5th Wheel vs. Gooseneck

[jgallentine]

I know a lot of you have travel trailers and from my observation, most of you use a 5th-wheel style hitch. I pull car trailers and most of those, that aren't tag style, use a gooseneck hitch. Most of these trailers are custom built and you can order them either way.



My question is; what are the pros and cons of the two styles?



Obviously, a big pro to the gooseneck is full use of the bed if you get something like a B&W Turnover Ball.



What else is there to consider?



Thanks

 

[Whitmore]

I prefer the gooseneck but

by installing an adapter to your camper to use gooseneck you are putting alot more stress on the camper frame as you extended the hitch point alot further, if you do this you MUST beef up the frame on the under side of the camper or you will get alot of flex and will adventually crack the frame or break it.



cheers, Kevin

 

[jgallentine]

No opinions?

100 views and no oppinions on which is better and why?



Just for clarification, I am not talking about an adapter. I am talking about having the option of having the trailer built with a goorseneck hitch or a 5th wheel hitch. Which is better?

 

[RustyJC]

Gooseneck hitch ratings are 30,000 lbs and more. I'm not aware of any 5ver hitches rated for much over 20,000 lbs for 1-ton pickups. Having said that, what kind of hitch is on Class 8 over-the-road tractors?



If you're going to be pulling a car hauler with a combined weight well over the Ram's GCWR, my vote would be to go with an adequately rated gooseneck hitch.



Rusty

 

[Mark_Kendrick]

I've been told that the 5th wheel is easier to hook up when alone.



The gooseneck hitches tend to be rated at higher capacities. Farmers use goosenecks because they have a lot more room for flex at the pin for rough terrain. everthing except an rv that you might pull is either bumper/pintle or gooseneck. The gooseneck does make for easier use of the bed.



I have a pop-up hitch in my '01 3500 ETH I really like. My 1st gen has a hide away that is a plate. you lift a little panel and the ball pivots up into place. both very user friendly but I like the pop-up better. You just pull a lever inside the fenderwell for it.



FWIW,

Mark

 

[drees1]

Goose Vs 5th..long post

The 5th wheel is primarily aimed at the RV trailer. I believe it provides for a cheaper made trailer with less reinforcement required above the hitch on the trailer. This allows the living compartment to be closer to the hitch. (bigger living area) Gooseneck hitches are higher rated because they are lower in the bed of the truck and can get a very strong hitch down low on the frame of the truck. The gooseneck trailer "neck" takes all the moment and bending load, not the truck hitch. Consequently, the gooseneck trailer uses the same size I beam as the main runners up on the neck to handle the forces of an extended hitch. If the same size (8" ,10", or 12" ) beams were used in a camper over the hitch, living space would be wasted. I believe the gooseneck hitch and ball is the better design from the standpoint of taking load. So, on a goosneck design, the trailer takes a big moment and bending load, and on a 5th wheel, the truck hitch takes more of it. Make sense??



As a side bar, a semi 5th wheel is very wide and does not flex or pivot side to side as some RV 5th wheels do. This is to provide 4 point or 4 corner suspension for the trailer. To the degree that an over turning trailer will take the truck with it. The RV hitches do not supply this kind of overturning resistance. They are too narrow side to side. In fact many RV 5th wheels pivot side to side for the convience of allowing hooking on uneven ground. 5th wheel RV hitches share little with semi 5th wheel hitches.



Both hitches are easy to hook up if you can see them. The 5th wheel is easier if you can't see the hitch. If your bed is empty you can see the gooseneck ball from the driver's seat.



Also, in my opinion, since the ball is lower in the bed on a gooseneck, the ride will be a little better, as front to back pitching forces from the trailer will tend to force the truck more front to back instead of inducing an up and down motion on the front axle.



All of this aside, If you follow the industry standard of gooseneck for utility trailers, and 5th wheel for RV, then your resale later will be quicker. Just some thoughts...



Doug Rees

 

[Jff24Gordn]

completly agree with drees1.

 

[Big-D]

%th Wheel..

I couldn't agree more with Drees1. Doug said it all for I have ridden in or used all three types of hitches. By choice the goose neck fits my needs and provides the safety in strength that I like. Dave

 

[jgallentine]

Thanks for all the input!

Too bad you can never have it both ways. The weight of the trailer will probably require a gooseneck but since the trailer will have sleeping quarters in the neck, it would be nice to svae the room.



Oh well, a foot extra tall trailer with a gooseneck will work just fine.



Thanks for all the feedback, I appreciate it.

 

[C Schomer]

Holland makes brute 12" 5th whs - I think rated 32K in 2 and 4 way pivot. I made a gneck adaptor for a 5th wh rv and tore it up but the gneck recepticle I used was really slick. I think the mfgr was Autolock from Redneck trailer supply. It had jaws that opened to the front so I could back the ball into it and the jaws automatically snapped shut and locked. Alignment had to be a little closer than a 5th wh. but I would take that Autolock gneck recepticle over a 5th wh setup any day as long as the trailer is a real gneck design. Craig

 

[Mschevey]

I just had a 24 ft. utility trailer made about 2 years ago. The company that made it for me told me that about 20% of the trailers they manufacture have 5th wheels while the rest have goosneck hitches. They only make utility trailer and car haulers.



I like the 5th wheel from the stand point of ease of hookup, and that the load is spread out over a larger area. The load passes from the trailer to the truck over the area of the skid-plate. Only the accel. /decel. forces are applied to the kingpin. If you use a 5th wheel on a utility trailer make sure you get a good hitch. The ones less than 20K lbs. are for RV's. The ones over 20K will work well with a utility trailer. (lots of overkill based on the GCVWR of the truck though. )



Only my $. 02

Mike Schevey