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more towing questions...

ryoken

ryoken

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would a fifth wheel in a shortbed be horrible? or would it tow better with a bumper mount? I'm guessing the fifth wheel advantages would still outweigh the shorter WB faults..

I know it's a tad short, but at least it's got like 15"s on a K5 WB... I always wanted a fleetside shortbed and maybe one has come up.. I would think maneuvering with the 117" WB would be very nimble with a gooseneck...
 
I'd think the gooseneck/5th wheel would tow better than a bumper. Simply for tongue weight distribution. Although the weight distribution hitches are pretty impressive.

Never tried it personally.
 
I think the taller mounting point of a fifthwheel hitch might pose an issue with a short wheel base truck. You may get a little more bouncing when trying to accelerate. But handling down the road, you should be fine. If you went with a goose neck hitch that mounts the receiver between the frame, flush with the bed, you would be alot more stable in all situations. a goose neck receiver can be removed or flipped upside down super easily to use the bed for something else. Gooseneck allows for better range of motion and articulation too.

if you already have a 5th wheel trailer, you can get an adapter to use with a gooseneck hitch. http://www.etrailer.com/dept-pg-Trailer_Coupler-sf-Gooseneck_Coupler.aspx
 
Also, what kind of trailer do you have? 5th wheel or gooseneck? You referenced both in the original post.

How about some info on the possible tow vehicle? The bouncing I mentioned above would be worst case scenario, for example a short bed single cab with manual transmission trying to pull a loaded fifth wheel trailer from a dead stop. It would feel like a really bad case of axle wrap with the front end also bobbing up and down as you shift gears. But with a goose neck hitch this effect will be almost non-existent as the receiver sits between the frame rails instead of above the top of the bed sides like a 5th wheel. Less leverage on the truck as you accelerate (or brake if trailer brakes are not adjusted properly)

Ultimate maneuverability!
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no trailer. just planning for some future possible towing..

i was thinking a gooseneck was a fifth wheel.... I see the difference now.. i would do a gooseneck..
 
Paul, personally I think weight of trailer/weight distribution, and trailer profile all have a lot to do with how well the truck will tow. Of course a good working brake system is a must too. Open trailers tend to pull without as much susceptibility to sway from passing vehicles as well as sidewinds, as a closed trailer, and I think as long as you don't exceed the trucks towing limits it would be fine.
 
I'm looking at a car hauler myself. On a recent trip to Oklahoma, I noticed that there are a few more bumper pull car haulers than goose neck/fifth wheel on the road. Saw several bumper pull behind extended cab short bed trucks. Dealers seem to stock more bumper pull haulers around here.
 
One downfall to towing a gooseneck trailer with a shortbed that I haven't seen mentioned yet is that the trailer may come in contact with the cab of the truck. We got a brand new fully enclosed trailer at work and one of my coworkers took too sharp of a turn while backing up and did $2000 worth of damage to the cab of a brand new chevy 2500 double cab short bed pickup. other than that it tows fine. And this is a fully loaded 28ft trailer.
 
that was kinda my next concern.. not so much actually contacting sheetmetal, but interfering somehow, or keeping me from running a front tool box... thats a must...

I'm assuming that a gooseneck hitch down under a doored bed floor is pretty much wanting to be as far forward as possible...

and if the bed is the slightest bit ratty, i wont bat an eye to do a custom tube bed..
 
firefighterco2 said:
One downfall to towing a gooseneck trailer with a shortbed that I haven't seen mentioned yet is that the trailer may come in contact with the cab of the truck. We got a brand new fully enclosed trailer at work and one of my coworkers took too sharp of a turn while backing up and did $2000 worth of damage to the cab of a brand new chevy 2500 double cab short bed pickup. other than that it tows fine. And this is a fully loaded 28ft trailer.
Click to expand...


Measure where you want the center of the hitch to be and put an X there. From that X measure forward to the cab to see how much room you have for swing. If you have less than 52 inches you will not be able to jacknife to a full 90 degree turn to the trailer.

***Note This dimension depends on the width of the trailer. Many enclosed car haulers are 102 inches wide, so from the center of the kingpin to the side of the trailer is 51 inches. Also if you have a V necked trailer it may be narrower farther back allowing for tighter turns.

So its simple, half the width of the trailer forward of the center of the hitch tells you how far you can swing on a corner. All this works on flat level ground. Put some lean on one end or the other and gaps will close at the top or bottom.

2 years ago at work I spent 3 days sliding 5th wheels around on a truck to see how close I could get the trailer to the cab and what had to be changed to get it closer. I got it down to 13 inches with rubber extenders on the cab fairings. Because those trucks had bolted (not sliding forward and rearward) 5th wheels meant it had to be right the first time or metal parts were going to get bent.
 
I had a short bed extended cab Chevy pickup that I pulled a 26 foot fifth wheel RV with. I had to buy a low profile tool box for the truck, only stuck above the bed about 4 inches. Where you have to be carefull is on unlevel ground. The flex will allow the trailer to contact the box during a sharp turn. But if you're carefull it's not a major problem.
 
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