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Old 09-28-2008, 07:38 PM   #21
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Kitty

These are hard and difficult times. We will pray for your mom and you. You both need it.

Sunny will wait patiently for you under his roof when you are ready to take him for a ride. His header is all fixed and his feet are out of the mud now.

Keep the faith.

John
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Old 09-29-2008, 08:23 AM   #22
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Kitty, I believe we also have the torsion axle on our 2499, so we wait with great anticipation for pictures. Our rig sometimes drags a little, too and I'd like to see what it takes to eliminate that.

And I can understand your concerns about your mom. My mother was cared for at home by my father with help from my wife & I for nearly 5 years. This sort of thing takes a toll on the caretakers, too.

We moved my mom into a VERY caring and capable facility just over a year ago and she is doing VERY well there, almost thriving. My father's health improved imediately once he was no longer under the stress of caring for mom at home.

I'm sure there are resources in your area that can you can talk to. And if you like, please feel free to talk with me. While I'm no councelor, I've "been there" and I've been told I listen well.
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Old 09-29-2008, 05:32 PM   #23
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WAHOO, son called to let me know Ryan called him and Sunny is finished. I hope to be able to retrieve him tomorrow, but it might have to be wednesday

I'll make sure the camera batteries are charged.

JohnB, if your reading this, now that Sunny went up 3 inches, hitch will need to be adjusted, so can the head just be moved up 3 inches, or will the tilt/angle stuff also have to be reset ?

Dealer set it initally, and I don't have any instructions if that needs to be adjusted.

Kitty
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Old 09-29-2008, 05:40 PM   #24
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Kitty,

You have a Reese, right?

If you do, then take a pic of the side of the head, especially the tooth washers. Undo everything and when you determine the right height, make sure to put the washers back in the same slots they came out of, and tighten everything up. By doing this, you shouldn't change the spot where the cams sit in the bars.

However, I think I remember you saying that the cams had hit some. This would be a good time to lower them down some to get better control, which would require adjusting the washers to angle the bars more. John can inform you of how to adjust/set it.

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Old 09-29-2008, 08:05 PM   #25
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Kitty

Do you happen to have any side pic’s of your hitch? I can tell from the pic just about if your hitch shank will do what you need it to.

Resetting your hitch is not a problem. We can walk you thru this. In fact this might just be what prompts me to compile all my pics of hitch stuff into a more easy to follow setup file. I have 2 files now that I can email you but they are more tailored to the last bud I helped setup up his Chevy on his Holiday Rambler.

Knowing your skill set and tenacity, I know you can reset/readjust your hitch. Plus since we now know your tongue weight and I have your same truck I can even about predict how much weight will move back to the front end.

OK now to what to look for. Again a pic here is worth a million words. So dig thru your pile of stuff and see if you can get one that looks like these 2 I’m going to post.

First off is, what is a hitch shank. Here are 2 of such ones. They make many. The shank is the part that goes into the TV receiver and you put the 5/8 pin in to hold it from falling out. And it has a series of holes in it to adjust the hitch head up and down the shank to level out the TT.


Here is the T2499 on the standard height. 18 ½” ground to inside of ball coupling. Or at least in 2004 it was. Yours 2006 might be 18 but it is in that range. On my K2500 Suburban I had to use a 6” drop shank to get the hitch head down far enough to level out the TT after the WD on the truck was set right.


Now when I bought the T310SR, I used the same hitch, same truck but I had to reset the hitch and the hitch shank adjustment as the TT was higher. Just like in you case. See here the hitch head is moved up the shank. Note in this case the T310 is 23 3/4” in place of the 18 1/2" I had before, again same TV.
See I’m up at the top of the shank now.


Then came along the F350, but the same TT and at that time the same WD hitch. The F350 is so far up in the air I had to drop it down the shank to level out the TT.


Here is going to be the hard part. See these 2 large bolts, that are really on there if the dealer torqued them to the 350 Ft lbs they are suppose to be at.


I use 3/4” drive sockets and a cheater pipe to break them loose. You may not have those kind of big tools. BUT take the hitch head to work and have the bus mechanic loosen them up for you. I know in his bag of tricks he has the tools large enough to break them loose. Stick the hitch head in the reciever to hold it while he is loosening them up.l

Here are the teeth Jon (Sunline Fan) was talking about. To get you close, mark, take a pic, remember exactly which tooth is where in relation to the end of the teeth. Take a pic the memory is sometimes foggy…


To get you close the hitch head needs to come up 3” if it was a true 3” of lift that occurred and assuming the TT was ever level on the old settings. Put the bolts back in with the washer teeth in the same place and this will get you in the ball park. If you have to pick a hole as 3" is not exaclty in the lineup of hole, pic a hole lower (less then 3") This will be TT nose down, verse nose high.

