How to adjust 5th wheel height (bobtail)?

Crank, crank and more cranking, that's what you do, welcome to the Wonderful World of Trucking. It's also best to switch arms sometimes so your arms will build muscles equally.

 

I guess you can put some 2×4 on the ground under the drives to lift up the rear to give you some lift.

 

See if you can get the yard dog to pick it up while you crank. I've done that with meat loads.

 

Sounds like your truck is low enough that it's always going to be a problem.

Wouldn't be as bad if people knew how to properly drop a trailer. Amazes me just how many drivers drop trailers high, and amazes me even more that they have no clue that they're doing it.

If you're one of these people that don't know, only run your landing gear to about an inch from the ground, then dump your air bags to set the trailer gently on the ground. Will let a driver hook to that trailer without having to crank it down to the proper height with all the weight on it, and will allow a driver with a lower truck to hook to it without skipping over the fifth wheel.

 

when I drop trailer off i always leave a good two inches between the landing gear and the ground when I unhook I drop my airbags this way not only would it be easier for me to hook up next time but it would be easier for the next guy. One of the problems is that if somebody has tall rubber and you have low pros that would be the reason your trailer is so high.

 

Sounds to me it is the opposite, trailers are easy to crank down if they were high, he said is truck has no dump switch and sounds like he has to crank them up. Get a dump switch installed and have less problems

 

I'd rather hook to a trailer that is dropped too high than one that was dropped too low. Yes, I have come across LOADED trailers dropped so low my 5th wheel plate would contact the vertical face of the trailer. The only thing worse than cranking the landing gears down to raise the nose of a loaded trailer is trying to hook to a dump wagon with drop legs that has been dropped too low! Better have some wood blocks and a jack handy to raise the nose. Dropped too high is easy to deal with. Too low is a pain in the rear.