[texasjohn]

Well, I've pulled lots of stuff with a bumper hitch before I had enough $$ to get a gooseneck trailer and install a gooseneck ball in the bed of my pickup.

I could simply not believe the difference. True, I didn't have weight distributing hitch, etc... but I strongly believe that the basic physics applies.

To me, a gooseneck is about 10 times safer than a bumper hitch.

A bumper hitch, because of physics, does all these undesirable things:

1) presses down on rear, making front end rise up, making steering much less sure under all conditions. This has happened to me

2) If you happen to unfortunately get into a bad situation and the trailer starts switching back and forth, then it starts wagging the rear end of your pickup and pulling it right and left, making steering extemely difficult. Only the very experienced driver can recover from this catastrophic oscillation, which tends to increase in amplitude until something or everything turns over. I was lucky, nothing turned over, but we swapped ends several times

3) if the trailer has any kind of dynamic load, cattle which can run from front to rear, or something breaks loose, or you were unableto get the right weight distribution on the trailer, then even in a straight line pull you can get front to rear trailer oscillation. Meaning that road conditions or whatever cause the front of your trailer to rise and fall.... making the rear of your pickup rise and fall with vigor because of the leverage of being attached several feet BEHIND the rear axle. This has happened to me

4) when items 2 or 3 occur, your natural reaction is to hit the brakes... bad decision...if item 2, then the trailer pushes your rear end forward and you make a V going down the road uncontrolled. If item 3, then front of pickup dives under braking pressure, rear rises up losing traction and trailer pushes it up further... bad things can happen... and do. This has happened to me

5) another response with items 2 or 3 can be to increase power in an attempt to straighten out the problem, but often you are already going faster than road conditions make safe and increasing speed only makes things worse. This has happened to me

Now, let's jump to the physics of a gooseneck. The attachment point is just in front of the rear bumper. Thus, the trailer:

1) presses down on all 4 tires, increasing traction, regardless of how trailer is loaded (almost impossible to get negative gooseneck pressure) because of distance between trailer tires and gooseneck attachment point. Thus, front end steering is more sure while rear axle traction is significantly increased.

2) if situation 2 above tries to start, it is hugely, hugely inhibited because the gooseneck hitch is just an inch or two in front of rear axle and right over it... thus leverage is nil... and side to side motion requires BOTH rear tires to move right or left. Honestly, this has NEVER happened to me when pulling a gooseneck.

3) for situation 3 above to occur, oscillation must start.... since there is so much down weight on the gooseneck, it is almost impossible to get a negative(up) force... even if you did, it would be lifting the entire pickup from a point in front of the axle, which is rather weighty... with no leverage. I've never had this happen, either, with a gooseneck.

4) if you percieve a problem and begin brakeing, then the trailer puts additonal down force right over the rear wheels, thus maintaining traction. Since the pickup is in a straight line with the trailer, jackknifing is extremely unlikely. The only gooseneck braking problem I've ever had came from momentum exceeding desired stopping distance, which has always been in a straight line

5) increasing power is a viable option because the long distance between gooseneck attachment point and trailer wheels tends to cause alignment of both vehicles on the road. It's comforting to know that your trailer is right behind you

Net... when I was pulling bumper hitch trailers, I was ALWAYS aware that they were there because of their constant action on steering, braking, attitude of the truck. Pulling a gooseneck, I only know it is back there because of the engine sound and modifed acceleration/deceleration because of load. I have never felt like a gooseneck was " getting away from me."

Charlesaf3, my extremely strong advice would be to obtain ONLY a gooseneck trailer and put a gooseneck hitch on any pickup where you are going to be pulling any significant load. I don't care if you are pulling a heavy boat, cattle, equipment trailer.... gooseneck is the only way to go. This is doubly true if you are planning on pushing the tow limits of the Tundra (or any vehicle, actually).

My final argument...go to any cattle auction or rodeo and look at what people are using. Talk to them about why they are using a gooseneck. ALL the people who are serious and have large loads have gooseneck trailers. Only the weekend people with a horse trailer for 1 to 2 horses for their 14 year old girls have a bumper hitch...pulled either with a car or light pickup...