Gooseneck questions

[Dek Hawkins]

Hi, I live in England, and I am wanting to bring over a Gooseneck Horse trailer with living accomodation.
I have a 2002 2500HD 6.6 Duramax Silverado, with a HD trailer package.

1. How does the cable fit in conjunction with brake pedal, we are not allowed any delay on trailer braking.
2. I undrstand there are are two types of hitches, which is best, how do they fit in bed.
3. The trailer will weigh around 2600 kilos, gross combined weight is 9880kilos
4. There are so many different rules over here, it is proving very hard to sort out, where can I get more information .
5. How can I transport a Gooseneck without a truck, as I need to ship it over.
The trailer will be either Featherlight, Bloomer, Exiss, Sundowner or Sooner.

You guys are more into these, no-one in England has any idea.

Dek

[DickWells]

Well Dek, I don't pull a horse trailer with living quarters, but my son has an Exiss, so I can speek to some of your questions, albeit without much authority.
*Don't know how your import GM trucks come to England, but on ours, the electrical hook-ups come pre-wired with an outlet on the left side of the bed, and, above the bumper. A seven pin, flat pin, round connector. My control is a Tekonsha Prodogy. It works just fine on my rig, which will gross just about the same weight as yours.

*Don't know about two kinds of hitches, unless you mean a goose neck as opposed to a fifth-wheel. The goose neck goes on a ball at or near the bed floor, whereas the 5th wheel drops a pin into a tilting plate above the wheel wells. Not sure, but I think that just about all horse trailers are goose necks.

*Don't know about transporting the trailer. Will you be state-side when you make your purchase, and need to have it transported to a port? If so, doesn't seem like too big a problem. Any kind of transport can be arranged. Just ask Mark Rinker. Still, can't imagine why they don't make goose neck horse trailers in G B??? Going to be a gold plated horse trailer, getting it all the way from Mid America to England!

Others will no-doubt chime in here with better info. But, meanwhile, I can tell you that my son's Exiss is one fine piece of rolling stock. His is longer and heavier than what you are talking about, though. Three horses, plus living quarters. Entry door on the wrong side, for us, here (street side), but should be correct for you, since it's on the left here, which will put it curb side over there.
Good luck and keep in touch.

Dick Wells

[Dek Hawkins]

Well Dek, I don't pull a horse trailer with living quarters, but my son has an Exiss, so I can speek to some of your questions, albeit without much authority.
*Don't know how your import GM trucks come to England, but on ours, the electrical hook-ups come pre-wired with an outlet on the left side of the bed, and, above the bumper. A seven pin, flat pin, round connector. My control is a Tekonsha Prodogy. It works just fine on my rig, which will gross just about the same weight as yours.

*Don't know about two kinds of hitches, unless you mean a goose neck as opposed to a fifth-wheel. The goose neck goes on a ball at or near the bed floor, whereas the 5th wheel drops a pin into a tilting plate above the wheel wells. Not sure, but I think that just about all horse trailers are goose necks.

*Don't know about transporting the trailer. Will you be state-side when you make your purchase, and need to have it transported to a port? If so, doesn't seem like too big a problem. Any kind of transport can be arranged. Just ask Mark Rinker. Still, can't imagine why they don't make goose neck horse trailers in G B??? Going to be a gold plated horse trailer, getting it all the way from Mid America to England!

Others will no-doubt chime in here with better info. But, meanwhile, I can tell you that my son's Exiss is one fine piece of rolling stock. His is longer and heavier than what you are talking about, though. Three horses, plus living quarters. Entry door on the wrong side, for us, here (street side), but should be correct for you, since it's on the left here, which will put it curb side over there.
Good luck and keep in touch.

Dick Wells

Hey, thats great to hear someone knows what one is.
I now know the difference, just gotta find someone to fix it on.
Many thanks for that.
Dek

[markelectric]

I have had several brands of gooseneck hitches in several different trucks over the time. I will not buy anything except a B&W turnover ball. I got one in a Dodge and was so well impressed with it that I pulled the hitches out of my other trucks and installed B&Ws in them. I suppose that you could have one of those shipped over with the trailer.

[DickWells]

Just thought of something that may be of interest to you. Don't know about other makes, but the Exiss is put together like a semi trailer; all aluminum and heavy guage, with rivetted ribs. This way, the sides and roof form a rigid box that really makes a strong unit. Maybe you already know this, but, just in case, there it is. A very impressive trailer.
And yes, that flip-over ball in the bed is certainly a great thing to have. When you're not towing, it gives you a smooth bed floor to work with.
Good luck.
Dick

[arveetek]

Yes, the B&W Turnover Ball is the best hitch on the market.

http://www.turnoverball.com/

Casey

[Dek Hawkins]

Thats great info guys, it takes a while to organize being over here but I think it is coming together .

I may need some more info shortly

I sometime think i live in the wrong country, American stuff is a world better than the crap we have here.

Dek H

[Dek Hawkins]

Have seen the B&W, just great. I will get one organsied

Now can you tell me if a Goosneck Trailer with be OK with a 6.6ft bed, or does it have to be 8ft?? There is something on their Web site about shortbeds having different hitches.

