raising 5th wheel

LeftLaneTruckin did his with IIRC 2" rectangle tubing. He pulls OD loads, and the pics he put up look very professional. Theres a thread on it somewhere on here. I did that myself also. Less than $300 and no problems whatsoever.

 

Professional? Me? Nahh....lol
I used 1"x6" solid steel bar, and drilled 9 holes per side and got longer grade 8 bolts. 18 - 5/8" diameter bolts all told, so have more than enough shear strength me thinks...If a naysayer or a DOT cop want to argue, look up the strength of a 5/8" diameter grade 8 bolt and get back to me.

If your 5th wheel is like mine, do this. The hardest part is drilling the holes, but it is MORE than secure enough. And as far as getting used 5th wheel stuff, no thanks. A new riser assembly for mine was $775, no labor included. Ripoff.
The steel and bolts were under $300 all in.
I wouldn't use any type of box section to raise it, I wouldn't trust it for overweight loads myself, but to each their own on that.
Post a pic of your 5th wheel setup and I may be able to make some suggestions.





Martin

 

For those saying just buy a new stand, that's not always an option. When I needed a tall stand for my simplex the local truck parts store said simplex didn't make one tall enough for what I needed. I'll try & snap some pics tomorrow of the risers we made.

 

Some people just have money to burn, I guess...or lack the ability to use their brains and think outside the box to devise a solution to a problem unless they can find it on a store shelf or parts catalog.

Personally, I like fabricating parts & pieces that work exactly as I need them to. Gives the truck that personal touch. Use whatcha got to get done what needs gettin' done. If you don't have it, figure out how to make it. If you can't make it, do you REALLY need it? If so, then look to see if you can buy it. Spending an arm and a leg buying something I can make in a couple hours with stuff from the scrap pile out back never made much sense to me...

 

Looks like a well thought out plan to me. There is no issue doing it this way. Sure you could replace the legs with taller ones, but what you have here is the same result, but better IMO. If you ever want/need to lower it back down, it's just a matter of removing the spacers and using shorter bolts. The round tubes will prevent crushing and keep the bolts tight. Just check the bolt torque bolt torque a few times after some load time.

 

Bought a used truck years ago, someone used 2x4 pressure treated lumber as a spacer. Never had issues out of it .

 

Oh this just gets better all the time. Lol!!

 

Last one I did was basicly just what you showed in your picture, I use 5/8 grade 8 bolts with stover lock nuts and 3/4 " heavy wall pipe welded in to transfer the bolt load, the Rectangular tubing was 3"- 1/4 wall and the width of the frame flange and the mount angle, this was for an Alberta heavy haul tractor with a high load fifth wheel, taller risers were not an option. almost All oil patch winch tractors have their wheel mounted on a 3" sub frame. If you make the back ends taper and seal the front, it will look like manufacturer option.