What Else Do You Call a "Bumper Pull" Trailer?

[mrennie]

I've never heard of anyone referring to one in this area as a bumper pull...we either call them "trailer" or "5th wheel trailer". For some reason there are very few gooseneck units around too....

 

[Pops15]

Never heard bumper pull till I joined this forum. Around here ( northern IL) they've been called tag or tag-a-long.

 

[jayste]

It wasn't until 1999 that I got my first receiver hitch. Prior to that it was always pulled from the bumper. Used to, when our bumpers sat kind of high for the trailer, we would weld up a "drop hitch" and bolt it to the bottom of the bumper and put the trailer ball on that. I do think the bumpers on these pickups nowadays wouldn't handle the added stress that a drop hitch would add.

 

[dstig1]

Bumper pull has worked for me.... Most trucks and real SUVs still have a bumper that can handle smaller trailers, though I wouldn't pul more than 3k or so from them in most cases, as they usually just aren't rated for it...

Blatant hijack: What is the real difference between gooseneck and 5th wheel? I know 5th is the mini semi hitch in the bed, but how does that differ from goose, and why/when would one be preferred over the other?

Enquiring minds...
-Dave

 

[Reg]

Bumper pull has worked for me.... Most trucks and real SUVs still have a bumper that can handle smaller trailers, though I wouldn't pul more than #k or so from them in most cases, as they usually just aren't rated for it...

Blatant hijack: What is the real difference between gooseneck and 5th wheel? I know 5th is the mini semi hitch in the bed, but how does that differ from goose, and why/when would one be preferred over the other?

Enquiring minds...
-Dave

Well, Ya see a Gooseneck trailer has a coupler at the end of a tube - it comes down over a ball and is latched onto that, very much like those trailers that hook on behind the truck, in fact it is usually the same size 2 5/16.

The "5'th wheel" got to be popular with suburbanites who wanted to feel as if they had "Real TRUCKS" - (driveway status ornaments).

The Gooseneck method of coupling is used on stock trailers, some utility trailers and horse trailers.
Many users have their roots in Agri_culture.

The 5'th wheel folk have no roots in any culture.

{as it was told to me - I can't make this stuff up}

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OK, FUNCTIONALLY; the gooseneck allows somewhat more side to side roll differences between truck and trailer while keeping most of the wheels on the ground, i.e. the trailer can get VERY tipped to one side before it will lift one side of the truck - and vice versa.
Sometimes they roll opposite ways, THAT is when you really appreciate the gooseneck.
As you can imagine stock, construction and horse trailers get off the blacktop more and it isn't always to putting green flat camp grounds sites.

 

[gengine]

The "5'th wheel" got to be popular with suburbanites who wanted to feel as if they had "Real TRUCKS" - (driveway status ornaments).

The Gooseneck method of coupling is used on stock trailers, some utility trailers and horse trailers.
Many users have their roots in Agri_culture.

The 5'th wheel folk have no roots in any culture.

{as it was told to me - I can't make this stuff up}

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QUOTE]

Now that's funny! :laughing: I don't know if I have ever seen a fifth wheel on anything but a camper. But I have seen goosenecks on everything, even adapters from 5th wheels to goosenecks. My ancient 5th wheel plate doesn't tilt left to right. I guess the new ones do though. I've never used the thing, it came with the truck.

 

[Bird]

Yep, we still frequently refer to "bumper pull" trailers, in fact my first trailering experience was with a clamp on hitch on the bumper of my 1946 Chevy 2 dr sedan. And of course, I've pulled many trailers with a ball on the bumper of my pickup truicks. But the other common term, as someone else mentioned, is "conventional" trailer vs fifth-wheel and gooseneck trailers.

The 5'th wheel folk have no roots in any culture.

Yep, not a culture; just a life style.

And did you know they sell an adapter to convert your fifth-wheel RV to a gooseneck?

 

[Iplayfarmer]

A fifth wheel must have a "fifth wheel", i.e. the plate in the back of the truck. I have heard the argument that either a fifth wheel or a gooseneck ball type hitch can be referred to as a gooseneck as both have the characteristic shape of a goose's neck. To me a gooseneck has a ball, a fifth wheel has a king pin and a plate.

I understand that the fifth wheel evolved as a way to more completely couple the truck to the trailer. It's not supposed to pivot left to right... Only front to back. This was better for over-the-road driving: Long Haul Trucks and Travel trailers. A gooseneck with a ball is better for rough terrain where the truck needs to pivot side to side vs. the trailer: Ag and associated off road uses like stock trailers and equipment trailers.

 

[Bird]

I understand that the fifth wheel evolved as a way to more completely couple the truck to the trailer. It's not supposed to pivot left to right... Only front to back.

And that's true of the vast majority of fifth-wheels, but they actually do make at least one for RVs that pivots both ways.

 

[grnspot110]

"Bumper hitch"