gooseneck or fifth wheel

[olimaxx]

i am buying a 38 foot toybox, what is the better way to go?
my friends have the tradional 5th hitches and i heard the gooseneck set up is the way to go. i am not sure with the best way to go. any help woulb be cool.

[cowboywildbill]

We tow a lot and have towed just about every type and size trailer. We used to pull new campers from the factory to the dealers. I think the Goosneck beats the fifthwheel hands down.
1. Gooseneck hitch leaves the bed open.
2. Even with a removable fifthwheel, you have take it in and out of the bed if you plan on using your bed for anything, and they are not light.
3. The gooseneck tows better. "lower center of gravity" The top of a fifthwheel is about even with the top of the bed rails.
The gooseneck center of gravity is 3-5 inches from the floor of the bed.
We even have a gooseneck adapter on our 35' fifthwheel. It now hooks up and tows like a gooseneck. And it tows & handles better this way.
4. We tow several trailers and it is much easier to tow them all as goosenecks. Instead of swapping different hitches in and out of the bed.
Hope that helps.

[WILLYD-MAX]

I have not had any experience towing 5th wheel but have towed lots of gooseneck. One thing I would strongly reccomend is an Airsafe hitch. We put one on our 35' race trailer and it made a whale of a difference in smooth towing while being much easier on the truck and trailer and hitch. Its a set of air bags on a hitch that you slide up in the tongue of the trailer. The roads are extremely rough here in missouri.

[DmaxMaverick]

I've pulled both. The ride quality is not something I noticed to be much different. The GN seemed to transmit much more vibration and bucking to the truck on very rough surfaces, but the 5'er would do more "porpoising" on the washboard highways. There is validity to the "center of gravity" argument, but will not be an advantage/disadvantage in all conditions. I have noticed the contents of a 5th wheel will be happier than with a GN. Blowouts are also easier to control with a 5th wheel, whether on the truck or trailer, in my experience. Another thing to consider is passengering. In CA, and many other states, it is legal to have passengers in a 5th wheel, but NOT legal with a GN.

I notice you have a lift, and are running 35" tires. If this is the truck you will use, forget the in-bed hitches and go with a pull trailer. There's no way to make that combination safe. Unless the toybox you are looking at is extremely low-profile, you won't make legal height, and talk about "center of gravity" issues! How do you plan on leveling that rig? Your only option in that case would be a flatbed, with a flush hitch, then it wouldn't matter which hitch you choose as the connetion point would be the same.

[Inspector]

I have also heard that the GN hitch is hard on the forward framework of a fifth wheel travel trailer. Most GN trailers are engineered for stock and equipment loads and are therefore built much stronger in the forward framework. I am told that if a GN adaptor is used on a fiver travel trailer that the strain put on the hitch pin box is tremendous.
This is all hersay to me but sounds logical.
Denny

[DmaxMaverick]

I have also heard that the GN hitch is hard on the forward framework of a fifth wheel travel trailer. Most GN trailers are engineered for stock and equipment loads and are therefore built much stronger in the forward framework. I am told that if a GN adaptor is used on a fiver travel trailer that the strain put on the hitch pin box is tremendous.
This is all hersay to me but sounds logical.
Denny

Absolutely true.

If a GN adapter is used, it HAS to be approved by the manufacturer of the trailer, regardless of what the adapter manufacturer says. The trailer you are looking at is very heavy, and the design of the hitch is very much a part of its structural integrity.

[cowboywildbill]

DMaxMaverick brought up some good points. And if your truck is any higher than stock you may have a rough time trying to tow a fifthwheel whether it has an adapter or not, the level hieght should be the same if adjusted properly. There is usually very little clearence between the top sides of the bed and the underside of a fifth wheel. And that gets worse when you go off road or in and out of parking lots that are uneven. I have seen many underside dents and tears in fifthwheels from hitting the bed in those situations. And some damage to truck beds also. Just a thought.