Criteria for 5th Wheel Hitch Selection

[aknavy]

Originally Posted by Cumminsfan

If I could turn back time I'd of opted for a gooseneck ball in the bed (Truck had nothing) and gone with the Reese Goosebox.
You just can't get anything easier. Plus zero chance of dropping the 5er on the bed rails from high hitching. No pull test needed. Beds clear when not towing and no heavy chunk of iron to remove.

Yep, it's a great hitch, and it provides a great ride.

[raineman]

Originally Posted by CecilD

The following is from the Trailersaver website under FAQs.

"With the weight of the TrailerSaver TS3, how could I possibly get this out of my truck?

Although some people have access to an engine hoist, cherry picker, or tractor to lift the hitch out of the bed, many do not. The easiest way to remove the TS3 is to simply detach all 4 detent pins from the hitch rails, raise the trailer jacks, and allow the TS3 to stay attached to the pin of the trailer."

I guess I will trust the advice of a premier manufacturer over a hitch installer.

I don't own a trailsaver so that premier manufacturer advice does not apply to me.....

[RoadEyePie]

Originally Posted by aknavy

I've had both a TrailAir pinbox/Andersen Ultimate combo and my current Reese Goose box.

The Reese Goosebox tows better than the Andersen/TrailAir combo. When in use, both take up about the same amount of bed space. When not in use, the Reese leaves me with a completely clear bed.

I'm a little confused, the TrailAir / Andersen Ultimate was your original setup? I looked up those on the internet and didn't understand something, but skip that. Your current setup is the Reese Goose box?

I assume you replaced your fifth wheel king pin with the Goose box on the trailer, and what goes in the bed of the truck? Not a ball in the bed of the truck.

That's ok. I need to go pay a visit to an RV service shop or someone who sells and installs these things. I don't want to take up a lot of folks time trying to explain this to me on the forum.

[tuffr2]

Are all 5th wheels designed to use the Reese Goosebox or will it eventually destroy the pin area of the trailer?

[aknavy]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

Are all 5th wheels designed to use the Reese Goosebox or will it eventually destroy the pin area of the trailer?

Lippert approved.

[SmokeyWren]

Originally Posted by manwithnorv

What criteria should I use to select a FW hitch for a 2019 GMC 3500 Dually. … P.s. The GMC truck will be a long bed and will have the OEM 5th wheel / gooseneck prep package (puck system).

Why not the hitch that GM sells as an accessory for those GM trucks that have the Z6A Fifth Wheel prep pkg?

Originally Posted by GMC website

Fifth Wheel (5th Wheel 20K Hitch, Z6A Required)

$939

Fifth Wheel 20K Hitch by CURT Group - Associated Accessories. Hauling trailers and fifth wheels is made possible with the GMC Accessories Fifth Wheel Hitch. Package includes legs, brackets, rails, clips, harness, and hardware. Requires a Z6A prep package, sold separately. Non-GM Warranty. Limited Warranty by CURT Group 10-years. For more information contact your dealer.

Note that $939 is the MSRP. If you order that hitch as an accesssory part of the order for the new truck, you can probably get it for invoice price, or around $750.

[RoadEyePie]

I haven't seen a hitch offered as an option at GMC.

[Searching_Ut]

Using the factory prep in my RAM I went from an Andersen Ultimate, to a B&W puck mount/ Reese fifth Airborne combo for awhile, then finally the Reese GooseBox. Took the long route to getting it right.

If you want a conventional hitch, the B&W Truly earns the praise it gets. Solid, easy to use be it installation or hitching or disconnecting, and I had zero slop. It works even better with an air suspension pin box to smooth out the ride some. Unfortunately, in my case the pin box wouldn’t adjust up enough for me so I was significantly nose high with the hitch/pin box combination.

The GooseBox gives you the airbag/shock absorber dampening in the pin box, and eliminates the need for the heavy hitch in the bed. With my factory ball/chain mounts I’m back to a clean bed in virtually a minute, and the weight of the ball is insignificant. Best yet, it doesn’t affect the warranty if you have a lippert frame which most fifth wheels unfortunately have now days.

[RoadEyePie]

So I just need to replace my fifth wheel king pin box that comes with the trailer with the goose box Reese - Goose Box.

