Im so confused. I buy a bigger truck (Ram 2500) to pull my GN and the bed rails of the truck seem to be too tall. There’s maybe 3-4 inches between the rails and bottom of the GN front. The truck even has air ride which lowers it fir towing.
I dont always travel on level roads, park in fields etc so I dont want to damage my truck or the trailer.
Truck has 20" tires on it. Tire guy told me that putting 18" tires would only lower it by 1/4" .
I cant be the only one who has encountered this?
I spent 5 months with my GN close to my bed rails. There were times it came VERY close to hitting, but never quite did. I just extended the GN one hole (about 3") a couple of weeks ago. Now the trailer does not ride quite level, but I think the incline is minimal and won’t be a problem. I’ve only hauled with it that way once so far, so I’m not yet sure I’ll keep it like that or return it to level, but scary close to the truck.
I did a lot of research on this issue before buying a new truck for towing my GN. Per the trailer manufacturer, the recommended distance between truck side rails and GN bottom is 6-8 inches. I opted for smaller tires and a camper package on mine, which changed the suspension and lowered the truck slightly. I also researched blocking up the trailer axles to raise the trailer height. It can be done, though it will change the slope of the ramp / the amount of step-up into the trailer.
What I found most annoying about the entire process is that truck manufacturers do not supply this (to me) very basic information on their websites, even for trucks designed for towing - all the three-quarter ton and up models. I had to physically wander through dealer lots, measuring trucks and noting wheel sizes and optional equipment to get an idea of how all these parts fit together to form the final height of the side rails. In the end, it was still sort of a shot in the dark as to how high the final truck would be when delivered.
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Older trailers are often too low for new pickups. I don’t want my horses riding uphill, but many it her like above poster, don’t think it is a problem. It has been an increasing problem as folks get new towing vehicles, trailers are rubbing the top of box.
I have heard folks take off spring, some blocked UP the trailer to gain height above axles.
Another solution is to order only the cab and chassis, put a flatbed on for towing. Flatbed is a nice truck tool, no climbing to get on or off while using it or hitching the gooseneck. No chance of trailer rubbing over any ground conditions. But as some COTHers say, " I couldn’t have that look on my truck!!" So they buy new trailers instead.
We swapped to a flatbed when the old dually box rusted out. I REALLY like it! So handy for so many things. I had wood sides too, so it enclosed things, but they were removable for hay loads. You never have to worry about forgetting to slam the tailgate shut with a flatbed, so you don’t bend it with the trailer! Ha ha
Just went through this. Got a new 2016 pickup for use with a 2013 Gooseneck and upon hitching was like - this can’t be right. Called around to some trailer dealerships and they ALL expressed profound frustration with the poor communication from pick up truck manufacturers and dealerships after this change was made industry wide.
i opted to just sell the old trailer and buy a new gooseneck that is compatible. I’d recommend selling your old trailer sooner rather than later if you want to go that route … as people replace more and more towing vehicles with new models over the next few years, it’s going to become harder and harder to sell old trailers.
As far as raising the hitch and having the whole thing ride on an incline in order to get more clearance… not a good long term solution. Not just because you don’t want horses riding on an incline. My husband is an aerospace engineer by education, and very knowledgeable on some pretty involved mechanical stuff (He ran an airplane maintenance department for awhile) and when I suggested that as an option, he said the way that would redistribute weight and forces with respect to the trailer tires, we would be putting ourselves at risk for a blowout when driving on the highway over any sort of distance - especially at higher speeds.
all the trailer dealerships we spoke with concurred. Truck and gooseneck must be compatible, or adjustments have to be made to either modify a new trucks bed height (just changing the tires is inadequate), or to lift up an older model gooseneck so that you get adequate clearance and it rides level with the truck.
The Ford towing brochure has the rail heights for each model in it, but you’ve got to dig. As it happens I don’t have as much clearance as I’d like, and do have a few marks on the top of my tailgate from my GN biting into the plastic at one event where the parking lot is really hilly.
Its really frustrating. You buy a big diesel truck for its pulling capabilities and only AFTER you purchase do you find this out.
You can try raising the height of the gooseneck part by taking out the pin, but your trailer needs to ride level as riding on an incline will put extra weight and wear on your trailer tires and lead to blow outs.
You can add bigger tires on your trailer.
You can flip the axles on your trailer.
You can add blocks to your trailer.
You can have your truck bed removed and use a flatbed instead.
It all depends on how your trailer is designed and how much height you need, keep in mind that you will make the step for your horse higher as well and you might need to add a ramp, or lengthen an existing ramp.
I think the above posters have outlined what are going to, by and large, be your options. Are there bed rails on your truck? Would removing them make much difference?
If you’ve purchased the truck already, you could look into a flatbed conversion. I’ve said many times my next truck will be a flatbed, to which many of my friends have exclaimed “why?!”. They’re truly utilitarian, which is what I want my vehicle to be. May not be your preference, however. You could consider selling the GN and looking for one that will work with your truck, as your truck is now. As VHM pointed out, the GN trailers that can’t clear newer stock model trucks are going to become harder and harder to sell as people move on from their older model pick ups. Maybe, if you can budget for it, it’d be in your best interest to sell the current GN rather than fitting the truck to match.
