Position of gooseneck ball in 2010 bed

[JRS]

just went to hook up my gooseneck race car trailer to my new 2010 crew cab (8 foot bed) and things aren't looking so good. I had a B&W turnover ball installed, but it sits so far foward in the bed that I have less than 2" of clearance between the corner end of the truck bed and the front vertical wall of the trailer when the truck is turned to it's sharpest angle. Is this correct? With the same trailer on my '97 (8 foot bed but extended cab) I could actually lay the tailgate down with the truck in the straight ahead position. From the edge of the bed to the center line of the ball is 47 1/2". Line of sight, it looks like the CL of the hitch is about 2" foward of the CL of the axle.



I will take a photo tonight and post it later tonight.

 

[Hoefler]

That is about the ideal place for it. Any further back, you would not get any pin weight on the front axle. Behind center of axle, you will actually unload the front axle, not good.

 

[Barry]

Hoefler is dead on!



You want that ball or kingpin(for RVs) just forward of the center line of the axle. If you get it behind the axle, it will porpoise and unload the front end. On a slick highway, when that happens, it is really hard on the upholstery.

 

[HBarlow]

I will disagree slightly with the other two posters. Dodges with Cummins engines have very little reserve carrying capacity on the front suspension. I think it is a mistake to mount the hitch forward of the axle centerline.

I prefer to mount a fifth wheel hitch or gooseneck ball directly over the centerline of the rear axle to avoid loading the front axle. I would never mount the hitch or gooseneck ball behind the axle for the reasons the other posters mentioned.

 

[steved]

I will disagree slightly with the other two posters. Dodges with Cummins engines have very little reserve carrying capacity on the front suspension. I think it is a mistake to mount the hitch forward of the axle centerline.



I prefer to mount a fifth wheel hitch or gooseneck ball directly over the centerline of the rear axle to avoid loading the front axle. I would never mount the hitch or gooseneck ball behind the axle for the reasons the other posters mentioned.

I was thinking the same thing... I want to remember my 5th wheel hitch centered over the axle (or only inches forward at most).

 

[NIsaacs]

If the distance between the center line of the front axle and the center line of the rear axle is 15', 2" is only 1. 1% or in the case of 2500 lbs of pin weight, about 27 lbs added to the front axle. If clearance is not an issue, I like 6" ahead of center.



Nick

 

[DGamelin]

We sell and install B&W hitches, ideally 2in in front is where you want to be. Most of B&Ws are -1 to +2" maybe +3". Most of the time they are placed by convenience because they don't remove bed crossmembers, shock mounts and such. I wouldn't go more then 4" and not of back of center if possible. B&W makes a 4" off set ball rated for 20k, that can be used in eather direction. JRS it sounds about right, we haven't done a 2010 yet. I wonder if the shape of the bed on the new body style is going to be an issue. We always give the directions to the customers if you've got them check them out. We have to order hitches tomorrow, I'll check with them on the measurement for your truck.



_________________________

93 250 2wd xc 354 auto 273k

04. 5 3500 4wd qc dully 373 6speed 97k

 

[DGamelin]

I checked with them 47. 5 from the rear is right. You can call B&W they will be happy to answer your questions. B&W has new owners as of about a year ago. If there is any problems they would like to know. Good luck.

 

[JRS]

Gregg with B&W gave me a call today. He was very cordial, but admitted I would just have to try it out. Part of the problem is the Mainliner race car trailer that I own. The front wall of the trailer is actually on a slope of about 4" per foot, so not exactly vertical. Mainliner is now out of business, perhaps this is why?



I've attached two photos of the clearance between the tip of the bed and the front wall of the trailer when the truck turns a corner.



With my old truck I could leave the tail gate down and back the truck up to the hitch, without running the tailgate into the same trailer. Now I will have to remember to back up some, stop, get out and close the tail gate and then back up the rest of the way to line up with the hitch.

 

[FFeiller]

man i wouldn't pull it this way. tight corner, uneven pavement,= new bed. maybe the only case where a short box would have been a better deal.

 

[DGamelin]

That is close on most goosenecks it is 8ft from the ball to the back of the up rights or edge of the deck. I have never had one that you couldn't leave the gate down. Looks like to make it more comfortable either use thier offset ball or raise the trailer some. Show us a picture of of the whole rig, looking at pictures is as close as I can get to getting one. If I could figure out how to put a picture on here I would. I have an off set sitting on my desk, it also makes a good paper weight.

 

[steved]

This would be a place where I might think about buying/using a flatbed that could be built to the length of the truck's frame for better clearance.

 

[JRS]

Purchased offset ball today where I had purchased my hitch a few weeks back. From just eyeballing it, it looks like the ball is almost right over the axle, now. It will be a few days until I can hook everything up again to see what kind of clearance I have. Just dissapointed that I had to spend another $170 and now have a chunk of greasy iron I have to find room for in the cab when I'm not towing.

 

[JRS]

towed 12k lb car racing trailer this weekend with the offset ball. no issues.

 

[SOLER]

Just dissapointed that I had to spend another $170 and now have a chunk of greasy iron I have to find room for in the cab when I'm not towing.

I realize this thread is a couple of years old, but... Put it in the trailer when not towing. My 2 cents



SOLER

 

[jelag]

I own a 3500 dually and have built an adapter to move either the gooseneck ball or the companion hitch 12 back of the OE location of the B&W Hitch on the truck... I currently tow a 15K lb 5er with the companion hitch the 12" back or in my case 10" behind the CL of the axle... I've done for at least 20K miles and I can attest that I have lots of miles using these trucks towing... and can't tell the difference when the companion hitch is in the correct location or the 12" back location... I do enjoy the extra space next to the cab and the extra space to open the basement door in the front of the trailer.

 

[SOLER]

I had a 2000, a 2001, an '04, and now a '10. The first two, the fifth wheel hitch mounted just forward of the CL of the axle. My '04 had it right over the axle, and I noticed a huge difference. Not terrible, but having it forward of the axle made the whole load so much better. My '04, which was a dually (first two were SRW), would buck something fierce on start up unless I really finessed the clutch, and rough roads were un-fun. I'm purchasing a gooseneck enclosed hauler, so I need a gooseneck hitch. I could use the rails from my old hitch, and use a goosneck plate, but there are three reasons I'm going with the B&W...

1. Made in USA

2. It mounts forward of the axle

3. I get complete access to my bed when not towing. Something I never had before.



I'll either use the Companion, or use my old hitch with this:

Curt 16310 X-5 5th Wheel Rails for B&W Turnover Ball Gooseneck Hitch - 5th Wheel Hitches - 16310 Curt X-5 Adapter Rails for B&W Turnover Ball - RadAuto - Radical Automotive Applications



I'm not ready to drop $1200 right now ($400 for the B&W and $800 for the Companion) when I have the fifth wheel hitch (and a good one at that) already.



SOLER

 

[ewcmr2]

My previous trucks GN ball was the recommended 2"-4" forward of axle CL. Current one is straight up.
Can't tell the difference driving. Like the extra room when hitching up and the front axle certainly doesn't need any extra weight.