Gooseneck hitch to 5th wheel hitch?

[cj7]

thanks for the comments.

always wonder asbout these things.

I have a #7000 16' car hauler I pull from a 2" reciever.

I have a few jeeps would be nice to haul 2 at a time sometimes. I know I would need a longer and heavier trailer. I also figure I would move to the bed for turning purposes.

I have a F250 SD extened cab short bed V-10 5spd.

 

[longway5]

At the school I used to go to, I would pull a 35' gooseneck box trailer that was custom built for us by Great Dane back in '94 I think. For a truck, they at one time used a Dodge 3/4 ton, but the way the truck had been used before we got it, and because the construction of the trailer puts a lot of weight on the truck, the rear suspension was replaced several times, the last time with a 1 ton. A few years back the school got us a new truck (a '99 Ford diesel F-350 crew cab dually w/ 4 wheel drive), which has a custom aluminum flat bed on the back. The GN ball is actually under a trap door in the bed, which is nice when you don't need to haul the trailer, and you don't want the ball in the way. It's a pain to attach or detach the trailer though because you end up having to jack it up about a foot to clear everything. That truck was nice to drive, and the trailer towed real nice. I'm going to miss not driving it anymore.

 

[RobS]

<font color=blue>I think gooseneck is definitely better</font color=blue>

What the heck, I'll fuel this fire...

I have only worked with the fifth wheel but I'd have to say it's better. Definitely easier to hook up. You keep the trailer nearly the same level as the truck, you can see the whole operation through the back window and you get a positive engagement when you're hitched. Nothing could be easier. My hitch has tilt as well as pivot so it pulls just as nicely as a GN. My truck is a short bed so I got a slider hitch and it's the cat's meow for close quarters manuevering. In my ever-so-humble opinion, the only advantage to the GN is the lack of anything in the truck bed when the hitch is hidden. Those rails permanently bolted in my truck bed are a pain in the a$$.

Regardless of what you do, make sure the hitch pivot point is a couple of inches ahead of your rear axle centerline. Handling can be very squirley if it is behind the axle /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[MikePA]

<font color=blue>Those rails permanently bolted in my truck bed are a pain in the a$$.</font color=blue>

I have the rails too with my GN. I also have a bedliner and it is the same level as the rails. A smooth slide in for plywood, drywall, etc. When the shop installed the hitch, they cut slots in the liner to install the rails.