This is probably a dumb question, but it's been puzzling me for a while. Why are there two types of in bed hitches, fifth wheel and gooseneck? They seem to do basically the same thing and have similar ratings. Why not make RVs with gooseneck hitches like everything else and make that the standard? Maybe I'm missing something.

 

I don't think there's much chance of goosenecks becoming "the standard" - how many 18 wheelers use gooseneck hitches on the tractor? Wonder why?

By the way, here's some trivia - you can pull a 5th wheel RV with a Class 8 tractor's 5th wheel hitch with no mods. The pin dimensions are the same.

Rusty

 

Okay, but I was referring only to pickup trucks, 1 ton max.

 

A gooseneck hitch will actually give you more side to side movement for a person that travels uneven roads, like trails, but they also rock more than a 5th wheel hitch. I would never want a camper with a gooseneck type of hitch as everything , all the weight is resting on the ball only, unlike a 5th wheel its resting on a flat plate or wheel, making it alot more stable. Also a 5th wheel is 100 times easier to hook up to and unhook

 

I went from a goose to 5th wheel to eliminate the back and forth surge. It was bad, now I don't have any to speak of. Also, the ball was galling no matter how much grease I put on it. Lot of weight on that ball.

 

You guys seemed to me to make a good arguement for standardizing to fifth wheel. Why have goose necks at all? By the way this is a question, because I am not experianced in this type of towing all the towing I have ever done is I guess you would describe it as bumper pull.

 

Seems the GN is usually preferred by ranchers and equipment haulers (bobcats, backhoes etc) because they can handle rough offroad farm terrain and construction sites much better.

Most RV's spend 99% of the time on paved roads.

 

let me throw this arguement into the mix.

I believe its called an inverted 5th wheel. The pin is in your bed and the trailer has a 5er mounted backwards. you get the advantage of a 5er in articulation and rigidity with the flat floor of a gooseneck.

 

One big reason that camper style trailers are fifth-wheel is that they can build them so much cheaper.

Most fifth-wheel trailers are of uni-body design, with no actual structure.

Look at a gooseneck and take note of the heavy steel construction in the neck.

I have pulled both, many many miles, and I prefer the gooseneck.

In my opinion, they pull better and ride smoother; also, a gooseneck does not transfer so much trailer motion to the truck.

 

The advantage of the gooseneck ball is it takes up less space and some models can be flipped to get them out of the way of using the bed. A 5th wheel can be fairly easily removed but most of the time it would not be with the truck, so if you needed it, unless you where making a plan ahead of time and remembered, you would be out of luck. The balance of 5th wheel over gooseneck makes sense, but I have not seen a living quarters horsetrailer that was built specifically for 5th wheel. The only ones I have seen like that are pulled by FL-60 up kind of trucks. Try to convince me that a travel trailer is heavier than a loaded 4 horse with a 10' shortwall.

 

5th wheel trailers require no safety chains where as the goosenecks do............

 

Really? The rectangular steel frame rails on my 5th wheel are 2" wide and 15" high - hardly a "uni-body".....

Rusty

 

Of all the camper trailers i have hauled everyone had a steel frame, no unibody system. Every manufacturer i picked up from, you could see the frames sitting there, and then they build the trailer on top of it,,, a unibody would be a 1 piece unit, and that i have never seen, maybe the low end small camper could be like that, but I have never seen a unibody 5 th wheel camper

 

There are no unibody 5th wheel coaches.

 

5th wheel is easier to hook, smoother ride and handles better. big campers
goose is made to twist more for offroad and uneven terrain. horse trailer.