firemandodge

Towed my dads 29 foot Keystone today for the first time. I have a lot of experience towing flatbeds etc, but this was my first camper. It feels different, a lot of movement front to back, such as when you would hit a bump you could really feel the trailer pulling on you. Not much movement side to side. Does this sound normal? It dosen't have a 5th wheel hitch, it has a gooseneck hitch.

wildwood2500

yes you get alot of bucking with gosenecks, had one on my other 5er, its ok if its a small trailer but if its big i wouldnt do it. puts lots of stress on the pin box.

firemandodge

It's a good sized trailer. 8250 dry and about 10,000 lbs loaded. Do you think that's too much for a gooseneck hitch? Also I have one of those types of gooseneck's that is a big steel plate bolted on top of the bed, down through the frame. It's not a nice one that has it's own subframe. Do you think this is strong enough to tow the trailer?

wildwood2500

i have a older one to,big steel plate bolts to a crosmember to the frame, my old 5er was 10500,and i pulled a 20ft quad trailer behind that. i wanted to put the goseneck on my new 35ft toybox but the rv shop says it will void the warrty, and its to much stress on the pin box. i could watch the hitch and pinbox bend when going down road. some guys dont care, i would rather be safe than sorry. i think there is pics in my galery of my old setup.

FiverBob

Fivers pull much straighter than bumper hitch trailers if they are balanced. What you are feeling we call chucking. There are some things you can do and try to reduce it. 1) more pin weight 2) make sure you are level 3) get rid of the gooseneck - - if the trailer is not designed for one, it can destroy the framing around the kingpin.

An air hitch with full movement dramatically reduces chucking and reduces frame stress. MORryde has a kingpin that is super in reducing chucking.

Bob

firemandodge

Thanks Wildwood. I'm going to watch it closely. It's my dads trailer, so I can't really change anything, but I do want to be as safe as possible. Thanks Bob. I'm sure the trailer was not designed for a gooseneck. It had a 5th wheel hitch on it when he bought it, and had it changed out to a gooseneck because that is what he has on all his trailers (flat bed). He also has an 8 foot slide in Lance camper, and didn't want to have to remove the rails every time he put the camper on.