This may sound dumb, but what's the difference between a fifth wheeler and a gooseneck, other then the hicth what are the advantages and disadvantages of each of them

 

I think the fifth wheel is easier to hitch up. The gooseneck takes up a lot less room in your truck bed. They both handle high trailer weights.

 

When it comes to hitches bigger is always better. I spoke to numerous companies and settles on a goose neck hitch by Hidden Trailer rated at 30k with a tounge of 7500. This is the highest rating and is more then any 5er I could find which seemed to max out at 25k.

This unit locks in to the 5th wheel rails so if you wanted to get a 5er one day it is just a matter of slidding it in place of the goose hitch.

 

With the gooseneck hitch being a ball and socket type joint it allows greater range of motion as compared to the plate design of the fifth wheel. Newer 5er hitches though are starting to consider this and you can buy them with pivoting plates. However they still need to be on level surfaces for hooking up to or they get bound up on themselves, where as the gooseneck can go on at any angle.

 

If you plan on driving anything except relatively flat/level roads the gooseneck is the only way to go. I've hauled them places where the trailer frame was sitting on the bed- rail, or where we had to let the tail-gate down to keep from crushing it. As long as we could physically fit it down the trail, we could turn as sharp as we wanted to, up to the point several times, that we creased the back of the cab with the trailer. We never had any hitch related problems with any of our trailers. I've broken lots of springs and bent/ broke axles, but never broken a hitch or ball.

 

The paperwork for my 16k Draw-Tite 5th wheel hitch has the notice "RECREATIONAL USE ONLY". I'm not sure why, maybe someone can shed some light on this.
Dktolman, I have the swivel head and it doesn't bind up while unhooking on uneven ground. That's the purpose of the swivel.

Capt Ron

 

Recreational use only because lighter loads are encountered with r.v's than for regular work loads in 5th wheels. Many of those loads will exceed 20K lb.

 

Can a 5th wheel hitch be converted to a gooseneck type hitch?

I am browsing for a used TT or 5th wheel, about 25ft, possibly toy hauler, but really don't want the huge 5th wheel hitch in my bed. I would like to carry dirtbikes in the bed without having to take it out every couple of weeks.

Also, I would like to pull two trailers, so I believe here in AZ, the front one has to be a 5th wheel(or gooseneck?). I am hoping I can some day pull the trailer and a 17 foot boat(less than 3000lbs) to the river.

And, I have an 8inch lift with 37inch BFG's.

Am I asking too much out of one truck?

 

You can convert 5th wheel trailers to gooseneck type with an adapter piece. Some guy has(had) one for sale off I-10 and Riggs Road (South of Phx). It's a 33' toy hauler that he converted to gooseneck because he wanted all his trailers to hook up the same way.

2 trailer towing is legal in AZ. The first trailer needs to be fifth wheel or gooseneck and have trailer brakes. The second trailer needs to be less than 3000 lbs. TOTAL combined length not to exceed 65'. Measured from front of your bumper to back of last trailer. If you are 1" over, you'll get a ticket. Are there many 25' toy hauler fifth wheels out there? With your boat, you'll probably have to stick with a 28' or shorter fifth wheel to keep everything under the 65' max.

I have a CC short bed, 35' toy hauler fifth wheel and 17' Bayliner, but I can't tow them both together because I'd be 69'-8" total length. (I've already explored this option).

Anyway, I think your biggest problem is going to be your 8" lift. My truck is 4x4 with stock tires and suspension and my new fifth wheel barely cleared the bed rails by about 2" so I had to flip the axles on the toy hauler (which I wanted to do anyway to keep things from getting caught when I'm off roading to riding spots.)
You might be stuck with having to buy a travel trailer toy hauler instead.

I'm not sure what kind of truck you have, hopefully it's a Super Duty V-10 at least...diesel preferable if you are thinking of towing two trailers.

 

Thanks for all the info chavez. My boat trailer probably is the same length as yours, truck about a foot longer with the long bed, so lengthwise would be allright if I kept the trailer under 30ft.

But there is still the height issue. My neighbor goes to Glamis all the time and says he sees lots of trucks as tall as mine pulling 5th wheels. Maybe lift kits with bigger tires on the trailers? Does anyone out there tow fifth wheel with lifted truck?

 

I met a guy with a lifted crew cab Ford pulling a fifth wheel that he had flipped the axles and had springs over axles. It was pretty high up and he said it worked fine. I didnt ask him how he handled heavy cross winds with all that sail area up so high. That problem would be increased if you're towing 2 trailers. You know how the winds blow out at Glamis and Ocotillo...

 

I have crew cab w/6" lift and 35" BFG M/T.
Pull 37' Toy hauler w/ flipped axles, gooseneck adapter.
Only problem is overhead hieghth. (14' 6")
Have posted pics in gallery

 

WOW! You'd never make it through PA! There are a lot of bridges around here that have 13' 6" clearance at the shoulder.

 

I've been researching the goose neck vs. 5 er' for a while now & the answer was pretty obvious for me. It was made easier by the trailer dealer, he uses 5 er's very seldom, only by special request. Most of the larger horse trailers I see around here are using the gooseneck. Yeah, they are a little harder to hook up, but that's a minor inconvience. A gooseneck offers two main advantages 1) increased range of motion as already mentioned & 2) with the right hitch it's real easy to convert back to an unobstructed bed.

I went with the B & W hitch. It's rated for 30K gross & 7500 tounge (more than I'll ever need & I'm in the gray area for GCVW @ 20K). The beauty of the B & W is how easy it is to get your bed back. Pull a lever in the drivers rear wheelwell & flip the ball, done.

I have a crew cab, so seeing the ball when hooking up is not really possible. An old lady gave me a tip I need to pass on. Before you unhitch, take a bungy cord and attach it to the bed rails infront of, but touching your coupler, mark the contact point with tape or something that contrasts the cord and mark the contact points on your bedrails. Unhitch & have fun and when you want to re-hitch, stretch the cord out using the marks on the bedrail and the mark on the cord gives you an easy target to hit with the coupler. When contact is just made you should be at exactly the right spot. Sounds kind of unmanly, but makes the hook up much easier when solo & the wifes confusing signals are that much easier to ignore.

 

Damn!!!
Now theres what I call a marraige saver!