My similar truck and Reese Goosebox are an excellent combo. I pull a 14k Alliance and I do not have any cab clearance issues after 4K miles and a number of tight spots.

 

Tough call, I’ve narrowed down to the Pullrite 2900 20K Superglide ($1750) & Capture Plate ($150) with a B&W 4” ball ($80) extender or a Reese 20K Goose Box ($1800). The Reese Goose Box Pin Box seams like the simplest path to follow leaving your bed pretty much empty when your disconnected with adjust Menus to clear your bed ceilings.
The RV I’m buying uses a Lippert Rhino Box King Pin Box.

 

Make sure you get the Goosebox for a Rhino frame. That is the newest model they released (94920). I know for a fact that the older Reese Goosebox will not fit a Rhino frame. I found out the hard way. When the 94920 first came out, they were $2300 so it is good to see the price has come down.

That original price was the only reason I did not pick one up for my application when I decided to move away from my PullRite hitch setup. I found a TrailerSaver TS3 for cheap but now I have to give up my bed space and it is a heavy pig. With the price drop and the fact I will have $1600 in my TS3 hitch (Used hitch, puck adapter, replacement parts); in retrospect I would have just went with a Goosebox.

If you are concerned about cab contact, GenY makes an offset ball adapter (5") that fits into the Ford puck system. That would help out a lot. Just understand the further back the hitch pin weight get from the rear axle, the lighter the front end will get and more weight will be on the rear axle. Do you know what your pin weight is?

 

Hitch or Pin Weight is 2142 lbs.

 

That is pretty light for pin weight. If that is manufacturer, they are typically not accurate. Your actual pin weight will probably be in the 2500+ range. If your worried about cargo weight, the Reese will reduce your overall bed weight. The risk there is not having enough cab clearance.

 

to figure pin weight go by the GVW of the trailer and figure 20% for the pin or king pin weight. That amount becomes payload in the bed of the truck.

MFR's always seem to use the dry weight at the factory and that does not include a battery or propane either.

10% is a good number for bumper pulls.

 

I fell for the "you need a slider for a short bed" hype when I bought my first 5th wheel 12 years ago. I bought a Curt slider, the only time I used it was loading and unloading, because it gave me more room between the tailgate and camper. Never needed it for maneuvering. The stresses on the camper suspension are big when turning sharp also. I got tired of clunking and needing a hoist to get it in and out of the truck so I sold the slider and bought a fixed base hitch. The fixed hitch still clunked some and was still pretty heavy, which pushed me to the Goose Box.

When I bought the Grand Design, I kept the Goose Box, in fact, new Grand Designs use a Turning Point pin box that will not work with a Goose Box and that alone pushed me away from a new unit. Yes, I really like the Goose Box.

 

Acdii your comment “If you are looking for shortbed hitches, a gooseneck wont give what you need. Either a slider or a Sidewinder will be better suited for your application.” So you’re ruling out the Reese Goose Box correct? But would go with the Pullrite Superglide instead?

 

A friend of mine has the short bed with the Goose Box and an Arctic Fox fifth wheel. I haven't heard him complain about the turning radius. It probably depends on the nose of the fifth wheel.

 

It does depend on the trailer nose. A goose box, or any of the goose ball pin boxes like Gen Y only set you back the same distance as the pinbox to 5th wheel. If the nose is flat straight across, you WILL contact the cab at some point. If it has a curve to it, you have greater turning radius, but still have cab contact concerns. I don't recommend a slider 5th wheel due to the weight added, and the struggles needed to put it in and take it out.

My Arctic Wolf was very close and has a curved nose, it would be impossible to back it into my driveway without putting the truck in the ditch across the road without some sort of slider, I know, I tried. With the Sidewinder though I can do some pretty sharp backing or turns and have zero concerns about a cab strike. I had pulled the wedge and locked the sidewinder on my last trip with it (which is a story in itself) and needed to make a u-turn across a two lane and came extremely close to a cab strike and thankfully had a rather large drive I could use to make the turn around. With the Sidewinder wedged and unlocked I could have easily made the turn with far less room since it could pivot beyond 90 degrees, where without I had 70 degrees. .

The only true solution I can give you is to measure it and see just how much cab clearance you have with the standard setup and how much you can gain with the goose ball setup.

The Goose box and others like it aren't made for cab clearance, https://www.etrailer.com/question-263253.html they are made for a cleaner bed and more room for storage. You have to make sure the trailer can clear with a normal pinbox before going to the goosebox. Start here https://www.curtmfg.com/how-to-measure-truck-bed

A slider can give up to 11" of additional cab clearance, a Sidewinder gives up to 22" of cab clearance.

 

My first 5th was a 1999 Keystone Sprinter, it had a square front. In 10 years I never came close to hitting the cab on my short bed truck with any of the standard hitches or the Goose Box. The only reason the cab gets hit with the camper is the driver not paying attention to what they are doing.

 

Sounds like good advice….will have to measure it and see just how much cab clearance I have with the standard setup and how much I can gain with the goose ball setup.

 

GenY all the way , smooth ride and great bed clearance

 

This is the one I am aiming for to add to my trailer. I have conventional, or Sidewinder bolted in place, conventional. The pin chucks slowing and starting up and gets very annoying at times If all I have to do is pull the pin to replace the hitch, then the Gen Y will be the prefect choice.

 

Make sure if you go with GenY you get correct weight rating for your 5thwheel. Gen Y has some standard ratings but can be ordered with higher ratings if needed. Too little capacity and it will have too much bounce . Too high a rating and it will be rough ride . I called GenY and talked to engineer to order what I needed for my rig.