on the left side near the rear with the name, model, etc. In the last picture on the far right side looks like the tag. Might be a FW35.

Holland web site...http://ww1.safholland.us/sites/usa/en-US/products/fifthwheels/Pages/default.aspx

Ken

PRR Country and Charter member of the "Mack Pack"

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Yeah I've seen taller legs on that style 5th wheel, I think you've got a 3" and they make two taller if I remember right. I wasn't thinking about bottom dump I was thinking and dump pivot so no worries there.

"Any Society that would give up a little LIBERTY to gain a little SECURITY will Deserve Neither and LOSE BOTH" -Benjamin Franklin

"If your gonna be STUPID, you gotta be TOUGH"

"You cant always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you get what you need"

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Looks like that will work just fine. On my R I replaced the 5th wheel and redid all the mount brackets and bolts I used 3/8th angle 3x4 it was not to bad of a job getting the frame blots drilled but I had my neighbor use his milling machine to cut the slots he has way more patience when it comes to layout than I do

Robert

"I reject your reality and substitute my own."

 

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