Why Gooseneck?

beats me but it looks to me like the goose neck is a lot simpler/lighter/cheaper/etc.
bumpy

My guess would be that the people who haul horse trailers want to use their beds more when they are empty, than people who haul 5th wheel RV trailers. The gooseneck has a much smaller footprint in the bed of the truck. Also due to the design, a gooseneck trailer will be heavier than a comparable RV trailer.

Gooseneck trailers are generally stronger than 5th wheel RV trailers, but that's due to how the trailers are built, not because the gooseneck is an inherently stronger design. IMO RV trailer builders tend to be more cost conscious than horse trailer builders because they are adding many more amenities than most horse trailer builders.

Anyway, that's what I think. :)

Remember, a gooseneck hitch is a ball located on the bed of the truck. It doesn't sit a foot to 18 inches or higher off the bed of the truck attached with rails and such. Many gooseneck hitches are designed so they can be flipped over or removed easily, thus giving the truck bed 100% usability when not towing.

Folks towing horse trailers use the bed of their trucks for multiple reasons. Thinking of one immediately ... moving hay and straw bails to the barns and fields. They need the full truck bed as their use is for more than just towing a trailer for recreation.

Horse trailer goose necks have been around, seemingly ... forever. Part of it (today) may be ... well ... that's just the way it is. The basic original design works so well... why change it?

That's the advantage of a gooseneck. (I know, I've lived in farming country, pretty much all my life, except for a jaunt with Uncle Sam living in tents for a while).

Gooseneck is a better choice when you get off level a lot. I've had my stock trailer leaning at crazy looking angles. You have better articulation with the ball, and the frame is up away from the bed rails to the point that rail clearance isn't even something you think about with most goosenecks.

Even with a permanent gooseneck installed in the truck, most of the bed is still usable so for people who typically use their truck bed a lot, a gooseneck is more convenient.

I've come up with another one: the gooseneck allows the trailer to sit lower and have a lower overall height.

A goosekneck works better off road a fifthwheel is better for highway travel.

Agree GN better for offroad but what makes a 5er any better for HWY travel???

I tend to agree with much of what fj12ryder listed.

More of a question of why *not* a gooseneck on a 5er.

The answer is: because the leverage of the long gooseneck box exceeds the structural limits of a 5er frame.

Lippert, who makes 90% of the towable RV industry's chassis, will deny a frame failure warranty claim if a gooseneck hitch is found to have been installed

The only case where they would not deny a claim with a gooseneck connected is if the Reese Goose Box was used.

fj12ryder wrote:
I've come up with another one: the gooseneck allows the trailer to sit lower and have a lower overall height.

Actually, a gooseneck can and does have a stronger frame. And that may mean taller frame section than a fiver. This is entirely because, unlike a fiver, there is no stand up living space above the gooseneck frame. There are many GN horse trailers with living area, BUT not above the gooseneck.

Fivers are constrained to 13.5 ft height and getting stand up space plus frame height plus clearance above the truck bed results in a minimal frame.

Build a gooseneck trailer with living area like a fiver and it will also have a weaker frame like a fiver. Build a fiver without stand up space above the truck bed and it COULD have a stronger frame.

A gooseneck is easier on the trailer to hook-up. You do not lift up the front with the hitch and push back against the landing legs. You lower the coupler on to the ball. Less stress on the frame and less jolt to any horse or mule in the trailer.

Overall a gooseneck is a better arrangement for towing and does not add stress to the pin or frame, like a 5er does, when it is articulated past the few degrees allowed by a 5er hitch.

A trailer will move once the required force is applied to the pin regardless of the type of hitch. One hitch does not apply more or less force than another once it is hitched and ready to roll.