Bed Rail clearance with tri glide hitch

[dave737]

I am new to the forum. First post.
I have a 2017 36RL being towed with 2019 Chevy 3500 Duramax 3500 DRW.(long bed).
I am having bed rail clearance issues when turning tight, especially on uneven terrain. This is due to the length of the tri-glide.. The back of the pin box will get dangerously close to the side bed rails. Do I raise the hitch to the highest setting and just live with being nose high?
Thanks

[Garyl53]

I also have a '17 36RL and a '19 GMC 3500 DRW. I have raised my B&W hitch to the highest level and I have also raised the pin box to the highest level possible. It is very close to the bottom of the front cap, maybe 1/4 to 1/2" gap. My pin box is labelled the "Flex Air Trailair" so I am not positive it is the same as yours. At these levels the back bottom corner of the pin box mount is angled so that it clears the side rails adequately. I do watch it carefully though as in very rough terrain I think it could contact the side rail if not careful. If you regularly travel on rough terrain you may have to have the Redwood axles raised by adding a sub-frame between the frame and the spring hangers so you can then raise the hitch to create more side rail clearance.
Good luck!

[XCMARK]

I agree with he post above and on a side note . Those tri-glide hitches are failing at a alarming rate , keep a close eye on the lower pivots close to the pin. LCI has warrenty the lower jaw for many RV owners that are around 16,000 -18,000 lbs. Do a search on this site for tri glide and see for your self where and how they are failing. I had a Roto flex on mine that was not a issue and have since put a morryde pin box on it. How do you like the L5P motor in your 2019 truck , I am thinking a bout a update late next summer?

[mhs4771]

The main issue is that the distance between the Bed Rails on GMs is less than Fords, not sure about Rams. Thus when making a tight turn or backing into a tight spot the back corner of the Pin Box can hit. On mine the Roll-n-Lock cover's rails make the problem even worse and I've got the gouges in those rails to prove it.
I try to watch it closely and keep my fingers crossed.

[dave737]

Thanks for the quick reply. I have heard about the failure issues with the tri-glide. This is my first 5th wheel, only 3 trips pulling my camper. This is all new to me. I like the way the tri- glide tows, but concerned about failures. Any detailed suggestions of what to check on the hitch would be appreciated. As far as the 2019 duramax, I only have 3000 miles on it. Plenty of power, allison tranny is amazing. I am getting around 10mpg pulling camper at 65 mph.

[xtasee]

Originally Posted by dave737

I like the way the tri- glide tows, but concerned about failures. Any detailed suggestions of what to check on the hitch would be appreciated. As far as the 2019 duramax, I only have 3000 miles on it. Plenty of power, allison tranny is amazing. I am getting around 10mpg pulling camper at 65 mph.

I also like my tri-glide but will be watching it close. The big problem is most people believe it has 6 grease zerks and it actually has 9. Look underneath and you will see the other 3. I probably over grease mine but that also seems to keep it from banging.


BTW I also love my Duramax/Allison.

[dave737]

I have also been greasing all 9 zirks. The inside 3 are kind of difficult to reach.
Xtasee, I am headed out to your area in may. Dead horse state park is where we are camping. Have you been there? If so, any pointers for me?

[XCMARK]

I had a roll and lock on a truck in 2001 , its a great piece but ist not good in the snow belt if you need to get into it. I could count on it being frozen a few times a month , either the lock or the side rail seal would have ice in them..... Fast forward to today , I have a leer cap sitting in the back year and use the $240 Amazon lowest price on a over the rail soft cover and roll it up the back of the cab with the supplied straps it stays there and I have over 4000 miles towing like this. I keep 6" of bed rail clearance and keep a close eye on if I am backing over unlevel ground. I think its a truxsedo brand . Thank you for the heads up on the roll and lock I didn't even give that a thought.

[dave737]

Checked on this forum for tri glide issues. Looks like the fixed jaw replacement sits about 1.5 to 2 inches higher. Won’t this exacerbate my bed rail issues? Would I be better off replacing the whole pin box with a flex air? Any suggestions. I only have one more hole that I can go up on my hitch(1 inch)

[xtasee]

Originally Posted by dave737

I have also been greasing all 9 zirks. The inside 3 are kind of difficult to reach.
Xtasee, I am headed out to your area in may. Dead horse state park is where we are camping. Have you been there? If so, any pointers for me?

I have stayed in Moab near there but not in the State Park itself. I have been on a couple of ATV rides on the other side of the river where you can look across at where you will be. Therefore no advise on the campground. Beautiful area though.

