13' 9

Let the air out of all the tires to get height.

 

Exactly. If you're not familiar with this tactic, it goes like this: you take a valve stem puller (you can get it at any auto parts store) and unscrew the valve to totally remove it from the tire. Sure, you could simply push the valve in to let the air out, but you'd be there All. Day. Long. waiting for those tires to deflate. You just have to be careful not to let all the air out of the tire, otherwise you'd break the bead and wouldn't be able to re-inflate it. You also have to be careful to hang on to that valve stem because they are super-easy to lose, LOL!

Doing this can buy you an extra few inches of height if you ever run into a situation where you'd need it. In fact, I had to do this just last week with a Mercedes sprinter van that took me to about 14'5". Pulling the valve stems, plus chaining down the frame, got me down to about 13'8".

 

Stop me if you heard this one,,,,I delivered a lot in Chicago, low bridge capital of the world ( not so much anymore) and the story went;
A trucker ran his truck under a low bridge. As the cops and towing crew sat around discussing what was the best way to get it out, everything from cutting it out to dragging it out, one solution more complicated than the next, when a young lad rolls up on a bicycle, sees the situation, and says, "why don't you just let the air out of the tires",,,

 

Stupid question time....

How do you guys measure and know exactly what height you're at?

 

just check by goin under a bridge and see or pull out my height stick and measure

 

I had my CB antennas on my trucks mirrors at about 13'8". I had crappy radios,( in case they got stolen) so going through Chicago, it was much more important to know the clearance than a proper SWR. If the antennas cleared, I was good to go. And there are no stupid questions here.

 

That does work as does getting out and actually measuring the bridge but it assumes the roadway and the bridge are level. You're also assuming that the leading edge of the bridge is the lowest part. Sometimes a girder on the inside of the bridge is lower than the rest.
If you're blocking traffic and stressed out you may not make the right call.
If the roadway makes a dip or the bridge has a ####eyed angle it's risky. If it's a long tunnel like underpass the roadway may have a rise at the end.
If there is the option to avoid the bridge. I always think to myself, 'how long to go around this bridge compared to the aggravation caused if I hit it?'

 

Chicago, that place sucks, had a load going downtown, checked my route and lowest bridge was 12'9" so I loaded to 12' 6" get under one bridge and just 50' on the other side is a railroad bridge that's marked 12' wtf,, so I hold up all the traffic while I dump my suspension air and drop my upper deck taking 3" of clearance out of the 4" I had and crawled under that #### bridge, lol

 

That's what NuCar was talkin' about. Sometimes the signs are old and before repaving. I had a low bridge map, and I knew where I was going, but it used to be a lot worse, if you can imagine. Chicago isn't so bad. People were pretty cool. You can't have an attitude there, or you run into all the other people with bad attitudes.

 

Not my pic but this is local to me...