Hey everyone:
I am in th emiddle of buying a 35 foot 5er and it is presently equipped with a Convert a Ball cushioned gooseneck adapter. I have a B&W goose neck ball installed. Are these adapters sturdy and worth keeping on there? or is a regular fifth wheel plate better? It would sure save a lot of money to keep it on. ONe other issue though..I have a short bed 2010 F350 crew cab...the straight Convert a ball may not offer enough clearance from my cab and definitely not enough to clear my tool box. I have found that there are Convert a Ball offset adapters, but I cannot find just the adapter to slide up in the current kingpin attachment. Anybody know if those are available by themself? do they work well for increasing clearance?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

I will never run a adapter again after almost losing our 36 footer because of the adapter. The adapter places a lot of leverage on the frame of the fifth wheel and on ours the frame actually cracked in 8 different spots. There are guys running them with no issues but I will never again. I chose to run a B&W companion fifth wheel hitch instead..

 

Wow! that's a lot of leverage to do that! Did you have the extended adapter, or a straight down over the ball adapter? what kind of camper was that and have you heard of that happening with any others? That's something for me to look into before finalizing the deal because it looks like the hitch has been on there a long time.
do you have plenty of clearance with that hitch and your short box bed? or do you have the companion slider?

Sorry for all the questions, just want to learn as much as I can before spending the dough on a hitch...Don't want to waste money on something that won't work but don't want to spend lots more on something that I may not need too.

 

I'd rather run a true 5th wheel. The frame takes a lot of abuse from the road.

So unless the manufacture approves the use of the gooseneck I'd would not do it.

 

I would suggest using a true fifth wheel is a known. Using a gooseneck adds a level of unpredictability to the equation. It might work fine and it might cause a problem. I have seen both.

Steve

 

It was a straight down version, I sold that camper and now have a lighter one, My companion is a non slide, I can pretty much do a full jack knife with the unit. I am very carefull and watch the cab corners when I am backing up just to be sure. I have a shortbox as well and have never had any issues.

 

Here's what I put on mine...it is NOT a gooseneck and will work well with a short bed.



If you already have the goose neck ball installed in the bed, search in Anderson's web site & I think they have a G-N version of the same thing.

 

I concur with the other votes...

Have you RIDDEN on some of these roads ?!?!
Our "granite" sink toppers bounced off and ended up in the living room on one trip !!!

It looks like it's gliding along smoothly and all,
but you are trying to corral an earthquake back there,
I would not add any variables between the truck and rv if at all possible...

good luck !

(Not trying to scare you, but I'm scared enough by some of the expansion joints we hit in this new truck and new rv !)

 

thanks from all you for you responses
from the posts so far, it looks like there is a consensus that it is best to go with a fifth wheel hitch, and ditch the conversion to gooseneck. I am really nervous about having enough turning ability/clearance but also not thrilled with the expense of a sliding plate.
In my research, I have found that B&W makes an offset drop-in ball that has about 4" of offset from center..Would that be something feasable to use with the Companion hitch to give a few more inches of clearance, or does it change the leverage too much? Would be a lot less expensive than a $1400-1700 slider!

 

Curious.. does anybody have issues leveling their 5er with the high side rails of their truck? My 2010 F350 measures 58 inches tall at the highest point at the back corners.
How did you handle/solve any issue with height of trailer loft compared to height of truck; and keep the trailer level?

 

My axles are flipped to get enough height.

Steve

 

I had no problem. On the hitch (5th wheel) you can adjust the height on most of them.

Also consider 20% of the trailer GVW will go against the payload. In other words you are going to have a couple thousand pounds in the bed lowering it a couple of inches.

 

our 12 and 13 4x4 ford's didn't have an issue with clearance....

but I did have trailair pins on both...

 

Also consider 20% of the trailer GVW will go against the payload. In other words you are going to have a couple thousand pounds in the bed lowering it a couple of inches.

I did consider that Senix. It seemed to be still pretty close.

Friday we will seal the deal and pick it up to bring home. Its down in Colorado, about 70 miles from home.

At this point, I will bring it home with the goose-neck conversion that's on it simply because I will not be able to get a fifth wheel hitch by then. I will be getting one though, being as the camper is about 35 feet. That's a lot of camper wagging around back there to have held on by a goose neck ball!

If its doable, I would use one of those B&W 4 inch offset ***** to set the companion on and then not need a slider.
edit...silly me..I was picturing that wrong and had it wrong in my head....companion fits into hole, not on the hitch ball.

I will try to remember to get some pics of it hooked up and then figure out how to post them!
as usual, everybody has been a big help

 

i wouldn't let the length of your trailer bother you.

our 6-horse is a 38ft gooseneck.


i would, as you have decided, let the gooseneck adapter bother me. They are a good idea, but the frame of the 5'ers lack the additional bracing that a regular gooseneck hitch has.

i doubt you will find any better than a B&W. the companion is a top notch unit.

for half the price, though, you can solve most of your concerns with a hitch from Andersen.
http://www.andersenhitches.com/Produ...k-version.aspx

these have a built in set-back, which can be nice. or you can turn the whole thing around and set it forward (if you had a long bed, for example).

worth looking into, i think.

if i had the money to spend, i'd get the companion.
if i wanted to spend less, i'd get the andersen.

worth looking into, IMO.