|
Gooseneck Hitch 101
Gooseneck hitch is a hitch that is designed to be
installed underneath a pickup truck bed just in front of the rear axle that will
allow you to hook up to and pull a gooseneck trailer. The advantage to this
type of hitch over the traditional bumper pull hitch is that the weight of the
trailer is more evenly distributed across the length of the frame making the
load appear to be over 20% lighter. In most cases gooseneck trailers can be
turned much sharper than bumper pull trailers making it much easier to park a
long trailer which is the reason most trailers over 16’ have a gooseneck.
Less than 15 years ago if you needed a gooseneck
ball installed in your truck your only option was to have your local fabrication
shop welded one in. Basically what they would do is take a piece of 8" channel
iron and weld it right down to the top of your frame. This is style of hitch is
pretty rare in today's market for several very good reasons.
1.
It is not legal. By law an in bed
hitch has to be attached to the side of the frame (not just the top).
2.
It is time consuming. Installing a
hitch this way will take an experience professional 2-3 hours
3.
Special tools are required. To do
this type of install you need a welder, torch, grinder, and a lift to remove the
bed.
4.
It is not safe. In the best case
scenario a few inches of weld are the only thing attaching the hitch to the
truck.
5.
No safety chains (which are also
required by law)
6.
The ball is always in the way
Today the kits you will find are much more
advanced. They will come in vehicle specific kits that include two crossbars, a
center head, side mounting plates, all the hardware needed for installation, and
a 2 5/16” 30,000lbs ball. The crossbars will slide in-between the bed / frame
and everything else will attach to them. These hitches can be installed in a
few hours without drilling, cutting, or welding on the frame and you don’t even
need to remove or loosen the bed. The kit will include two safety chains that
are spring loaded to keep them tight against the floor of the bed and a ball
that will flip over when not in use so that nothing blocking access to the bed
when a trailer is not being pulled.
Got-Chrome offers two brands of bolt on vehicle
specific gooseneck hitches.
1.
Our best priced kit is made by Draw-Tite.
Draw-Tite is probably the largest manufacture of trailer hitches in the world.
The Hide-A-Goose is a new product they released in 2009 that isa well designed
hitch that is strong, easy to install, easy to operate, and available at a great
price.
2.
B&W Trailer Hitches out of Kansas is
our best selling gooseneck hitch. They have built a solid reputation as making
the absolute best gooseneck hitch money can buy. Other kits may share the same
load rating but that is only because that is the max rating a gooseneck hitch
can have. Once you take it out of the box it is easy to see that your money has
been well spent. The brackets are made of thicker steel than other brands, only
the best hardware is included with the kit, and The B&W Turnover Ball is the
only gooseneck hitch with a square shank ball which virtually eliminates slack
in the ball.
So which one do you want? The frame on today's
newer trucks is designed to twist and flex. Welding a piece of channel iron
from one side to the other will completely change the ride quality of your
truck, could cause damage that would not be covered under your trucks warranty,
and eventually this twisting / flexing with break the welds holding the channel
in place. This is definitely not the best choice for your new $35,000+
investment. What you want is a bolt on kit that is specifically designed to
work with your vehicles frame, body, and suspension. You need a kit that has
been tested and rated to handle the biggest loads.
Obviously we believe that if it’s in your budget
the B&W Turnover Ball will be a great investment but if all you need is a 2
5/16" ball to hook your trailer to the Hide-A-Goose will do the same job and
save you some upfront cost. Aside from being built out of heavier duty material
the main reason most buyers go with the B&W is the accessories they offer to go
with it like the B&W Companion 5th wheel hitch. If you ever find you need it
they offer an 18,000lbs 5th wheel hitch that that most sellers believe to be the
best 5th wheel hitch available. It attaches to your truck using the same square
shank hole as your gooseneck ball with no more drilling or cutting. You would
be surprised at the number of customers that will buy the B&W Turnover Ball that
don't even own a gooseneck trailer and are just buying it so they can use the
Companion 5th wheel.
B&W and Draw-Tite
are not the only two options you have. Pop-Up offers two types of hitches (the
Pop-Up Ball (recently changed to Pop-Up 2) and the Flip-Over Ball), the Diamond
Hitch from Blue Ox is another option, also Valley and Curt both recently
released their version of a under bed gooseneck hitch. We installed our first
B&W Turnover Ball gooseneck hitch in 1999 and soon after that decided never to
weld in another hitch. Since then we have seen, sold, installed, and fully
tested every other hitch on the market. We recommend these two brands over the
others based on our experience with the product and the company that
manufactures it. We know these to be quality products from reputable companies
that will stand behind everything product they put out (We can’t say that about
all of the others).
|