I have been putting Herrin811 through the ringer the last few days and have used his fine quality built gooseneck hitch to come up with my own design.

Since I have access to PLENTY of HEAVY steel, I have decided on a totaly bolt on system. Its so simple and I believe it to be plenty heavy duty. I am looking for approval and ideas for improvement. Here is my plan.

2 pieces of 1/2"thick X 4" angle 6" long. Bolt them to the frame one on each side with the one side bolted to the frame and the other sticking out to the outside of the frame. Then, 1 piece of 1" X 6" X what ever the width comes out to laid across the tops of the angle and bolted down to it. I have decided on 4 1/2" bolts to mount the angle to the frame and either 3 3/4" bolts to mount the 1" plate to the angle. I could use 4 1/2" bolts to hold down the 1" but I figure by the time I get a bolt long enough to go through it all and take a pinch nut then the shank length would have an effect on the strength of the bolt so I go up to 3/4" bolts to compensate for that loss.

 

As far as stout, I think your hitch will be okay for up to what I would call medium duty; BUT, my concern is the narrow mounting points.

I would want a much longer area of the truck frame in contact with the hitch, to overcome the "torque" of the trailer twisting the top of the ball rearward.

This is why standard plates are so wide, to spread out the twisting forces, in much the same way as a receiver style hitch.

Many of the popular store-bought hitches are too flimsy looking for my taste.

If you have plenty of steel, use plenty of steel.

 

I always overbuild everything and I feel like this will be to. I can make the side angles as long as I need them, but after looking at the material and mounting options of the big name manufactures I decided to go this route because even with just 6" long sides it still offers more strength than a CLAMP on style hitch. There is a step down just behind the end of the angle but I can stretch it to whatever length needed. I just could not tow a 20,000 lb goose neck with a hitch that clamps to the frame and is made out of 1/4" and maybe 3/8" steel.

My biggest fear is that the 1" will sag in the middle if loaded heavy. Thats the only concern I have.

 

You can always turn a piece of it up edgeways under the flat piece; it won't give then.

You can bridge or truss beneath it, also.

 

DmaxEter,


There is a guy with a 2nd gen on here who has a homemade hitch set up almost exactly like you are describing. I am sorry, I just can't for the life of me remember his name right now........so hopefully somebody that knows who he is will speak up and post the name here. He had some pictures of a set up using angle iron mounted to the frame with 1'' plate bolted to it.

If you are concerned about sagging in the middle.....couldn't you just go ahead and use two plates of 1'' one on top of the other?

 

Do the 3rd gens have an indent on the frame rail like 2nd gens do. 2nd gens have a place exactly for the angle irons...



The indent is 10.5" maybe a little bit more. You can see I changed my mind half way through from 8" to 10" (so the plate is only 8" and the angle irons are 10". If I had realized what I was doing before hand, I would've gone bigger all around. The angle irons are 3/8". I would have gone 1/2". The plate is .75" I would have gone 1" or bigger.

Can't tell if you mean that you will use the angle irons to elevate the plate, or will the plate lie flush against the frame rails?

My trailer weight will max at 19,000 lbs if I ever get it up and running.

 

UHHHHHHHHH...............his name is Patrick Campbell!

 

Haulin in Dixie and P.O.R. were the guys who told me how to do this

 

Patrick....Check out my gallery....No the 3rd gens dont have an indent....And since our frames are tubular that poses even bigger problems...AND add to the fact that the frame is not flat on top....Take a look at one...To the rear of the axle is a lip about 1/4" tall where 2 sections of frame are joined....To the front there is a slope...So you have around 10" I think of level frame surface to mount something flat....Otherwise you gotta make yourself space with angle iron or plate or something.....Thats why I did my hitch how I did it...As far forward as I could go without going over the slope...That puts the ball 2.5" ahead of the axle...It was just easier to make 6" plate fit 6" channel than make 10" plate fit 6" channel....If I had used 8" channel I would have been only 1" ahead of the axle....Forget anything bigger....And the weight is carried by the frame, not by the bolts...Im sure the bolts will experience torsional/shear type loads but all the compression loads are carried by the crossmember to the top of the frame.....I really did put ALOT of thought into my hitch...I didnt just weld some stuff up and slap it in...

Like you guys keep repeating...Most (not all) of the commercially available stuff just looks flimsy, and IS made of much lighter material....

Hey Dmax....i looked at a Powerstroke the other day with 1" plate under it....They had to use 2 pieces on each end to get the top plate up to the bottom of the bed...Kinda blocked it up there..All welded...Thats something else...1" plate on top of the frame will give you a 1.25" gap between sheetmetal and the hitch....Also, look into the fenderwell....You only have so much space between the top of the frame and that pinch weld of the wheelwell....I dont think you'll have much room there for bolts, etc like Patrick's setup...He has NO bed

 

I agree. I've never really examined these brackets in person but they don't look too sturdy.

 

the pic IS a little bit deceiving...Those angled brackets are 3/8" thick....But ur right...They mount to the side of the frame and nothing supports them from below...The whole load is carried by the bolts into the side of the frame....

 

How wide are they like 2" ?

 

Wow, thanks for the feed back on this topic. I am sticking to my original idea and mounting the angle to the frame and the 1" to the angle. Patricks is identical to mine except I will be using 1/2" thick angle and I will make them 8" long. I am going to criss cross the mounting bolts at the frame to. The 1" will be held in with either two 3/4" bolts or three 5/8" bolts with pinch nuts. Like Patricks set up it will mount just like a class 8 truck 5th wheel does. I actually have a section of 5th wheel mounting angle that goes on the frame, but its only 3/8" thick. Thats fine in its intended application because its about 4' long.
Keep the ideas coming guys. Let me know where I can improve. I dont think I will have to gusset the 1" plate either, a 1" plate 6" wide and 51" long doesnt flex at all

I keep seeing every one reference Patricks set up and it throw me off, my name is Patrick to

 

Yes it will. I used 1" x 12" steel plate for mine, but still does it. Need to weld a piece of 1"x2" steel across the bottom.

 

Those look pretty tawain toy made to me...