Can you use airbags with a turn over ball?

[CoreyPerez]

Hey folks,



I searched, searched and searched. I just couldn't find an answer to my question although I'm sure its been asked here before.



I'm about 2ish years away from getting my goose neck trailer, and with in a year of getting the hitch and the spray in liner. My question is, I'm planning on a 35' goose with an overdeck on the goose. My intention is to put a pop-up trailer ON the over deck, and I may need to use airbags to help raise the rearend or atleast help support the weight.



After looking at a friends ford I noticed that his turn over ball lever is directly in line with the axle tubes, and I'm sure thats just where the air bags would go on the suspension. Is there a way to re-route the lever for the turn over ball, or some other way around this? I don't want to have to crawl under the truck to get to the lever! There is a chance that I may not NEED the airbags, but I'm trying to plan this all out, and would like to have the airbags if needed. I figure the 35'er with x2 4wd trucks, pop-up trailer (w/out axle) and water, fuel, batts, and gear would be a nice weight on the front of the trailer/rear end of the truck.



Once again, I'm sure this question has been asked, I just would like to have my route all planned out to avoid any wasted money or time.



Thanks in advance,



Corey

 

[EIvarson]

Corey,



I just put in the turnover ball. The lever you pull to get the ball out is two parts. If you have compressed air for the suspension, it would be trivial to mount a small air cylinder to do the job.



Erik

 

[CoreyPerez]

I just thought I remember those airbags were pretty big, about 4-6" round??? That is what I was thinking.



Corey

 

[RustyJC]

Erik,



My truck isn't here at the office, but my recollection is that the release lever comes out above the frame rail, right? (I'll be the first to admit that I could be wrong here - I'll check when I get home tonight. ) If that's so, the end of the lever could be bent (I would think) so that it didn't interfere with the airbag or its upper mount.



Rusty

 

[TPCDrafting]

I really like my turn over ball, but some are using a diff. brand that turns over, but there is no lever on the side. You just have a series of turns and pushes to put the ball down in it's hitch, again no lever on the side. Look at yer issue 40, page 121. There is one vendor. I'm not affiliated, but thought this would eleviate any concern of having the bags in front of your lever. I would think if you put your heavier truck on the back of the trailer to balance out the weight, you might not need the bags. A nice thing about GN's is you can do this and not over weight your hitch side. It also depends where the trailer axles are located. If you have more questions about this type of GN ball hitch, try PMing Whitmore. He has this hitch and likes it fine.

 

[JLinder]

My experiece is you can have one or the other. The Firestone airbags I had on my '01 mounted to the side of the frame (upper bracket) right where the outside plate for your g/n hitch would be. I had a flatbed with a built in g/n hitch on that truck, but I've got a B&W hitch on my current truck. Although the hitch attatches to the frame differently on the '03, the design is basically the same. There might be some different options with the bags, but any type of hitch that has side plates will be right where the 'bag mount are supposed to go.



Now that I think about it, try looking at the diamond hitch (or something close to that name). I believe their hitch doesn't have plates on the outside of the frame, but on top and inside instead.

 

[CoreyPerez]

JLinder



Great information. I'll look up that hitch tomorrow. I just hope its a flat mounted turn over style



Thanks,



Corey