Goose neck/Fifth wheel hitch

[FD5]

We upgraded to a 27' Trail lite fifth wheel (4,800lbs. ) Thing is my truck has a goose neck hitch. The RV dealer has a hitch that uses the fifth wheel king pin and 4 bolts to mount a goose neck adapter to convertr the fifth wheel to a goose neck. Any thoughts or comments?

 

[Happy Camper]

Do a search on 5th wheel or gooseneck hitches, there are a lot of post on this subject. I at one time looked into it and my manufacture said no,no,no at best it would cause you to porpoise or at worst fracture your frame. It puts too much stress on the king pin.

 

[CRuD]

There was a recent post on this subject.

A fellow TDR member used one of those adaptors and about ruined his 5er. He had to spend $$$$$$ to get his trailer repaired so he could return home to have it repaired completely.

5ers go for about $1000 + per foot.

I looked into this converting a 5er into a goose neck and was advised to go with the B&W system, which is what I did. Happy Camper was one of the ones who advised it. Thanks again Happy Camper

Good luck

See Ya

Chris

 

[Charley]

FD5:



I have the adapter you are talking about on a 36' Holiday Rambler at 15,000# and am pulling it with my second Dodge. Over several pretty rough roads, up down 8% grades at 65/70 MPH and no problems of any kind. I don't have all that fifth wheel clutter in my bed. I use the turn over ball so it's out of the way when not hauling. GVW capacity of the setup is rated for 18,000#. Have pulled it that way around 5,000 miles so far. I will use the same adapter on any new fifth wheel I get. If you want I'll take pictures and e-mail to you when it stops raining here in south Texas. There are two more similar units here in the park I'm in.



Charley

 

[DCrabbs]

5TH WHEEL/GOOSE NECK ADAPTER

I have a fifth wheel to gooseneck adapter on my 31' Alpenlite (about 14,000#) and love it. It's sure nice to have nothing in the bed when you unhitch! Towed almost 10,000 miles last summer and had no trouble. The one I am using is called the Ranch Hitch Adapter manufactured by Anderson Manufacturing in Idaho Falls, ID. I can't find their website info off hand but their telephone number is 800-635-6106.

 

[merryman]

I got along fine with my adaptor for nearly 3,000 miles. I think it was a stretch of particularly bouncy highway in Eastern Calif. that did it in; jup, started tearing the king pin box right out of the frame---just the thing that at least two others had warned me of. That you guys have been lucky so far, is not proof you won't get bit like I did. Its not a fun experience to look in the mirror and see your pin box and fiver body moving in diff. directions.



Vaughn

 

[C Schomer]

I tore up a trailer with a g-neck conversion. The added leverage flexed the front(bedroom area)so much, the siding and paneling were coming off. Staples were coming out of the paneling inside and the staple crowns sheered off on the outer siding. That Wildwood RV wasn't much when it was new - it was junk in the end! It took a 80-85 mph trip across Neb with strong head and cross wind to do it. Before that, I think the coachwork was OK but I could see a lot of pinbox flexing after the conversion. I won't do it again! Craig

 

[Happy Camper]

I have the Alpenlite 5vr and the company will not advise you going that route. You will ave to weigh the pros and cons and live with your decision. When I unhook it takes me about 5 to 10 minutes to remove the B&W hitch which leaves me a flat bed to put the slide in camper in. This way I have no worry about the king pin, frame, siding etc. JMO.

 

[RustyJC]

I agree - if you want a gooseneck and 5th wheel hitch as well as a clean bed when neither is in use, go with the B&W. There are a few tricks to get the companion 5th wheel hitch to work well with a heavy 5ver, but it can be done.



The gooseneck adapter that bolts to the 5ver's pin box imposes torques for which the 5ver frame was not designed. Look at the gusseting and the amount of steel in the hitch area of a gooseneck trailer - 5ver's, because they aren't designed to handle the torque loading of a gooseneck, don't have nearly so much material in the pin box area of their frames. In short, I'd never do it!



Rusty

 

[GLASMITHS]

5th to gooseneck hitch

uh, RustyJC



Without sounding plain dumb, what is a B&W hitch. I have quit reading the trailer stuff; but this sounds pretty good to me. Right now my fifthwheel hitch is in the bed, and I need to haul some plywood tomorrow, and a couple days later pull the RV , no what I mean. This baby is heavy to be undoing very often------

 

[RustyJC]

Glasmiths,



Take a look at http://www.turnoverball.com to see the B&W gooseneck hitch. Click on the "companion RV hitch" topic to see the accessory 5th wheel hitch that can be used with the gooseneck receiver.



Hope this helps.



Rusty



Edit - I just checked this link and B&W's site seems to be down this morning. You might keep checking as I double-checked this link against my bookmark that has always worked, and they're the same.

 

[klenger]

RustyJC:

What is the weight of the 5th wheel companion hitch? The part that can be removed, not including the mounting system.



My 5er hitch is about 140 lbs. If the reason for installing the turnoverball system is to have a lighter hitch, the weight comparison is something to consider.

 

[RustyJC]

Ken,



The companion 5th wheel hitch comes off in three steps (at least the way I do it).



1. Remove the head - this requires pulling two (2) pins. The head probably weighs 40-50 lbs.



2. Remove the frame - this requires loosening 4 nuts on 2 U-bolts and removing 1 vertical hold-down bolt. The frame probably weighs 70-80 lbs.



3. Remove the adapter post from the gooseneck receiver and install the gooseneck ball or the blank plug. This is done by pulling the release lever under the left rear wheelwell and then releasing it when the changeover is complete.



FYI - this system has a gooseneck hitch rating of 30,000 lbs and a 5ver hitch rating of 18,000 lbs.



Rusty

 

[Happy Camper]

RustyJc. That is the way I do it also. I am 66 years young and weigh 135lbs and have no problem with removing or installing the hitch. I might add at this point, installing the mounting hardware to the frame requires no drilling and after you drop the spare tire it goes in as per the instructions.

 

[dmurdock]

Drill a hole in a board just big enough for a pencil to fit in.



Put a pencil in the board.



Put another board on the first board and slide it up against the pencil, now push as hard as you can trying to break the pencil.



This is the type of stress a fifth wheel kingping/hitch goes through.



Now, push the top of the pencil... . SNAP



That's how a kingpin converter works.

 

[klenger]

dmurdock



OK, Now who's going to pay for my broken pencil? Very good description.

 

[Wiredawg]

Hey guys:



I wished I knew about B/W's 5th wheel hitch that works in a goose neck hitch. I bought my truck used with a goose neck hitch and bought a 15K lb travel supreme. Neither the RV dealer nor a trailer/trailer accessories dealer knew of any kind of converter. Neither one of them would modify my trailer from kingpin to gooseneck due to liability issues.



I removed my gooseneck hitch and installed a Reese 20K lb one. Still not crazy about hitch rails in my bed. Maybe I'll change out one day.



Wiredawg