GOTMEAT

I am looking to upgrade to a 2-Jeep trailer. It will obviously be a gooseneck. I have been reading here that the goosenecks tend to cause the back and forth surge from trailer to truck. Is the surge all that bad? Do you feel it only on bumps/dips?

If I was to use a 5th wheel hitch in the bed and convert the gooseneck would I alleviate the surge?

http://www.etrailer.com/z-2085205.aspx

Does this just slide into the neck of the gooseneck?

boostjunkie1

All of the adapters that I have seen are made to bolt to the trailer and then go down over the Gooseneck ball. If you set your brakes right and check the level of the trailer before adjusting the slide neck to the ball you should be fine. Goosenecks are the way to go with a big trailer like that. They are easier to back in tight places as long as you dont have a 12' box- - - -then they can be tricky. Plus the Gooseneck goes better on slightly rougher terrain!

boostjunkie1

I just looked at the piece of equipment that you were looking at- - - that just replaces the sliding neck of the standard Goose and hooks up to your 5th wheel. Just make sure that the 5th wheel hitch is rated for the weight you will be pulling. and load the kingpin weight between 15%-25% on the truck.

new2ctd

Trailer slap is caused by 'not enough tongue weight'
It can be fixed by just a few inches of your load weight being moved forward.

I have one of these for my Powerstroke http://www.colibert.com/products/ind...7E205b%7EFalse

I'm not a big fan of these converters. I have a B&W with companion for the Dodge.

Patrick Campbell

From etrailer.com... A 4" tube with a king pin that slides up inside of the gooseneck trailer is really an adapter, it's for a trailer built to accept either 5th wheel or gooseneck. There is a 4" I.D. tube, you slide the 4" O.D. pin tube up, and it gets pressed in with 2 very large bolts. Also, remember to use anti-seize all over the tube.

http://xj.cdevco.net/trailer/IMG_0431.JPG

I would say that yes, going to a kingpin will probably eliminate some slop. But should not be necessary. Gooseneck is not going to be any more sloppy than a bumper pull style hitch. Also, gooseneck will treat you better if you go onto dirt/bumper roads for loading/unloading of the jeep.

Usually when you see a converter it's for a king pin trailer to work with a gooseneck hitch which I don't know that anyone recommends.

apwatson50

I noticed it quite a bit when I hauled 2 bobcat skidsteers on our 24ft gooseneck. I had a lot of tongue weight though and I imagine it is worse with too much tongue weight. It would really jerk the truck around when the trailer hit expansion joints, etc..

4x4dually

My personal opinion is that the gooseneck ball should be mounted 3 or 4 inches in front of the rear axle to illiminate a lot of towing problems. There was a thread on here a week or so ago that many dissagreed, but whatever. Buy a good trailer that is made correctly as far as axle placement, buy a good gooseneck hitch for the truck and mount it properly and get a good brake controller. You will have no problems. The folks that have slap and hopping and surging and junk usually don't have the trailer hieght adjusted right or tire pressures different or something small. King pins are great, but a well setup gooseneck is every bit as good in my opinion. I pull them week in, week out. Good luck.

funcruise

I pull a three horse gooseneck 80 percent of the time and have no surge back and forth or sideways. Truck and loaded trailer combined is about 14,000lbs. I would take a gooseneck before a fifth wheel hitch....

GOTMEAT

10-4 I was hoping to hear from you guys that pull the goosenecks regular. I tend to be very critical about load position/brakes/pressures so that will help.

I would assume that it would be nice to have adjustable trailer axles to help with tounge weight as well?

tool

I pull goosenecks often. have done so for years with many different truck/trailer setups.

Livestock trailers, horse trailers, equipment trailers, flatbed loaded with hay, flatbed with equipment etc.

Never have I noticed this trailer slap thing. If you are having that sort of problem you must not be loading your trailer right.

I don't think adjustable trailer axles are necesary at all, just a trailer setup for the load that you will haul.

new2ctd

I agree with 4x4Dually some on having the ball well in front of the axle. But on our F800 with a 16 foot bed the ball is almost 3 feet behind the axle and it pulls just fine until one of the guys loads the backhoe too far back on the trailer. I can guarantee them if they pull it forward some it will stop.

I have a red paint mark where the lip of the hoe goes and a green one for the dozer. if you are off 6+" it will slap.

I'm using 32' trailers and when there is a 3500lb burial vault on the front of the trailer it never happens but when coming back empty it will give you whiplash if the machine is not loaded right. I have 2 OTR guys that have many miles under their belts passing their knowledge on.

If you don't believe it test it, back your load up. then move it a bit farther forward from normal.
Slider axles would work but I have 4-5 feet of extra trailer to adjust the load with instead.

I have a bit more weight than discussed so far, trailer scales 24,800 loaded

GOTMEAT

That's just it. Most people who haul often won't be hauling the same load. For example, it would be easy to load 2 Jeeps properly on a 30 ft trailer. I would also like to use this trailer to haul a Jeep and a pop-up camper. I would drive the Jeep on the trailer with the pop-up hitched. This runs the risk of too much tongue weight as the Jeep weighs twice as much as the pop-up.

The adjustable axles would allow forward movement which would lessen tongue weight.

boostjunkie1

Try and Back the Jeep and Popup on the trailer and see if that is better!!

tool

That's exactly my point....

It's more practical to adjust the positioning of your load than changing axle positions/ trailer configuration.

You're reading to much into a simple problem.

p.s

I'm a class "A" driver with many miles OTR experience............

GOTMEAT

I can back the pop-up on. But the Jeep has to ride windshield first. I'm pretty sure the top wouldn't like going backwards.

But, wouldn't this just give me too little tongue weight. I guess the only real way to find out is by going to the scales and fooling around with the load till I get it right.