Community Forums

grassy · 01-30-2021, 01:50 PM

Folks,

I am buying a one ton and I was just going to go with the hitch offered by the truck company until several folks mentioned a ball hitch.

I was under the impression that a ball hitch was more for horse / utility trailers and they had a tendency to break 5th wheel trailers. I gather this is now incorrect.

I have been told that instead of a for / aft motion, with a ball you get of hobby horse or rocking motion when towing.

My 5th is a Arctic Fox 29-5T.

I haven't bought my replacement truck yet so this is a good time to research.

Thoughts ?

Thanks

xc-mark · 01-30-2021, 02:48 PM

you did not say if its a short bed truck and needs a sliding hitch. For me its simple some dealers / manufactures will claim that the frame warranty is voided when you uses any adapters style hitch (goose or pinbox to goose) if the frame cracks . Having said that your call , some will say the andersen hitch is the greatest part ever built some will say get a goose box and other will say you dont need a slide hitch on a short bed. All of these choices are yours to sort out. For me its a long bed and BD5 hensley currently. It uses the factory puck system and has air bags to smooth out the truck ride.

grassy · 01-30-2021, 03:21 PM

Haven't bought yet..RAM sells a hitch as an option.

I shall check out the brand you mentioned..thanks.

tuffr2 · 01-30-2021, 05:07 PM

I was looking a 5th wheels but not in the last 6 months due to Covid.

I towed a 5th wheel with a new 2012 F-450 with the puck system. Back in 2012 there were not many options so I worked a deal for the Ford partnership Reese Elite standard hitch that was specifically built to fit the puck system. I did this when I bought the truck.
It was a heavy clumsy hitch to remove or to install. It took two muscled guys. It also took up a lot of the bed of my truck.

I sold both in early 2018 and now have a 2017 F-250 6.2 gas truck short bed without the 5th wheel puck system. I priced having the B&W Turn Over Ball added to my truck. It costs $1,200, kind of too expensive.

I was torn between using the Anderson Ultimate Hitch and the Reese Goose Box. I was going to look for a small lighter 5th wheel max 10,000lb GVWR. Thinking the gooseball is good for lighter 5th wheels.

On one hand the Arctic Fox has one of tgr best frames. On the other hand I think your Arctic Fox is too heavy to use with a goose ball. My friend had a 40' 4 horse slant with living quarters gooseneck trailer. The gooseneck of that trailer had thick angle iron supporting the connection point. It was built to use a gooseball.

So seeing how well built a gooseneck trailer is and seeing how 5th wheel is built they are two different designs.

5th wheel hitches usually come apart so they can be removed/installed easier. On my hitch I never took it apart or removed the handle so that made it clumsy to remove/install.

Again - if I had and Arctic Fox 5th wheel I would use a standard 5th wheel hitch that fits the puck system of the truck you were buying.

grassy · 01-31-2021, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tuffr2

I was looking a 5th wheels but not in the last 6 months due to Covid.

Covid sucks and kinda put us in this dilemma.

For the last 5 years or so, We have been hauling with a Sport Chassis with what I consider, the best ever 5th hitch.. a McCall which has 4 air bags and 4 shocks for ride and push / pull. We do long haul.. probably a min of 15 unique states and 10K miles. Some the stuff we see out there is well beyond our comfort zone. We no longer camp within 8 hours of us because most parks have become low end trailer parks with a few open slots..so we stick to the long haul.. with covid, we expected to be off the road for 2 years so we sold the truck.

I have been in looking truck dealers for specific for a one ton hauler. I have found dealers really know nada about hauling. The first time I heard about the puck system was on a brand specific board.

To say that we are very pleased with our AF would be a major understatement.. especially when we listen to our fellow travelers. A heavily built 5th with both springs and shocks (and I run LT tires), really pays off.

I have the same thoughts as you.. ball rig trailers and 5th RV trailers are built quite differently.. however, I am concerned with the push / pull of a std 5th hitch is going to give us..

Thanks for your comments

Old-Biscuit · 01-31-2021, 08:58 AM

GVWR of 15,800

Stay with a conventional 5th wheel hitch vs a gooseneck ball

WET pin in the 3300--3600 range

Stay with a conventional 5th wheel hitch.

LOTS of options---even air assist on hitches & pin boxes

jerseygirls · 01-31-2021, 09:46 AM

We swear by the Anderson hitch for our 5er. Never used anything else. Very easy to hitch/unhitch and only weighs 35 lbs if you want to remove it from the bed.

grassy · 01-31-2021, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerseygirls

We swear by the Anderson hitch for our 5er. Never used anything else. Very easy to hitch/unhitch and only weighs 35 lbs if you want to remove it from the bed.

Could you pls mention the weight of your 5th and any special mods you had to make to your truck ?

Thanks
Ian.

Freqz · 01-31-2021, 02:22 PM

Not all fifth to GN conversions are equal. Stay away from the cheap ones that just bolt to the kingpin. The Reese Goosebox and Gen-Y replacement pin boxes are excellent but cost as much as a good fifth wheel hitch.

I prefer a ball, personally, but a fifth sure is easy to hook up. But it’s bigger and heavier. Anderson Ultimate gives the good parts of a ball but takes up space like fifth— not a terrible compromise if everything else works out otherwise OK.

treeoflib · 02-05-2021, 09:11 AM

I will second the love of the Anderson Ultimate. Very light, very easy to hook up, and can be removed in under 2 minutes with my gooseneck ball, returning the bed to perfectly flat.

My one complaint is that I wish it were 2 inches lower, to level out the trailer in tow.

Yosemite77 · 02-05-2021, 01:02 PM

Best hitch? B & W Companion. It’s easy to hook up and very easy to check whether you are hitched up correctly. The height is adjustable as well. About the only negative might be the weight. The hitch separates into two pieces though, so this is a non-issue. I have a hoist mounted on my garage ceiling. Sometimes I’ll back under the hoist and lift it out. Other times I’ll take it out by hand.

https://www.bwtrailerhitches.com/5th-wheel-hitch

Billett Bee · 02-05-2021, 02:51 PM

I have the 30k mopar puck hitch and it has been rock solid, knock on wood. I guess you can haul a bit more with the ball because you don't have a 280lb hitch in your bed, but I much prefer something that at least looks substantial anyway

HDGoose · 02-06-2021, 06:13 AM

The reason trailer manufacturers choose gooseneck or fifth wheel is not because of weight below 40k. It is how the trailers are used.

Gooseneck has more movement for traversing in level terrain. But many 5th wheel hitches now pivot more than previous versions.

I will be raising my camper to obtain 8-9 inches clearance, and still be level. But that because the places I camp are not RV parks/campgrounds.

MtCamper · 02-06-2021, 06:24 AM

If I'm not mistaking, your 2010 AF has a flat front. If you are getting a standard (short) box, you might want to consider a slider. With the newer front design on AF, you are fine with a standard fifth wheel hitch. We purchased our one ton with the fifth wheel puck system. The dealer had a good aftermarket department so I purchased the puck system base for the B&W Companion from them and just transferred the head unit to the new base. Entire install took about 10 minutes.