To the vehicle manufacturers credit, I’ll say though these HD trucks are advertised for hauling, they don’t necessarily know what you intend to haul. There are so many trailer options and trailer manufacturers, and different jobs owners and operators are going to use pick ups for. Not to say it’s not frustrating, just to say that part of the process is in the purchaser’s hands.
Good luck with whatever you decide!
Be sure to determine if changing tire size on your truck will affect the speedometer/odometer.
Smaller tires heat up faster and may fail causing an accident.
Raising the trailer may cause the ramp to be too steep, or the step up too high.
The trailer should always ride level for safety.
A flat bed may be your best option.
I wonder if there is any way to make the ball in the truck bed taller, or put it on a platform?
I don’t understand how putting smaller tires on the truck affects the gap between trailer and bed walls. The length of the gooseneck coupler is still the same, so the gap will be the same, but now the front of the trailer goes down because the truck is lower. I can see doing this along with lengthening the coupler so the trailer clears the walls and isn’t sloped, but not by itself.
Of course, I’m still driving my '01 truck (and haven’t even hit 40k miles yet), so luckily I haven’t had this problem.
It’s pretty common to change tire sizes on the truck or trailer to help with bed clearance issues. In this case it doesn’t seem like just doing the tires on the truck will be enough, hence the other suggestions. Changing the coupler can also help, but it can also make the trailer sit uphill, which causes wear on the brakes and axles.
I’ll guess that we’ve blocked axles on close to a dozen trailers this year. This is probably the most cost effective long term solution if you don’t want a flatbed. Unfortunately on several step in trailers we also had to add a ramp as the step at the back was just too high. We’ve added cleats and/or rubber strips to make the steeper ramp not as slippery.
Sometimes you can change the hangar brackets on the truck. That might give you a few inches. There’s no real reason for the high trucks, must be a Detroit thing to sell more trucks. The clearance between the tires and the fenders really looks stupid.
A friend of mine had this happen. Bought a new 2017 F250 and it was too tall for older GN. Basically she was told by a trailer manufacture that the new trucks are only suited to anything 2012 and newer, older GN will need to be shimmed in order to be level (but most can only be shimmed 3’ so it will not work with all of them). She ended up having to buy a new GN, which luckily she was on the market for. But its going to be increasingly hard to sell GN as the new trucks flood the market!
We tried my fiancee’s 2015 Titan 4h gn and it only had about 2-3 inches of clearance. We havent yet tried my 2015 Cimarron 2h gn. I love this little trailer and really dont want to trade it.
The tire shop said changing to a smaller tire wont work. The dodge dealer says it will. They said theyd work with me to trade my 20" tires to an 18" or 17". Thats a bummer since sticker on those 20" wheels was $1,500 
Im assuming the dealer would recalibrate “things” on the truck but wonder if there are negatives to a smaller tire/rim?
Tobruk - what does blocking cost roughly? Is this modification as safe as factory new?
Check if there are blocks under the bed that raise it (or the springs) higher. In my case it’s a 2001 F350 with a 1989 Featherlite. My mom had smaller blocks put in between the axle and springs (I think - a body shop would know) so the back of the truck rides about 2 or 3 inches lower than it originally did. This was enough for the trailer to be level and have enough clearance.
The major downside of smaller tires would be the cost of re-flashing whatever computers need to be redone and that the smaller tires might wear faster than the larger ones.
I second the flatbed idea. You can make nice wooden side rails that fit what you have and ensure you have proper clearance. A flatbed is also much more useful in a tow/farm truck. And you look less like like a “Walmart Cowboy.” 
G.
I should also mention this truck has air ride
It actually lowers the back of the truck for towing.
Just as an aside, changing from 20" wheels to 18" wheels is totally immaterial to the problem since, in general, the tire diameter will be the same for OEM specifications. That 1/4" that the dealer mentions is just a very minor difference between the specific tires supplied with the OEM 20" wheels and the OEM 18" wheels. Gilherme is correct about the system changes…FCA doesn’t provide much flexibility for tuning vehicles for tire size differences. I’m not familiar with the RAM, but can tell you that for the Grand Cherokee, no dealer can make an adjustment for that; only an expensive third party tuner system like the Diablo can make odo and speedo adjustments for different tire sizes.
With the air suspension, you can’t use traditional lowering techniques, but something we do in the Grand Cherokee world is to make alternative height sensor links to lower our air suspension equipped vehicles by about an inch. That technique would likely work with the RAM since the air suspension system is similar, but again, I’m not familiar with the RAM specifics.
Gah. Same thing happened to me almost 10 years ago, was able to make it work (although it’s close) by using slightly smaller tires on the truck, but now looking to replace that truck and this thread has me nervous as h-e-l-l about the prospect of now having to replace truck AND trailer to make it all work :no:
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