Now what we do not know is what hitch shank you actually have and if the hitch head has the serrated teeth like my pic. Reese has many of them over the years. Again a pic will tell me exactly what you have. If yours does not have enough holes in the rigth spot, worst is a new shank.

Once you get time, we do need to optimize your hitch setup. You said 1 thing that sticks out. The dealer setup the hitch when it was new and have not adjusted since. Well unless your TT was fully loaded including the Generator that you had installed after, your hitch setup is not optimized as the TT tongue weights have changed. If you have time to deal with the hitch setup now, tell the mechanic to leave the bolts just snuged up tight, not dead tight as you will be adjusting the teeth and maybe even moving a hole on the hitch shank once the WD on the F350 is setup right. This setup process will take you some time the 1st time. But after the 1st time it comes a lot quicker.

Hope this helps

John
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Old 09-30-2008, 02:40 PM   #26
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Hi JohnB,
Thanks for the info. My hitch was originally set at Stoltzfus RV the day I picked up Sunny, then after I had Sunny for a few months, I had the Onan installed, and that dealer then reset the hitch. So, heck I don't know how things will mesh up

Here is how the hitch is set before the lift:






I would like to get a draw bar that did not "protrude" out from the truck so dang far, do they make such a creature?

Going to pick up Sunny in a little bit, then to school parking lot to get pics with the lift and ball raised. So, we'll see how things look and what, if any further adjustments need to be made.
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Old 09-30-2008, 06:08 PM   #27
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Sunny is home and tucked in his RV Port, heres' the new look:










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Old 09-30-2008, 06:48 PM   #28
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Can't stay out of those bus spots, huh Kitty!

Sunny looks real good. I think you'll like the extra height. The hitch looks good too, lots of room for those cams!

Jon
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Old 09-30-2008, 07:45 PM   #29
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Kitty

Pic’s tell a lot.

You have a good hitch shank with lots of fine adjustment up and down the shank. The Reese 54990 is a 6” drop shank hitch bar that is 16” center of ball to center of 5/8” pin. Yes that is one long bugger.

One of mine is “almost” the same as yours. I have a Reese 54917 which is also a 6” drop shank with all those fine adjusting holes in it but it is 14” center of ball to center of 5/8” pin. So yes they do make one that is 2” shorter.



Basically the 5/8 pin hole is 2” closer to the hitch head on the 54917 and 2” shorter in total length.


I know on my F350 and the T2499 or the T310SR that with the 14” shank extension I can turn to the point the bumper will almost come close to the LP tanks and not hit the tail lights on the TT front. And in my case I have to do this to do a 180 turn in my drive way.

I use to use a 13” shank extension and it does not allow me to turn with the ease of knowing something was not going to crunch. So heads up on using a 13” or shorter if you turn sharp.

In your case you have 2 options.

1. Go buy a new Reese 54917. Price $112 plus freight http://www.reese-hitches-online.com/wd_shanks.htm I have never bought from them but that is the cheapest I have ever seen that shank. Frieght may be something to sort out. Or $125 and $0.99 freight. http://www.etrailer.com/p-54917.htm I have bought from Etrailer many times and had good luck.

2. Take your existing 54990 16” long extension shank to a machine shop and have them drill you a new pin hole to be on 14”. Basically 2” shorter. The hole needs to be dead center on the bar and square to the side of the bar. No problem for any machine shop if you explain this to them. That should turn that shank into a 54917. Check your spare tire if 2" will hit it as they can cut off 2” off the shank length as well. Once this mod is made you "cannot" go back to the original hole for use.

And before doing this, make sure there is 2” extra room between the angled gusset welded to the shank and the pin box on the truck receiver. There should be, but check. See here in this pic. You want to make sure there is room if you move the shank in 2” further that it will clear the pin box. It only has to clear the gusset by a little bit. 1/8" or 1/4" is fine. Reese may have welded a different gusset on then mine.


Since you are modifying a hitch component, call Reese Tech support, a free call, And tell them what you are trying to do about drilling a new hole and maybe have to cut off (saw only, no torch cut) the end to not hit the tire. I suspect they will approve this correction. I asked a similar thing in the past. There are areas you cannot touch and some that will be in non load bearing that they will allow.

Your welder friend who raised Sunny may be able to drill your hole for you as well. With the right tools and know how this can be done in a good drill press and still work properly in your TV pin box as a WD shank. If they do not drill the hole in the center and square, you will have issues, but again just a heads up.

A machine shop may charge 1 hour to drill the hole. Or ~ $50 to $60. About ½ price of a new shank.

Once you change that hole, it will affect the WD settings. The leverage is different.

Once I see a side pic of your hitch setup I can comment more. I see you have very little hitch head tilt towards the TT. Depending on what chain links you are running under tension and that longer shank it may be part of that reason. And or the WD was never optimized in setup.

