Why Gooseneck And 5th Wheel?

in-too-deep · Jan 4, 2012

I have a hunch that gooseneck used to be trademarked, so they had to design something else. True? And how come nearly all camper trailers are 5th wheel and nearly everything else is a goosneck? Sitting in line with a truckful of corn at the corn syrup factory and I got to wondering.

Anonymous-0 · Jan 4, 2012

I don't but I'm staying home sick and I'm bored too.

Anonymous-0 · Jan 4, 2012

the gooseneck hitch is more of a wear and tear system from my knowledge, but it is better at side to side movments? Such as your trailer is on a side hill and your truck is not, it will handle that better? I'm not completely sure, but a 5th wheel system is known to last longer because the wear surface is much large.

showcrop · Jan 4, 2012

(reply to post at 15:21:00 01/04/12)

My understanding is primarily as Jordan says. Also since travel trailers pretty much always have a bedroom over the hitch it would be tough to squeeze in there to open and close a gooseneck hitch compared to the room at the front of most gooseneck trailers.

Nebraska Cowman · Jan 4, 2012

Yup, I think like Jordan says. The gooseneck is rock solid and can flex side to side. But you have to back up centered til the hitch is over the ball to hook up. The 5th wheel you back in and go. Good for people with poor driving skills. Oops, I didn't say that. But yeah, as we age it gets harder and harder to judge distance. Bifocals don't help a bit. I can still get hooked up to my gooseneck pretty good but I have been backing up to hitches I couldn't see for 50 years. It always amazes people when I back up, say, a hay baler to a wagon and stop within an inch of dead on.

john in la · Jan 4, 2012

A gooseneck is a much better hitch because it allows for roll side to side on rough ground and it allows you to put SOME things in the bed of the truck.

The reason they use 5th wheels on campers is its hard to get under the front bed area to hook and unhook a gooseneck; big campers are mostly pulled on concrete only; (no rough ground) but the main reason (and this is a big main reason) they do not put gooseneck hitches on big campers is the frame is not strong enough. The extra leverage exzerted on the camper body from the gooseneck arm will break the camper right where the front bed area meets the main camper. In other words it pulls the overhang off the front of the camper.

rustyfarmall · Jan 4, 2012

(quoted from post at 15:21:00 01/04/12) I have a hunch that gooseneck used to be trademarked, so they had to design something else. True? And how come nearly all camper trailers are 5th wheel and nearly everything else is a goosneck? Sitting in line with a truckful of corn at the corn syrup factory and I got to wondering.

The original trailer with a goosneck style hitch WAS a GOOSENECK brand. The gooseneck works very good for both on and off-road because it is very flexible, but not nearly as stable ON the road as a 5th wheel hitch. The 5th wheel design is borrowed from the trucking industry, and the 5th wheel hitch actually provides for the trailer AND the towing vehicle to more or less become ONE UNIT. If a 5th wheel trailer leans over too far on a steep slope such as a ditch bank, it WILL take the towing vehicle right along with it, which means that the tow rig will help to keep the trailer on the ground up to a certain point. Not so with a gooseneck. The gooseneck trailer can tip completely over on its side, and will affect the tow vehicle very little.

old · Jan 4, 2012

Goose neck is a simple up side down ball hitch and so works better for off road trailers but as per D.O.T. you have to have safety chains. 5th wheel on the other hand is more or less made for on the road type trailers but does not have to have safety chains and pretty much the sky is the limit as to load on it as in 80,000 plus. Goose neck has a load limit of 30,000lbs. The reason campers are 5th wheel is that it is legal to have people in the camper trailer when pulling it down the road but that is not so with a goose neck or ball hitch

farmer boy · Jan 4, 2012

I'll take a fifth wheel over a gooseneck any day. As old says, they're more secure and stable. For off the road, goose neck will provide more flex, though some newer fifth wheel hitches have side to side flex as well. the only advantage that gooseneck offers over bumper ball hitch is better weight placement, where as fifth wheel gives you better weight placement, and a much more secure attachment.

Bkpigs · Jan 4, 2012

The big advantage to the gooseneck (or disadvantage if you have an uneven load) is it allows the trailer to pitch side-to-side independent of the truck. About once every couple of months I almost get stuck with the semi at work. Example from yesterday is I was making a right hand turn on a back road to deliver 2 skids of T.V.s to a residence. The inside of the turn was severely sloped. When the trailer leaned into this slope and my tractor was not inline with the trailer, the leaning trailer started to lift my driver's side dual (we use single axle tractors [LTL]) off the pavement. Luckly I had enough momentum to make it through, but I did leave about a 15-20 foot set of black marks from the duals.

bobs old iron · Jan 5, 2012

i have both, a 5th wheel r-v, and a goose neck flat bed, which has a fifth-wheel pin [sleeve] in the place of the ball hitch for goose neck, have a Reese 20k 5th wheel set-up,i can hook either just by looking in mirror while backing to hook pin, no guessing where the ball on the goose is,,especially since my depth perception isn"t the greatest...oh, on my 5th set-up, it have the side-side and forward-backward motion head, so no worries if i need to curb a turn..

bobs old iron · Jan 5, 2012

old: not to argue with you last sentence, correct to a point, people can ride in a 5th, in some states, as long there is communication between truck and trailer ,,[c-b's or radio's].. now on the other hand, a 5th can come detached as easy as a goose..but that a different topic to talk about,,been there, done that,,bob

farmer boy · Jan 5, 2012

It's obvoiusly not true that a fifth wheel can come unhitched as easily as a gooseneck. There's a reason that some states allow you to ride in a fifth wheel trailer but not allow you to do the same in a gooseneck with safety chains. Years of use have proven that a fifth wheel hitch is a much more secure hitch.

old · Jan 5, 2012

Few 5th wheels ever brake free and if they do then some thing major has happened or they had some odd problem like a light duty hitch hooked to an extra heavy load. I have had my CDL since day one of them and my chauffeurs since I was 16. I have well over 1.5 mil miles on my driving record. Not saying they do not come loose but most of the time they will hold to the point the road tractor flips over with the trailer instead of the hitch giving in to the problem

bobs old iron · Jan 5, 2012

old and farm boy,,we are still on the same page,,,i should have stated, rarity, but it can happen, due to poor maintenance/something wrong..

Why Gooseneck And 5th Wheel?

in-too-deep

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Anonymous-0

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Anonymous-0

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showcrop

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Nebraska Cowman

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john in la

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rustyfarmall

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old

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farmer boy

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Bkpigs

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bobs old iron

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bobs old iron

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old

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