b&w turnoverball gooseneck hitch

[Big White]

today i received the b&w gooseneck hitch model 1394r for dodge 02 2500 lwb. can someone explain to me why in the instructions it says that when you drill a hole in the bed that the location will place the ball 5" in front of the axle? the reason this concerns me

is because when you load the trailer down you are adding more weight to the front axle in addition to the cummings that is already in there by doing this am i over loading the front axle? any help would be great. thanks:

 

[Peter Campbell]

Hi:

It is not that much additional weight. Assume 2000# pin weight. on a 160. 5 Wheel base the weight would be 155. 5" from front axle. Using rear axle as a "fulcrum" point the force exerted on the front axle is 2000Lbf X 5" /160. 5" = 62. 3 Lbf. Going backwards using the front axle as fulcrum 2000Lbf X 155. 5/160. 5 = 1937. 7 Lbf And to check they add up to 2000#

This helps on stability and only adds 62# per ton of pin weight. If you are in a short bed the front axle load would be higher, but those are compromises made on the day the truck was ordered. SWB is easier to park and manuver, but not optimized for highway towing as much as LWB tow vehicles. For illustration look at the tractors for shuffling at loading docks and ones you see on the interstate.