How Do You Hook Up Your Gooseneck?

[444Powerstroke]

Do you climb in the truck bed every time and connect/disconnect the latch or hook-up chains?
I've always had a standard tongue pull or RV style 5th wheel, now I have a horse trailer that will primarily be used by my wife. I don't see anyway of hooking it up or disconnecting it without climbing in the truck bed to do so. I didn't find much on the internet except a poorly marketed over priced "Ez-Latch System".
I have a couple of ideas on making something, but thought I would ask here first.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

I climb in the bed every time to hook-up the safety chains, so I do it all while I am there.

 

[Deere Dude]

I have a redwood bench with semi sturdy legs to stand on. I then can reach over the bed and do my hookups.

 

[mjw357]

Lower trailer down onto the ball. Step on rear tire and climb in to close hitch and connect chains.

 

[WM75Guy]

After knee replacement I can't crawl in to hook everything up. I have a small stool to step up and sit on the tailgate, then just lay over on my side to reach everything. You can rotate the hitch 180 degrees so the latch faces the back if needed.

 

[BobG_in_VA]

Lower trailer down onto the ball. Step on rear tire and climb in to close hitch and connect chains.

What he said...+1 BobG in VA

 

[Xfaxman]

I put a magnet stick in front of the gooseneck ball, then looking in the center rear view mirror, back up, centering the stick on the hitch tube. Stop as soon as the stick moves from contacting the hitch.

Lower on to the ball, then I step on the Bed Step and into the bed to latch and hook the safety chains. :thumbsup:

 

[topbuilder]

When I unhook from the trailer, I do not raise the hitch all the way up off the ball . When backing up to reconnect I can feel the ball slide under the hitch. Lower it down, stand on the tire to lock it in. Screw the chains. Never used them.

 

[bdog]

When I unhook from the trailer, I do not raise the hitch all the way up off the ball . When backing up to reconnect I can feel the ball slide under the hitch. Lower it down, stand on the tire to lock it in. Screw the chains. Never used them.

You will make the DOT's day someday when they write you a ticket for that. I have never seen or heard of a gooseneck coming loose but the law states you must have them. I got a ticket back in the ninities for no safety chains on a gooseneck. The pickup had no provisions to connect them and the trailer I was pulling didn't even have chains.

 

[civilian]

You will make the DOT's day someday when they write you a ticket for that. I have never seen or heard of a gooseneck coming loose but the law states you must have them. I got a ticket back in the ninities for no safety chains on a gooseneck. The pickup had no provisions to connect them and the trailer I was pulling didn't even have chains.

So what makes a GN need chains, but a fifth wheel doesn't? Just wondering. Jon

 

[Hurst238]

I bought a conversion and use my 5th wheel hitch and it's much easier to line up and hook up.

 

[bdog]

No idea why a GN need them and a fifth doesn't but I found out the hard way. I guess a fifth wheel is supposed to be a more secure connection.

 

[mikesee]

Fifth wheel hitch with King pin trailer connector does not require chains, think semi truck and trailer. Any trailer attached to the tow vehicle with BALL requires chains whether it is a tag pull or bumper pull. Would you just say screw the safety chains with a bumper pull trailer? A goose neck trailer attached to the truck with a ball still needs chains even though the ball is over the axle.

If you haul commercially the DOT will place your vehicle Out of Service if the safety chains are not connected if a ball pulls your trailer. All you would need to do to fix the Out of Service Order is hook up the chains but you would be left with a hefty fine of up to 2k for driving a truck that was placed Out of Service.

Personally I hook up the safety chains. If your trailer becomes detached and there is evidence that the chins were not hooked up and you hurt somebody jail time is a real possibility.

 

[mikesee]

I do not know if there are any scientific reasons why chains are required with Ball pull VS king pin pull but I do know there are regulatory DOT reasons.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Rules must have changed somewhere along the line, I bought a 1993 Gooseneck brand stock trailer brand new and it has never had any safety chains, I would have never thought that a big manufacturer like Gooseneck would have sold a trailer that was not DOT compliant, I don't know that any of the deckover or stock trailers from that era had safety chains, maybe someone else that has an older trailer can chime in.

 

[bdog]

When I got my ticket was in 98 or so. I was hauling a factory made trailer made in the early nineties that had no safety chains. It must have changed somewhere in that time frame. Come to think of it the dealer installed the gooseneck hitch in the truck also and it didn't have provisions for the safety chains.

 

[mikesee]

I just looked at the Gooseneck trailer site gooseneck.net and every photo of their trailers shows chains hanging from them. Dollars to doughnuts your trailer has attachment points for safety chains in the neck of trailer near the down tube, just no,chains hooked up.

 

[4570Man]

After getting out to look at the ball about 3 times to get it lined up I lower the trailer on the ball and then climb in the back of the truck to latch it and hook up the safety chains. I'd way rather have have a GN over a 5th wheel. The 5th wheel was easier to hook up, but the hitch was way more trouble to put in the truck. I'm not one of the people the only haul air in my truck so I had to remove the hitch almost every time I finished using it. Not to mention the hitch I had cost $1000 and took up space in the garage when not in use. I'll never have another 5th wheel. If I ever have another camper I'll put a GN converter on it.

 

[topbuilder]

"Would you just say screw the safety chains with a bumper pull trailer? A goose neck trailer attached to the truck with a ball still needs chains even though the ball is over the axle."

Whatever. I have two gooseneck trailers. Neither one was required to have chains when it was manufactured. Both inspected without chains. I worked at a dealership that had half a dozen gooseneck trailers. No chains.

New normal I guess. Like driving a million miles without a seat belt. I'll look into it. Never been DOT'ed. I would hate to make a bad 1st impression...

 

[mikesee]

"Would you just say screw the safety chains with a bumper pull trailer? A goose neck trailer attached to the truck with a ball still needs chains even though the ball is over the axle." Whatever. I have two gooseneck trailers. Neither one was required to have chains when it was manufactured. Both inspected without chains. I worked at a dealership that had half a dozen gooseneck trailers. No chains. New normal I guess. Like driving a million miles without a seat belt. I'll look into it. Never been DOT'ed. I would hate to make a bad 1st impression...

That is the issue, DOT officers interpret regulations to fit their fancy