On your pinbox, several of us have removed the electrical box that is mounted on the back and moved it inside the hitch. Easy to do and gives you a little more space. I also have the B&W Champion hitch on the highest setting with the same Pinbox setting you describe on my 2017 3500HD Chevy. It seems good on the clearance. What hitch is in the truck?

[dave737]

I have the Curt 20k with the puck system. Adjustments are 13 to 17 inch. I think your B&W goes up to 18.75 inches. I will raise mine up to the highest setting and see what my bed rail clearance is. Are you still using the tri-glide?

[woodman1]

I also have the tri-glide and it hasn't caused a problem. I've got easily 14,000 miles on it, but I've also been religious about greasing all 9 zerk fittings. Despite that, I've read on several forums about their failures, thus Lippert has warrantied a replacement. Regarding the bed clearance issue, truck manufacturers have raised the beds of the trucks by at least 2 inches in recent years and then compounded the problem by raising the side rails as well. For those truck owners who don't pull a 5th, they probably were delighted, the rest of us, not. Problem is there's only so much room between the road and bridge clearances. We all like the head room that the nose end of the 5th provides. If you raise the nose too much, you run the risk of striking a bridge or putting too much weight on your rear tandem axle/wheels. Lower the nose, and you minimize the bed clearance. You'd prefer to have at least 8-10 inches of clearance between the nose and your side panels, but at the very least 6". Unfortunately, RV manufacturers continue to build even higher heights in their 5th's, some over 13' 5". It's a problem that neither manufacturer wants to recognize. I elevated my tri-glide pin box by one hole, which brought the nose down a little less than 2", so I'm now down to 13' 5" to the top of my A/C. Thus that gave me about 6-7 inches of clearance from the rail to the bottom nose of the RW, minimum. The back portion of the pinbox comes dangerously close to my bedrails, nearly within 1/2" when I make extreme turns. One solution is to install low-profile A/C units or redesign units to have less height-challenged clutter on the roof. Another idea would be to redesign a kingpin so that it does not impinge bed rails with the most extreme turns. Whatever the solution, your unit should run fairly parallel with the road. I think engineering and technology will eventually prevail here and there will be more practical solutions, albeit; probably more costly too.

[dave737]

Thanks for the informative reply woodman. My pin box is already set all the way up. Sounds like I will just have to live with it. Already had 6 inches of bed rail clearance. Is it normal for one side to be 1 inch higher than the other, on the bed rails?

[woodman1]

If you’re talking about the truck, they are allowed a 1” maximum variance from side to side, although that still is fairly significant. Most are within 1/2” range.

[dave737]

Hey woodman, I noticed you have a 36RL. I have a post about the dining slide room scraping the tile floor. Have you had any issues?

[woodman1]

Yes, we've had problems from day one, streaks on the carpet and tile, but now the slide is wearing into the surface of the floor tile, in fact; we're planning on having it looked at by the dealership we purchased in Indiana to see if they can adjust it. Had one dealership, back home, tell me that the bottom skid plate may need to be entirely replaced. I hope not! We have not had any water leak issues and it doesn't appear to be bowed. We are looking into these skid plates sold on Amazon to keep the problem from getting worse.

[dave737]

Check out my post. Slide room scraping tile floor. wintertree has some good info. Would you mind letting me know if you discover a fix?

[Shastakid]

I have a 36RL 2017 and had a problem with both ends of the slide. I found that the plastic slides under the large slide ends broke on both ends. Did not scratch the floor because I used the removable slides until we got to the Rally this year, Redwood installed new plastic slides and provided the removable slides for the carpet in the living area. There are two different removable slides for carpet and title floors.

[mstan]

Hmm some the thread got highjacked. Went from bedrail clearance to slide out issues. but back to the subject. All of the manufactures seem to be feeling like we need taller trucks. While I do like a lifted truck it doesn't work out well in the world of towing RV/Fifthwheels. My pin box also hits my "Truckcover USA bed cover rails. If I lift my hitch any higher I cannot close my bed cover. Never had this problem until I #1 both a REDWOOD. which now all the RV Manufactures are building on the same frame similar pin box. All are having the same problem. If you flip Axels and other tricks you then get in to Height clearance issues with the RV which for all of us is already dangerously close to Legal limit. I have friends driving New Fords which you need a elevator to get up into if you have short legs. GM and I drive a Ram currently. All have the same issues or similar issues no matter. The Big three think we are all pulling Goose neck horse and cattle trailers and it doesn't matter. LOL

[dave737]

Sorry, that would be my fault. The other post is titled slide room scraping tile floor.