First trip with our new to us F2100
- Thread starter Thad-SUN
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- sunlineclub
Hi Thad,
Sounds like you had a fun time, great!
If you are after a full 2" of lift, that gets a bit more involved. Depending on your resources/buddies who can help you, these are a few thoughts on how to get that much or close to it.
1. Remove the spring hangers, add a riser tube welded to the frame, add hangers, (new or reused pending the condition) and put it back together with making sure the wheel position is in alignment before welding on the hangers. This option needs a weld shop buddy. And reading up on how to get proper wheel alignment before welding. It's not that hard, but you do have to do it or the trailer will not track right or will wear tires fast. There are a few here on the forum who have done the alignment on travel trailers, the 5th wheel is the same concept. I am one of the 3 here that I know of who aligned their own campers.
2. Tires, investigate the axle space between the two tires. And what the fender bump clearance is above the tires. With the axle flip you may have height, (3" min bump clearance above the new tire is what Dexter recommends) but between the tires deals with axle spacing. This option has you look at the tire size (OD) of what you have, then upsize the tire and wheel with the correct load carrying rating or larger to handle the weights.
If you can upsize the tires and still have clearance between the wheels, Dexter stated the last I looked at 1" min. and bump clearance, then you can gain half the tire OD increase. Going the tire change route may only get you part way to your 2" of lift, but it is something less then doing option 1.
3. What is your bed rail clearance now? Truck bed rail to bottom of camper. 6" is a rule of thumb to have to cover most conditions and not hit. If you have excess bed rail clearance in the 7 to 8" range, then you may be able to lower the trailer hitch. Many of the older Sunline 5th wheels used a goose neck adapter, not sure if your has that or not.
The older trucks of yesteryear where not as high up as a modern day 3/4 or 1 ton trucks. The push to haul more weight in the truck world comes with larger tires and beefier suspension all which adds height from when your Sunny was made.
Hope this helps and good luck. Let us know how this comes out.
John
Sounds like you had a fun time, great!
If you are after a full 2" of lift, that gets a bit more involved. Depending on your resources/buddies who can help you, these are a few thoughts on how to get that much or close to it.
1. Remove the spring hangers, add a riser tube welded to the frame, add hangers, (new or reused pending the condition) and put it back together with making sure the wheel position is in alignment before welding on the hangers. This option needs a weld shop buddy. And reading up on how to get proper wheel alignment before welding. It's not that hard, but you do have to do it or the trailer will not track right or will wear tires fast. There are a few here on the forum who have done the alignment on travel trailers, the 5th wheel is the same concept. I am one of the 3 here that I know of who aligned their own campers.
2. Tires, investigate the axle space between the two tires. And what the fender bump clearance is above the tires. With the axle flip you may have height, (3" min bump clearance above the new tire is what Dexter recommends) but between the tires deals with axle spacing. This option has you look at the tire size (OD) of what you have, then upsize the tire and wheel with the correct load carrying rating or larger to handle the weights.
If you can upsize the tires and still have clearance between the wheels, Dexter stated the last I looked at 1" min. and bump clearance, then you can gain half the tire OD increase. Going the tire change route may only get you part way to your 2" of lift, but it is something less then doing option 1.
3. What is your bed rail clearance now? Truck bed rail to bottom of camper. 6" is a rule of thumb to have to cover most conditions and not hit. If you have excess bed rail clearance in the 7 to 8" range, then you may be able to lower the trailer hitch. Many of the older Sunline 5th wheels used a goose neck adapter, not sure if your has that or not.
The older trucks of yesteryear where not as high up as a modern day 3/4 or 1 ton trucks. The push to haul more weight in the truck world comes with larger tires and beefier suspension all which adds height from when your Sunny was made.
Hope this helps and good luck. Let us know how this comes out.
John
Thad-SUN
Member
I do weld (I welded the axle flip kit). I considered adding a spacer under the trailer chassis. Additionally I was looking at larger tires.
We do have an actual gooseneck (not a fifth wheel), which is adjustable, but we have about 6" of bed clearance at this point.
My F250 has normal size tires and springs, but Ford builds them with a lift kit that is not easily removable. The extra weight capacity appears to be from the aluminum bed... personally I would rather have the heavier steel bed.
We do have an actual gooseneck (not a fifth wheel), which is adjustable, but we have about 6" of bed clearance at this point.
My F250 has normal size tires and springs, but Ford builds them with a lift kit that is not easily removable. The extra weight capacity appears to be from the aluminum bed... personally I would rather have the heavier steel bed.
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