Gooseneck versus fifth wheel hitch

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genenewman

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Jul 30, 2007
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I'm about to purchase a used truck that has a gooseneck hitch already mounted in the bed (although the ball seems to be missing). The previous owner never used the hitch and was advertising the hitch as a fifth wheel, so he is not the best one to give advice. I was under the assumption that a gooseneck and 5er were the same thing; I now realize that was a bad assumption.

I plan on buying a fifth wheel trailer in the next 12 months, and did not know if there was a sturdy adapter to go from a gooseneck to ffith wheel, or do I have to buy an entire fifth wheel hitch. I plan on buying a trailer in the neighborhood of 15000 lbs. Any advice would be appreciated as I am green to the entire subject of towing fifth wheels.

Thanks,
Gene
 
Why not tell the guys here what kind of truck you are buying and the specifics on it.  That way they will know wheather or not the truck will handle 15K #'s or not.  Just cause it's a truck doesn't mean squat.  That's not a light load you're talking about.  JMO
 
There are gooseneck adaptors that can be used with 5th wheel trailers.  However, one needs to be careful that such an adaptor will indeed work with the truck configuration and the fifth wheel configuration.  

We really need to know more details on the truck including year model, GVWR, GCVWR, GAWR and the GVWR and hitch weight of the 5th wheel. 

If the truck was used by a rancher to haul cattle it may have seen a very demanding life and may not be up to working as hard as pulling a 5ver would require.
 
The truck that I speak about is a 2001 F-350 DRW; GVWR 11200, 7.3 PSD

If there is any question about the integrity of the existing gooseneck, I would think the difference between an adapter and a new fifth wheel hitch would only be a couple of hundred dollars, right? Can't I get a solid, durable fifth wheel for under $1000. I would think that is the way to go.

 
It looks like the truck you are looking at is rated at a gross total trailer weight of 125000 lbs. I just purchased and 03 F350 Crew cab with the 6.0. My 5er is right at 12,000 lbs after I weighed it. 15000 #'s will be over your trucks weight limit. It will probably pull it but stopping and stability will be stressed. Not to mention that if you have an accident you are open to a great liability. Listen to the responses on this forum. These folks seem to know what they are talking about.
 
Fifth wheel tow is higher than the trailer tow.

Weigh your truck.

Take the GCWR of your truck and subtract the actual weight. The result is the maximum fifth wheel weight you can tow.

Example:

CGWR:       26000
CVWR        13000
My Truck      7980
Payload        5020         
Max Fiver    18020
Max Trailer  15000 (w/WD Hitch) / 10000 (w/o WD Hitch)

Larry
 
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