fifth wheel movement at the receiver

[rob10858]

ive read alot of different posts about this subject, and thought that a new thread might help. from many years of pulling alot of weight on our various 5th wheel trailers [4 different mnfs] weve learned an important lesson. check the "slop" between the inner and outer sleeve of the receiver! fatigue can do strange things to metal. we now make it a common practice to add an inner sleeve to our gooses [after having three break, and causing the trailer to break away from the towing vehicle] yep, and it was me that happened to be driving all three times. in two instances i felt a jerk and looked in the rearview to see that something just didnt look right. usually the trailer will settle onto the bed and can be gently pulled off the road. but one time the hitch broke free on a steep hill, going to my house, and the trailer pulled loose, tearing off my tailgate and gouging the bed, but the breakaway did its job and it ended up in a neighbors front yard. [luckily i do turf work and was able to fix the damage] just be warned that trailer mnfs dont approve of any mods to their design, but beleive me when you go to hook up, and then see that your locking collar is on the wrong side, and then see that the main tube has cracked and the only thing that saved your a. . was the second tube, its about $300 well spent. if anyone out there sells trailers and has a problem with what ive said here, feel free to comment. ive got great pictures and lots of suggestions. another thig that ive noticed is the amount of movement in the ball itself [ all bolted not welded] sooner or later that back and forth jerk is going to wear some component down. just my 2cents.

 

[merryman]

I have concerns about this problem and would really like to know more about your mods. Can you e-mail me pics?

-- email address removed --



Thanks

Vaughn

 

[rob10858]

im afraid that im not that advanced on the computer yet, but i have a neice that would do it for me. we took the pictures for insurance purposes as well as for "how did your day go?" im usually only home two nights a week, but ill get it done. id like for everyone to see what im talking about, it aint fun.

 

[dmurdock]

can't picture it

are you talking about fifth-wheels or goosenecks???

 

[rob10858]

goosenecks, deck over wheel flatbeds, especially the round tube receiver that drops onto the ball, vs the slide in and latch type receivers. these tubular recvs drop onto the ball and then latch. these two type hitches are all weve ever used, so thats the type of rig im reffering to. this 5th wheel vs gooseneck still confuses me, you still have a trail unit that rides over the rear axle, and you still have a coupling system that connects them , they always need to be checked for wear. as far as pictures of our mods go, the bossman kind of frowned on that idea because our co logo or the trl mnf was pretty evident in all the photos [legally you never know these days] its simple and safe and members know where i lurk.