If the dealer reset the hitch when the Genny was added, good, that helps. However it still may need some optimization in setup and the DC adjusted. Your F350 mated to a T2499 is a dynamite combo. The truck overcomes so many things that can be slightly messed up in hitch setup that you may not know they are even there unless you go looking. However checking and adjusting a few things makes it the best it can be.

When you get around to wanting to check the WD setup, let us know and we can walk you thru this. You will need a level flat hard surface spot for both TT and TV to be on, a tape measure and a level. Oh and some time. If you want to adjust, then it takes some wrenches too and more time.

Good luck

John
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Old 09-30-2008, 08:11 PM   #30
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Kitty

You where posting as I was typing tonight….

The rig looks good and you have the shank moved. Good for you.

From this pic I see 2 things.



Yes you have one long… shank extension. I can see that 2” of extra length. It does look like the gusset will not hit the pin box if you move it in. But just double check if you are going down the drilling a new hole route first. Reese will not approve cutting of the gusset that I know.

A small thing but I noticed it. Flip your DC chain plate keeper around so the chain is on the inside verses on the outside next time you hook up. The chain pulls more straight up and does not twist the DC then verses more on an angle when on the outside.

The rig “looks” from a distance to not be that far off of WD setup if it is even off any. To know for sure, measurements of fender heights and TT level heights will be needed before and after hitch up. A check on if the DC is spot on you can check as well. If and when you want to check, let me know, I’ll type some more.

The axle risers. Yup 3” x 3 x ¼” wall structural tubing. Good choice. I can’t tell from the pics, did he put a spot of weld on the riser tube to the TT frame?

This pic looks like a shadow of a small weld.


So now that Sunny is getting up in the world, did he drag coming up the drive way???

Glad this worked out so well for you. Looks good.

John
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Old 10-01-2008, 07:25 AM   #31
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The riser tubes ARE welded at the top & bottom.

I DID NOT drag in my driveway, AND I used the approach that I have been avoiding as that was where I drug the most. So the approach that I have been using and slightly dragging on will not longer drag either. I am pleased with the work, but it was NOT cheap $$$, but hoping it is top notch, looks good to me, but what do I know. The Riser tube is bolted & welded in place. The steel swivel skid wheels replaced the skid bars and are a "just in case". Plus everything is all painted up, so I don't have to try to rush to get that done. No problem with the RVPort either.

John, when you say turn the chain hanger thing around, you mean that flat metal plate the chain is hooked to, right?

OH, I'm just so happy Sunny is fixed and lifted, now, I'm not sure when he'll get to his maden voyage. But, I am looking forward to it.


Gotta go for now, have to make a dog coat for moms home health aide.
Kitty
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Old 10-01-2008, 07:49 PM   #32
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Kitty

They did a fine job on the lift. You should not have any problems that I can see from the pic’s and what you describe. It is a sound fix.

The chain plate, yes the plate on the end of the chain that connects to the DC cam arm. The U bolts threads will be sticking out at you when on the right way. See here



Glad all worked out for you.

John
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Old 10-01-2008, 08:22 PM   #33
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Here's a little closer pic:



Jon
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Old 10-02-2008, 04:32 AM   #34
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Thanks JohnB & Jon,

I'm not sure if the chains were that way when Sunny came from Stoltzfus, or if they got switched around when the hitch was re-set when the onan was installed by my fairly local dealer. I will reverse them today, so I don't forget. Now that Sunny is home, maybe I can find the time to get out there and start working again on the slide out drawer that I'm making for in the cabinet under the cooktop. I have a pullout basket in the very bottom of the cabinet, but theres a lot of wasted space in the upper half of the cabinet, so I'm making a pullour drawer, which will double my storage space.

I can't wait to be able to travel to see how things go now that Sunny is lifted. I only towed 6 miles from the shop to home when I picked it up.

Kitty
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Old 10-02-2008, 07:04 AM   #35
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Ours came from Stoltzfus that way, so I have a hunch yours did too. John B pointed it out to us at the M&G and Steve flipped them around.
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Old 11-21-2008, 03:03 PM   #36
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I know I havent been around the forum for quite some time now, but I've been trying to get caught back up on things around here.

Glad to see that you got all this worked out Kitty, and Sunny looks great all high up in the air.

I cant believe that others asked why any would want to do this. I cant count the times we watched fellow RV's skid their way into and out of poorly designed gas stations, parking lots and even campsites.

I've lost count on how many campers Cindy and I point out to one another that have those skid bars all twisted up or just completely flattened. I'd say it's safe to say that in our travels, 7 out of 10 Travel Trailers had their drag bars bent or scratched up telling us they were too low.

I know your lift cost a little more Kitty because of the Soft-Ride axles, but for only $250 for the Dexter kit installed, I'd make that modification before anything else if our Sunline wasnt already lifted.

You'll be amazed at the different places you can now seek out while camping. Secluded campgrounds at the end of some rough two-track trail, camping back in the woods, or out in the desert...now they're all possible with your new lift.

Sort of adds some adventure back into camping again.
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