I have been pulling our steel 16' gooseneck stock trailer, doing ranch work, with our 1990 4 by 4 F150 plain cab, long bed, with trailer package.

That has worked fine for us in our rather flat country, mostly loaded just with one or two horses and/or a few cattle and not going very far or on long trips.

Trading now for another F150, 4 by 4, trailer package, crew cab.

Question is, wondering how the gooseneck will fit on a 5 1/2' bed, preferred, but have the option of a 6 1/2' bed if better/necessary.

I bought a gooseneck trailer 6 months ago, planned on using my Chevy Avalanche. Come to find out, with a lot of help from this forum you need at least a 6 1/2 foot bed for clearance of the front of the trailer, when making a turn. I also had the problem of the Avalanche's sides being higher than a normal pick up. Luckily I had an older Dodge pick up long bed and had to settle with that , but am now looking for a new pick up since the Dodge has a lot of miles on it.

Good Luck and enjoy the new truck

Will look out for the height of the sides of the bed, to be sure that works without trouble.

Thank you for the answer. That will help in determining what to get.

I am pulling with a 1990 F150 8' bed, that is why I asked, because some here are pulling with the real short beds, but it seems too short!

I don't need the F250 for pulling, don't pull but light and local and need the F150 for every day other driving, like checking fences and cattle and other work and going to town.

Thank you, will keep looking into this some more.

I'm on my second or third F150 towing a gooseneck. I always get the extended cab. Not Regular and NOT crew. The bed on the 2004 and newer F150 EXTENDED cabs are 6.75' - whereas DODGE half tons are 6.5'.  The Crew Cab has only a 5.5' bed.

I can jack knife my truck / trailer and not hit my cab. My hitch is a touch in front of my rear wheels.

The other difference, is how old the GN trailer is. Many older models placed the coupler a foot or so back from the front edge. So... consider where the coupler is on the trailer.

Older GNs don't fit very well on Ford 4x4s... Dodge had the same problem 6 years ago, or so. The 4X4 jacks the trucks up. But on top of that, Ford went and made the half ton truck beds another 2 - 4" deep!! So you have to watch your clearance that way for bumps, humps, slopes, and ditches. (it's those twisted ones that will git ya)

Good Luck. I did LOTS of research before I made a commitment for truck and trailer. The 2004 and newer F150s ride VERY rough without a load and don't "squat" much. Check your specs out thoroughly. MY 2004 was set up to tow 9500 pounds; my 2006 is only good for 9200. Went from 1800 pound payload to a 1600 pound payload.

I tested a few of each brand ....

Depends on your trailer.

I have a shortbed truck and have no problems whatsoever - but my trailer has a tapered nose.

Quote from gabz

"The other difference, is how old the GN trailer is. Many older models placed the coupler a foot or so back from the front edge. So... consider where the coupler is on the trailer."

  Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!?!

Thank you for the information.

Went ahead and bought the F150 with the bigger engine and trailer package AND the 6 1/2' bed.

I found several local people with that set up, that pull the same 16' Reyes stock trailers. They have a very tapered nose and some even have a tool box in the bed in front. They say they have plenty of room and pulls safely.

This is a very good site, full of much excellent, interesting information. Thanks to all here.

What part do you not understand?  Not all GN couplers are placed at the front of the GN. Some are set back.

http://www.horsetrailerworld.com/home/trailerdetail.asp?ID=114886

So shoot me - there's not as many now as there were 3 years ago when I was shopping for a used GN.

edited to add link to a Kingston trailer with some overhang.

"The other difference, is how old the GN trailer is. Many older models placed the coupler a foot or so back from the front edge. So... consider where the coupler is on the trailer."

Our stock trailer's goosenecks are a heavy bigger pipe in front, vertically, that the frame of the gooseneck part is welded to the sides, the spare tire sits on top of that.

They have a narrow gooseneck, not like the ones with the boxy look in front and set back post to the gooseneck ball in the bed of the pickup, so that would not be a concern, as long as the bed is not so deep as to rub the top of the sides on the gooseneck side when turning in a barditch.

Will just have to be careful and not get into a bind with that.

We had a long bed Chevy for years, but updated to a Dodge short bed with the extended cab in 2001....Had to put the kids somewhere other than the trailer. I swear, every time my husband drives the new truck he says, "Shoulda gotten the long bed." In retrospect, he's probably right, but it doesn't bother me much. It depends on the driver and whether you're OK taking lots of time turning, or whether you just want to turn that thing around and head on out.