I am looking at a 27' camper 5th wheel light wt. no sliders, I have the B&W turnover ball hitch and have looked at the conversion to GN like the RV1, does anyone have some experience with this, I know B&W has the companion
5th to go with my setup but all my other trailers have GN, I will look at the camper to see how sturdy the pin box is.
Mike

 

This has been discussed multiple times on the forum. Your problem is not the pinbox itself, rather the framing holding the pinbox - - the stuff you can't see - - until it breaks and sticks out of your chin covering while your fiver is laying on your truck bed. Not many fivers are OK with GN setups.

 

I have been running a gooseneck adapter for years. No damage, and I inspect it faithfully.

As a matter of fact, my camper is in the shop to have hail damage repaired. I asked the shop owner about the conversion question, and he said that in 15 years of running an RV repair shop, he has never seen damage to the fiver framework attributed to the conversion. He says that welds do crack though, even on the fivers NOT converted. He says rough roads and overloading will always take their toll on the newer, lighter made frames.
There are a ton of converted fivers in my area - the rig rats of the Barnett Shale seem to prefer them. The gooseneck hitch takes up less room in the back of a custom welding bed than a standard fifth wheel hitch does.

 

I have a 5th to GN adapter on my RV trailer, I bought a Pop UP Industries adapter with an offset for mine since I have a shortbed. NO weld problems, no structural problems, tows just fine. In fact, I think it tows better than when I towed it with a 5th hitch.

I have tons of miles on it and NO problems whatsoever. It is much better when you go off paved roads, allows more articulation for the uneven roads, is adjustable for better bed rail clearances and level hauling.

The RV manufacturers offer the GN as an option on new RV's these days. I know of 1 person who had problems using an adapter, his trailer was a lightweight, the pin box was a real cheap one and did have some weld problems. He took it to a welder and had the box beefed up, no problems since.

CD

 

I used an 18k B&W 5th wheel companion like he's talking about . It's designed for that GN frame and will be very reliable , especially if he has been pulling GN trailers with that hitch .

 

picked my new 5th up at the dealer with a Coilibert conversion on in .Check em out, very strong converter . I called around and spoke to service managers at RV dealers none had seen problems directly related to converting ,all said some trailers have problems even with standard hitches.

 

My Father inlaw has one and has been using it for years with zero issues.


Hub

 

He talking about the superstructure on the trailer, not the hitch framing.


I personally don't see why people just don't run the proper hitch for the trailer.

If GN's were so great every 5th wheel manufacturer would have gone to them years ago.

Just my opinion.

 

Anyone got any photos? I've never seen one so I'm curious (the conversion on a trailer, that is).

 

If G/N were so much better you'd see semi's running them instead of king pins

 

Here's a few examples...

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...-adapter/34580

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...xtension/21064

http://store.towshop.com/store/more_...ategory_ID=111

 

I can understand the reason people run them. A turnover ball takes up alot less room in the bed, and a 5ver hotch weighs a ton and is a pain in the behind to get out of the truck when you are not using it.

If they were so bad to use why do they still make them? I mean if they were causing all these so called failures the companies who make them would be bankrupt from lawsuits.

I say buy it and enjoy it.

Hub

 

Thanks for the input, the unit I have looked at is the one in the thumbnail above, I am not hauling a monster trailer just a simple weekend get away camper and from a cost and simplicity standpoint it looked atractive, I can install and inspect it as its used, I fabricate racecar chassis/engines for a living so from what I see there has been alot of success with them if done right.
Mike Bruns