Posted 2006-08-13 12:12 PM (#46498) Subject: Will a gooseneck work?
Member
Posts: 14
Location: Norman, Ok
Hello. I have a bumper pull and want to change it for a 2 horse gooseneck. My hubby has a 2004 1/2 ton GMC crew cab with a short bed of 5'4". We have been to several places to see if there is room in the bed to fit a gooseneck. Some have said yes and some have said no...you need about 6' in your bed. Needless to say we are getting confused. We have been to trailer places, repair (trailer) places and hitch places...and get different answers. Does anyone on here have a formula to figure out if it will work or else a truck like ours with a 5'4" bed? Thank you for any help.
Posted 2006-08-13 12:58 PM (#46499 - in reply to #46498) Subject: RE: Will a gooseneck work?
Elite Veteran
Posts: 634 Location: Tipton, IN
Personal opinion, 20 years of towing all kinds of trailers, other than tractor trailers, and I would say that you would be better off sticking with a bumper pull or buying a different truck.
Posted 2006-08-13 7:06 PM (#46513 - in reply to #46498) Subject: RE: Will a gooseneck work?
Expert
Posts: 2689
Originally written by okiedar on 2006-08-13 12:12 PM
Hello. I have a bumper pull and want to change it for a 2 horse gooseneck. My hubby has a 2004 1/2 ton GMC crew cab with a short bed of 5'4". We have been to several places to see if there is room in the bed to fit a gooseneck. Some have said yes and some have said no...you need about 6' in your bed. Needless to say we are getting confused. We have been to trailer places, repair (trailer) places and hitch places...and get different answers. Does anyone on here have a formula to figure out if it will work or else a truck like ours with a 5'4" bed? Thank you for any help.
Here's an approximation of the "formulae".
The bed length is irrelevant, the dimension of interest is the cab to axle distance - usually listed in the spec sheet as CA or C/A.
The gooseneck ball and coupler need to be at least 4 inches ahead of the truck's rear axle's center line - 6 is better.
From the ball to the back of the cab - or any rack if you have one, needs to be more than 1/2 your trailer's nose width.
So, if you know the CA for your truck, subtract 4 from that. If you can find a gooseneck trailer the nose width of which is less than 2 times that, you could do 90 degree turns (spins) with it.
SOME 8ft wide gooseneck trailers taper to 5ft at the nose, using this as an example and working backwards; 60/2 = 30; 30+4=34; 34 is the minimum CA truck you could do 90 degree turns with.
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Some of this gets thrown out the window with the coupler offset gadgets.
I think you can effectively gain as much as 9 inches of set back with those.
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THEN you get down to all the other questions about whether or not the truck can "carry" the gooseneck's coupler as payload, whether or not all the Gxxx numbers are legit, etc. - generally 1/2 ton trucks are marginal in this regard, and even some of the 3/4 ton trucks.
Posted 2006-08-14 9:17 AM (#46541 - in reply to #46498) Subject: RE: Will a gooseneck work?
Elite Veteran
Posts: 671 Location: THE GREAT NORTHWET, OREGON(THE REAL GODS COUNTRY)
I know I will get yelled at again...but there are some people out there who believe you can tow heavy things with light trucks.BUT if it were ME I would check the weight of the trailer, the weight on the gooseneck,and the truck mfg recomended tow specs.
Then figure in all the crap you can load in the trailer plus horses and everything else you think you may want to haul ant then consider if this combo will be safe on the road.
Mind ya I don't have "45" years of towin these rigs but I have had the experience of draggin bodies out of wrecks caused by inadequate equipment.
There is a reason they have all the tow info for trucks.
I love a gooseneck and whatever you decide just think safety.
Posted 2006-08-14 7:25 PM (#46604 - in reply to #46498) Subject: RE: Will a gooseneck work?
Member
Posts: 14
Location: Norman, Ok
Thank you all for your input. It isn't sounding good for me pulling a GN with this truck. I might have to rethink this. Hubby is getting a price on a 3/4 truck to see if it is a doable thing. I sure want it to be safe for everyone and everything concerned. Thanks again.
Will a gooseneck work?
