Well after my other question about going from travel trailer to fifth wheel, I believe we have decided to make the jump and get the fifth wheel. Now to wait for the one I want, 2010 to 2012 Arctic Fox 7-5L. So now that that is over, question at hand, is the fifth wheel or Goose Neck the way to go? I think I am leaning towards the gooseneck. My thoughts are enable the use of the bed more easily when not towing. Understand we all have opinions, just wanting input as experience and knowledge is always welcome to us.Thanks in advance for your help, Jeff & Karen

No personal experience, but I've seen many posts warning of undue stress being placed on the frame, and some manufacturers voiding warranties for that damage due to the use of a gooseneck. It may be urban legend, but do your homework before deciding. Good luck!

Frequent question. Rather than repeat it all look at previous posts on goosenecks.

I was thinking the same thing just before we got our Montana last year. After doing a lot of searching on various forums I found that for larger 5ers a gooseneck is NOT the way to go. Reason being the way the frames are made. Compare the frame on a gooseneck flatbed trailer (they all have pretty much the same kind of frames) to that of a 5er (most manufacturers have drawings showing how they build theirs). They are very different as a gooseneck hitch puts much more strain on the trailer frame than a regular 5er hitch. Some people have used them and say they've had no problems, but I'm not one to risk my substantial investment doing it. Arctic Fox's are well made, but I doubt they would say it was OK to use a gooseneck as well.Also, if there's any frame warranty, using a gooseneck will most certainly void it.

Don't.(from a retired Professional Structural Engineer)

Almost everyone has always warned against the adapters, but I had never seen any posts of anyone telling of damage to their 5th wheel as a result of using the adapters. However there have been a couple posts fairly recently that have posted about damages caused by the adapters. Personally I wouldn't use one simply because they do look like they would put unnecessary stress on the 5th wheel pin box area. If it did cause some damage it would definitely not be cheap to fix.My brother-in-law uses one to pull his 33' 5th wheel with speed boat in tow and has had no issues. But I wouldn't do it.

Fifth Wheel or Goose Neck | Good Sam Community

dbear
Explorer
Apr 22, 2014
DirtyOil wrote:
...just to be clear I'm asking about the wing spar bolting, not including the keel plate or the skin... how about... how many bolts hold the engines on the wings?

Not trying to blow smoke... just looking for answers... so far nobody has given concrete evidence to the contrary!?

Like maybe 2 per wing and 1 per engine.
DirtyOil
Explorer
Apr 22, 2014
Why don't you give us your answer to your last question, so that those of us that know the correct answer can see if you are just blowing smoke.

yup has nothing to do with hitches... I asked because there are so many experts here in RV.Net world... thought maybe someone would post?

just to be clear I'm asking about the wing spar bolting, not including the keel plate or the skin... how about... how many bolts hold the engines on the wings?

Not trying to blow smoke... just looking for answers... so far nobody has given concrete evidence to the contrary!?
DirtyOil
Explorer
Apr 22, 2014
http://www.rvbusiness.com/2011/08/lippert-named-to-supply-new-reese-goose-box/

oh no...!
Housted
Explorer III
Apr 22, 2014
Regarding the Andersen, I have used it for almost 2 years and many thousand miles. It is NOT a gooseneck adapter. Look at this picture, the socket is at the same level as the king pin and the down force is carried by the pin plate. I installed mine to the rear since I have a 5th Airborne pin box.

Andersen adapter block

Housted
bobx2
Explorer
Apr 22, 2014
DirtyOil wrote:
Tell me... how is a fifth wheel trailer attached to a TV? From what I see... there is what? a 2" pin which is welded to a plate which in turn is welded to the frame. Now that same 2" pin has all the forces acting on it first which then translates to the "plate" then the "frame". Tell me how having that same 2" pin "attached" to the TV either via a "fifth wheel" or via "gooseneck hitch" translates to a "broken frame" or "delaminated walls" or "twisted frame"? Older "fifth wheel" hitches don't have that "side to side" movement, how many frames, sidewalls etc. were effected with the side to side motion? Seems to me, regardless the "hitch" setup, that 2" pin while in motion is going to twist, move up and down with the movement of the TV, if violent enough, that 2" pin is going to transfer the forces from the TV to the "pin plate" and then to the "frame". Porpusing, while cruising 60-80mph down the highway no matter what setup one has is going to cause damage. The trailer is being pulled and the TV motions are being transferred through a 2" pin period! Engineering shmeering!! How many bolts hold the wings on a Boeing 737? Wanna guess?

Why don't you give us your answer to your last question, so that those of us that know the correct answer can see if you are just blowing smoke. I fail to see the relevance of comparing an airliner wing attachment to a goose neck -vs- 5th wheel discussion.
Johnny_H
Explorer
Apr 22, 2014
Adaptation is not always a good thing. Most trailers are built for the type of attachment that they have on them. If you want GN then order the trailer that way and it will have the appropriate bracing. If the mfg. does not offer a GN configuration then the adapter could cause problems.
cpet
Explorer
Apr 22, 2014
I bought a 1 ton truck that did not have the 5th wheel rails, going to cost $500 just to put the rails in so I bought the adapter for the gooseneck, one trip and I got the rails installed. I will never try that again for numerous reasons, the flexing that I could see in the mirror on the front of the trailer to the bucking fore and aft that it did to my truck. IMHO the 5th wheel hitch is the way to go.
yr2017
Explorer
Apr 22, 2014
http://www.townlinetruckandtrailer.com/trailers/horse
This best describes how my trailer is different from all the others. Tongue & groove construction. Incredibly strong - I can carry six draft horses.
http://www.jamcotrailers.com/about/construction.php
Dayle1
Explorer II
Apr 21, 2014
Me Again wrote:
Gooseneck trailer pictures

Most seem to have the frame all come together at the front.

5th wheel trailes are not built this way.

Many newer fivers are worse than your picture. New notched front cap units do not have a full crossmember across the front of the pin box brackets. Instead, they are notched as well and attach to the outside frame rails just a few inches ahead of where the rear crossmember attaches and therefore flex more under the same forces. What works ok on an older, square front fiver could be more problematic on a newer model.
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Apr 21, 2014
And...