Want more ground clearance with back leveling jacks.

[Grt520]

Recently purchased a 2022 GD Reflection 260RD with Lippert Leveling system. The back jacks are only about 6" off the ground, which would be disastrous if one came off a curb that was higher than the jack. I'd like to raise the two back ones as high as possible. Looks like I can move it up about 2" or thereabouts. Is there any reason that shouldn't be done? With both upper and lower manual controls, I assume I won't need the top one if I can get at the bottom one, correct?? Thoughts???

[Country Campers]

If you can move the jacks up with out any issues then by all means do it, more ground clearance the better.

Brian

[Jlawles2]

Grt520 I did just this on my previous 5er. Moved the jacks up to the highest possible position where the motor was almost touching the floor. Only thing I noticed was longer setup time due to jacks needing to extend farther.

[OffToHavasu]

You'll also get more "movement" in the trailer with the jacks having to extend further.

[tgodrich]

I have a 2016 303RLS with this leveling system. I moved the jacks up I think about 2 inches to almost the floor, although the dealer told me they could not be moved (perhaps better stated that they would not do it). You CAN access the manual extend/retract method on the bottom, just takes longer than the top to manually retract. The trailer was sitting on a 2003 Chevy Silverado 2500 with air bags. Sat pretty level. Then I bought a 2020 Chevy 3500 Silverado. Trailer was then nose high a bit. This also had the effect of lowering the back jacks some more to the point that one of them did catch a curb as I backed into my driveway (never did with the old truck). Bent the jack bracket a bit, but I was able to repair it. I then pondered my solution.

I could have moved the kingpin box up I think about 2" (2 holes?) but that would also reduce my clearance to the truck bed rails. Not a good solution, especially when taking the trailer off road. I had been contemplating converting the trailer to 16" wheels from the stock 15" wheels. This would give me perhaps 1.5" raise of the overall trailer per the tire and wheel specifications. I did this option and ended up raising the back jacks by 2" in the process. I now have a comfortable buffer from my curb and the truck / trailer is fairly level. But those jacks sticking down back there just seem to be begging to catch something still.

However, with all this being said, I remember seeing discussion in this form on a rotating (pivoting) jack possible feature for the back jacks. I would buy this in a heartbeat. I do a lot of boon docking off road and could use the extra clearance back there. We get plenty of clearance when the front jacks are raised. I am not a mechanical engineer to be able to design this with the necessary weight capacity. I think it would require two short arms to support a pivot rod, which would run through a bracket at the top of the jack. Some sort of locking mechanism would be needed to assure it could be locked in both the rotated up and rotated down positions. It would rotate up 90 degrees when not in use and traveling. Maybe a retired mechanical engineer in this forum could attest to the viability of this design possibility. If I had a welder, I could likely fashion something that would work, but I do not have the knowledge necessary to assure it would be safe for the trailer weight.

On a secondary comment to the above threads, since I do now have to extend the jacks more, I added JT Stabilizer bars (6) to the trailer and it is now rock solid after I level it and cinch the bars. I also at times may have to add blocks under some of the jacks to get the necessary travel on uneven ground.

As a possible GD feature in the future:
1. Make these pivoting jacks a reality. Surely I'm not the only one who has thought of this.
2. In trailer design, perhaps design the jacks up into the floor a bit, maybe 4 to 5 inches. Then have extension arms similar to the front jacks that could be dropped before the leveling takes place, just like the front. This seems like it would get these rear jacks way up and out of the way. I am also not sure the jacks need to be directly behind the rear wheels. Maybe they could be at the back of the trailer, such that they could simply be built up inside the wall like the front jacks are. They would essentially retract in between the exterior and interior back walls. They would be secured to the main frame at the back. An interior or exterior access panel or door would be needed to enable repair / replacement. Food for thought.

[OffToHavasu]

I had been contemplating converting the trailer to 16" wheels from the stock 15" wheels. This would give me perhaps 1.5" raise of the overall trailer per the tire and wheel specifications. I did this option and ended up raising the back jacks by 2" in the process. I now have a comfortable buffer from my curb and the truck / trailer is fairly level. But those jacks sticking down back there just seem to be begging to catch something still.

The concern here is you're raising the overall height of the trailer. Some of these models are already close to 13'6".

[Lonestar]

tgodrich I have two questions please. Where do you access the manual retraction from the "bottom" of the rear jacks? I thought it could only be done from the top, meaning if you raise the jacks too high you lose the ability to manually retract.

Also, I'm interested in your 16" wheel conversion. Were you able to do this without any suspension modification? How much clearance do you now have between top of tire and wheelwell? I've got a 150 Series Reflection and I'd sure like to try it.

[Jlawles2]

Lonestar The manual retract on the jack is on the bottom of the motor. IIRC there is a rubber plug that needs to be removed to access it. Difference in the 2 is bottom of motor runs through the gearing and takes more turns to get the same results, but it also takes less effort.

[tgodrich]

Joseph answered one of the questions to me. Yes, you do lose the top manual retract (I think the 3/8" one), but the bottom is still accessible (if I remember right, it is 5/16" on the bottom). As Joseph mentioned, the bottom is geared. It takes forever to move them with a manual ratchet, barely perceptible movement when using the wrench manually on the bottom. I have used my drill/driver to do this. Speeds it up a lot.

My 2016 303RLS trailer came with 15" tires/wheels. About Mid-year I believe, they started putting 16" wheels on this trailer model (not sure if it became an option or simply a model change). The modification for my trailer in order to be able to upsize wheels was there needed to be a piece of I think 2" steel square tube welded to the trailer where the springs attach to the trailer. My trailer had these already, so I was good to go. I think the 2015 year may not have had them. Not sure when GD decided to add them. I bought 16" wheels with the same bolt pattern as the 15". I did a lot of calculation measurements to make sure the new tires and wheels would fit properly with no tire to tire clearance problems and no top of tire to trailer clearance problems. Next time I get to my trailer in October I will measure the top of tire to bottom of wheel well clearance and post. I did not do any suspension modifications. The spring positions stayed the same.

The lifting of the trailer by the 16" wheels was not a problem as I was already nose high, and that is the highest part of the trailer. The larger wheels mainly served to lift the rear of the trailer to a more level tow. The raised nose was due to my new truck bed sitting higher. I opted for the wheels since raising the pin box would reduce my trailer to bed side rail clearance. I take the trailer off-road and did not want to give up the clearance.

Hope this answers your questions. I will feed back the clearance once I get the trailer out in October. Note that this clearance will be trailer specific. Modifying another model may not yield the same clearance. You can get tire dimensions from the manufacturer, or simply go to a dealer and measure the tire size. I did both. You will be able to calculate the added height by taking your current tire height (diameter) divided by 2 and the new tire diameter divided by 2. You then subtract the smaller from the larger to see how much it will raise the trailer. It was pretty close on my calculations vs. actual raise. I think it was about 1.25 to 1.5 inches raise if I remember correctly. It did also have the effect of raising my rear jack pad about 2", which was a huge help.