Dek

[cowboywildbill]

8 ft is better but people do pull with 6.6 ft beds. On a shortbed It depends on how far the floor of the trailer is from the ball, and that it clears the rear tailgate/bumper of your truck and with enough room to turn. A longer gooseneck from ball to floor gives you more clearence. They also make a setback ball for B&W that moves the trailer ball back past the rear axle to provide more clearence. But you want to make sure that your pin weight is ok after using the setback ball. When you move the weight from over the rear axle more towards the rear of the truck it increases the pin weight on the rear axle because now the rear axle is taking more of the load due to the fact that it isn,t being shared as much with the front axle. B&W should be able to give you a formula for the difference. Hope I didn't confuse you. Hope that helps.

[JohnC]

Easier to break the back window when backing up with a short bed!:eek:

[DmaxMaverick]

The only drawback with a shortbed is the turning radius. Most stock-type (horse, cattle, etc.) trailers have an angled front, which improves the jack-knife angle, over the more square front RV's. Having a shortbed will only increase your turning radius. The distance from axle to rear bumper is not an issue, as it is never more with a shortbed, and may, in fact, be less. I've never measured that end. You can get sliding GN ball mounts (moves the ball, temporarily, to the rear for greater maneuverability), but you probably won't need it.

In any case, install the hitch center point as recommended by the hitch manufacturer, or have a qualified installer adjust the position according to the measured/weighed/confirmed actual pin weight, during a time it is as heavy as it will ever be. DO NOT rely on the trailer manufacturer's weight declaration to position the hitch, as they are almost always wrong, and often by a lot.

With heavy duty trucks (2500HD/3500), the hitch position is most often placed 1-2" ahead of the rear axle. More than that requires actual weighing of the pin load, or you risk overloading the front axle. I've installed a bunch of 5th wheel and GN hitches, and this is most often the best installation. 1/2 tons, on the other hand, have to be more carefully installed, as the weight carrying capacity is significantly less. I've had to install some hitches as much as 6" ahead of the axle to allow for the (legal) hitch weight distribution for that specific trailer.

[DmaxMaverick]

Easier to break the back window when backing up with a short bed!:eek:

Been there. Done that. And I knew better. With my own rig, in my own driveway. I didn't slide the hitch when I should have, thought I had it made, then *POP*. Turning isn't the only factor with cab/trailer clearance. The trailer wheel rolled over a shallow (unseen) rut in the driveway during a sharp turn, and the trailer rolled right into the cab before I could correct. What a mess!

[Dek Hawkins]

Jesus, it gets more complicated day by day.
I will have to examine the trailer spec, although it will not be huge like some of you guys trail over there, I wouldn't get some of them down the road 1 mile here.
Dek

[AllThumbs]

Dek,

You should have no trouble finding a gooseneck hitch as they are common. The best ones drop below the bed of the box when not in use.
very convenient when you need a flat floor. Mounting the hitch is usually not that hard a job, just takes time and little patience. One word of warning though, truck frames do not like to be drilled. Best bet is a half inch drill with a 90 degree bent head. They will fit up under the frame and put the holes where you need them. :D

[Robyn]

What I did with the last two trucks that I have installed a gooseneck hitch in are as follows.

I located the spot that I wanted the center of the hitch ball and marked the bed.

Next I crawled under the rig and took a good look at the available space to work with.

Then I used two heavy steel angles to bridge the frame and extend beyond the frame to the outside of the frame by about 3 inches on a side.

I used some existing holes in the frame to bolt the outer angle brackets on and then fastened the two cross angles to the outer ones.

The drop in hitch assembly was then bolted with flat head Allen bolts to the new cross member.

Its simple and required little to no drilling of the frame.

Missy

[SoTxPollock]

I've had my B&W gooseneck flip over ball hitch for 8 years now and have never dented anything on the truck, but I've scared myself a few times when I looked back and saw how close the trailer came to the side top rail of the truck bed when making a very short turn in a low spot out in the country. You just have to watch out when making short forward or backward turns when on uneven ground.

When backing and turning I suggest you stop get out every so often and verify where the trailer is and figure out where it is going next before you go too far. My trailer on level ground will go a full 90 degrees without hitting anything.

Follow B & W's installation instructions that come with the hitch, for the 2002 its a complete bolt in. All you do is measure from the back of the bed to the point they recommend and cut the hole for the ball to pass through. I did have to cut away a small part of the exhaust shield to clear one of the bolt across bars, but you don't have to drill or weld on the frame.
I did mine in a couple of hours, but I also have a hoist to put the truck up in the air making it much easier. I'm absolutely sure that several of those mentioned trailer manufactures will ship the unit to you, won't be cheap, but it is possible. Oh yes I forgot to mention my rig is a 2002 shortbed crewcab, works great.

Dek, I wish you could have been in Gonzales, Texas last week. They had a rodeo event and the camping area around the rodeo arena had at least 200 trailers of every type and they were all lined up in their respective camping spots. It was a marvelous sight to see.