That will fit on a ball that sticks in the center puck hole in my new truck. How do I adjust for height if the ball isn't high enough with the goosebox to clear the bed rails?

Also, there has to be folks out there that don't like these and they probably have pretty good reasons. So what are the negatives to going this route.

[aknavy]

You can get different height balls, and can adjust the height of the hitch on the fiver itself. Between the two balls I have and the hitch mounting bolts, I probably have 5 inches to play with.

[Searching_Ut]

For height adjustment you have 2 options. They make balls with a taller shat that you can use to gain up to 2 inches of height. There should also be a couple of different holes in the mounting ears for your pin box generally these allow for 3 to 4 inches of adjustment up or down. You are wise to research ahead of time for your particular setup. I found the goosebox using the same mount holes as my lippert 1621hd pin box provided about 1 inch less bed rail clearance so I moved it down 1 mount hole. The fifth airborne however resulted in my trailer bed rail clearance being slightly over 10 inches and the trailer nose was way too high. I couldn’t lower it, and the hitch was adjusted as low as it would go. This caused my rear trailer axle to carry approx 1500lbs more than the front axle.

The gooseneck adapters with the bad rap are devices that bolt onto the existing pin box and go straight down a foot plus. This puts a torque load on the pin box that some have reported to cause cracks in the front of the trailer. For awhile these frame cracks had become fairly common with lippert frames even with the adapters adding extra stress. You don’t hear about it as much anymore so hopefully the weaknesses have been resolved. By the way, the Reese Goosebox is the only way to convert to a gooseneck type setup that won’t void a lippert frame warranty, with lippert also claiming it reduces the torque loads. The way the suspension works is probably part of why it works. There is also an Andersen Ultimate that is basically raises the ball up to supposedly eliminate the torque load. I had one and the pin adapter destroyed my pin box and neither lippert nor Andersen would cover it under warranty even though both were less than a year old.

If you do decide to install a Reese goose box be advised it’s heavy. I got it installed by myself, but having a helper, or two would have been nice.

[RoadEyePie]

Originally Posted by Searching_Ut

For height adjustment you have 2 options. They make balls with a taller shat that you can use to gain up to 2 inches of height. There should also be a couple of different holes in the mounting ears for your pin box generally these allow for 3 to 4 inches of adjustment up or down. You are wise to research ahead of time for your particular setup. I found the goosebox using the same mount holes as my lippert 1621hd pin box provided about 1 inch less bed rail clearance so I moved it down 1 mount hole. The fifth airborne however resulted in my trailer bed rail clearance being slightly over 10 inches and the trailer nose was way too high. I couldn’t lower it, and the hitch was adjusted as low as it would go. This caused my rear trailer axle to carry approx 1500lbs more than the front axle.

There is also an Andersen Ultimate that is basically raises the ball up to supposedly eliminate the torque load. I had one and the pin adapter destroyed my pin box and neither lippert nor Andersen would cover it under warranty even though both were less than a year old.

First part, what did you do or how did you resolve the problem riding nose high and 1500 lbs on the rear axle. This was using a goosebox?

Second part, on the Andersen Ultimate...did you have to have that with your goosebox….is that what you did to fix the problem above?

[tophog]

2018 GMC DRW here with Andersen Ultimate. Had 2017 F350 DRW with B&W Companion which I liked. I like the Andersen better and is around 50 lbs and can be lifted with one arm.

I discovered goosebox thereafter and probably would have went that route had I known.

If one thinks they may possibly switch truck brands they should realize the OEM Puck mount hitches are not compatible across brands which bit me going from Ford to GM whereas with goosebox or andersen they are as both are based on simple gooseneck ball and not oem pucks.

[tuffr2]

I had the standard 5th hitch Reese Elite fitting into the Ford puck system. I needed help to take the hitch out of the truck to carry kayaks. The hitch was easy to carry with two people. Actually I moved this hitch myself when I first got it...being in my mid 50's. But by my early 60's I needed help.

I would say if new lippert 5th wheel frames are compatible with a center ball hitch like gooseneck trailers that would be better than getting the standard 5th wheel hitch that takes up the bed of your truck.