Ok guys/gals here is my issue, I have 3 hitched in bed style trailers. 2 are g/n and one is 5er, my issue is that I use all of them quite a bit and I am tired of taking out the Companion to use the B & W. I pull the 21' Malibu boat behind the 24' Coachman and thought that the Companion would help w/stabilazation of 5er w/boat behind. So my question is "What would be the best fix for this problem? Change 2 g/n to 5er style or convert 5er to g/n style? Would I have any issues w/either do you think? Or would one way be better than the other and why? Here are some pics of what I tug around and a thread w/dump trailer picture.

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...d.php?t=289799

 

I'd ask that question on a forum where more guys may have the answer to your question. http://www.rv.net/forum/

 

My truck has a g/n and my trailer is a 5er. I use a Mumby Adapter. They are from Saskatchewan but I bought mine at Standen's in Calgary. It is a 20 minute process to install the Mumby on any 5er. The adapter is SUPER strong and many of my friends pull very heavy 5er's wit the Mumby adapter. I think it costs about $150.
Here is a link to the Mumby site and it shows the adapter.
http://www.mumbyhitches.com/rvhitch.html
Once you install this on your 5er, all of your trailers are g/n trailers.

 

There is G/N to 5th wheel adapters which allow you to hook a 5th wheel to a G/N ball but you may want to fully research that one because those adapters place a tremendous amount of stress on the kingpin box and frame and can cause all kinds of problems for the 5th wheel trailers. Most trailer manufactures will void the warranty if they can prove you used an adapter. Also, you may want to make sure that your state allows towing doubles with G/N hitches. Some states are specific about only towing doubles with the lead hitch being a 5th wheel.

 

I have a B&W goose and companion and got tired of installing and removing the companion to use the truck bed. What I did was make a 5ver pin with a few links of chain attached that locks into the companion I then use a boom on a skid steer to lift the whole companion out in one piece. but you could use a hoist or almost anything. To simplify things even more I shimmed the top pull down bolt so it's torqued correctly but the pin is still movable. I also removed the flimsy rubber pads and installed 1/4 inch thick reinforced rubber pads bolted at each corner before setting up the shimming. So I just pull the pin and lift out the hitch and drop it where I want. Installation is just as quick, no more tightening and torquing bolts either. The goose adapter is not torqued down so why the companion?

 

No warranty to worry about, just wanting someone w/experience doing the g/n conversion to 5er to let me know if they have had any troubles or issues.

 

I did some research regarding using a G/N adapter on a 5th wheel not to long ago because I was looking to purchase a used trailer and had ran across a few 5th wheels with G/N adapters. The results were about 50/50 people saying that they would never use one again and/or had serious problems after using adapters, and other people saying that they never had an issue. So with that said, I heard enough negative to decide that I didn't care to purchase a trailer that had ever used one or had one because finding frame fatigue or potential issues resulting from an adapter could be hard to find since it could be hidden under the metal or fiberglass. 5th wheel trailers where not designed for the added leverage the adapter places on the kingpin box and frame. But again.....there was lots of people who had no issues.

 

I wonder how tough it would be to convert the GN trailer to a 5'er. It would seem that that would be the easiest and best solution.

 

We have had several threads from guys that converted a 5'er to a GN and had cracks develop in the fifth wheel plate, supporting framework and welds. You are wise to ask, do some more research before you decide. FWIW, my answer would be don't convert the 5er to a GN.

 

Have thought of that, and found these and others similiar. My only question if i go this route is, with the dump trailer to Companion, i would be pushing the wt. limits. I usually haul 8 ton of gravel and trailer is 3ton or so.

http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Coup...e/2085205.html

 

According to B&W's website the Companion is only rated for 18k so based on your stated weights, you'd be overloading it by at least 4k. That's allot of added stresses on the hitch system.

 

I've seen the results of a broken Companion from a car hauler. The aluminum plate supports collapsed and sheared the bolts from the main frame. Guy was lucky to be able to get the trailer off the road without killing anyone. He was he was way over the GCW for the hitch. 4 cars plus a tri-axle trailer = way more than 18K

 

Bunch of dd's have 5th wheel to gn adapters and dont have any issues and you havent been down a rough road till youve been down a lease rd.

 

You could build a new pin box that is set up for a gooseneck.
That is what I finally did after buying an adapter. I stared at it for awhile, realized it looked rather cheesy. Finally returned it then spend a day of fabricating in the shop. The box is exactly the same dimensions as the standard B&W pin box that came from the factory on our 5er. However I used 1/4 where they used 3/16 and 1/2 where they used 3/8. And of course where the king pin would normally be mine has the 4" gooseneck receiver tube. The hitch is on it's second 5er with no issues. Nor has either trailer experienced any ill effects such as broken welds etc. AK roads are brutal and each trailer has seen 1000's of miles.
Up here goosenecks are very rare. I have come up with some pretty good stories explaining that ball in the back of my truck to several Alaskans.

 

Being the hard head I am, I didn't want the fiver rails or hitch in the truck as I have gooseneck trailers also and use the bed.Short story here,I built the first 5ver to gooseneck,bought one similar to the one mentioned above for next rv,on #3 used a different brand and while backing up on blocks to level rv,in 4x4 low ,folded the pin box,300 miles from home. Got lucky found a replacement cheap,reinstalled converter,towed home and yielded to a B&W companion.
Points of interest, hook up easier, DO NOT have to watch the top of bed/tailgate contact with underside of RV it will happen with a gooseneck trust me here,actually tows better.
I do hate the **** thing in the truck in the way most of the time and removing and installing is easy enough but a PITA also. If you put a kingpin on the gooseneck for sure less people will borrow it.