converting a fifth wheel trailer to a gooseneck

[Jim P]

I am considering buying a 1988 Jayco 30 foot fifth wheel travel trailer. The guy who has it would sell me his fifth wheel hitch but to me it seems very cheap. It just bolts to the bed and to the top of the wheel wells. I would rather have it attached to the frame. I have to put a gooseneck hitch in my truck to pull my equipment trailer so I would just rather have the travel trailer be a gooseneck. The king pin on the trailer is attached to a plate that is bolted to the trailer frame. Why couldn't I remove this and make a hitch that would bolt to the trailer frame and have the tube extend down to the gooseneck ball in the bed? Building this would be no problem but I am just wondering if the travel trailer frame would take the extra leverage that this would place on it.

Another question is, will it be possible to pull this travel trailer with a crossover tool box in the truck? I am thinking that it may hit the front of the trailer.

[sturgeon-phish]

A friend of mine has a gooseneck in his truck and he found a fixture that converted the 5th platform on his camper to a gooseneck. Can't remember the namebrand. I believe you are wise in not using the hitch that attaches only to the sheetmetal. You could check to see the rating, but for me, marginal is not good enough when it come to traveling down the road. There is a hitch that is a reversing goose ball, that when pulled out can receive a 5th platform. Looks great, but pricey.

[Retired Mech. 1998]

Jim P. Camping world has an adapter from a 5th wheel to a gooseneck. Rated at 30,000 lbs. You might want to ck out. Kurt

[David Utz]

Check with Jayco engineering first. The fifth wheel to gooseneck adaptors may cause problems in the trailer hitch frame work. They add a bending torque to the frame that may be beyond the design limits of the trailer. Only the trailer manufacturer can tell you if it is safe to use one of these adaptors. I have heard of people who have used them with no problems and others that have caused welds to crack.

[arveetek]

A 30' fifth-wheel should handle the leverage forces okay, but I normally recommend that people don't do this. It affects the handling of the trailer, and it will increase bucking, the back and forth movement of the trailer.

Some trailers work well with this setup, others don't. The larger trailers are much worse.

Calling Jayco and asking them is good advice. The frame just might not handle the differenct forces.

The hitch you got with the trailer is an older, 70's model hitch that was very common years ago. In fact, it's the same hitch I have in my '81. The older trucks had much stronger sheetmetal, and the trailers were much lighter at the same time. Now the truck beds are like tin-foil, and the trailers are twice as big. I'd suggest you purchase another hitch. All of the hitches on the market today attach to the truck frame in one manner or another.

You may have to remove your toolbox. I did on mine. I kept hitting the corners of the fifth-wheel when turning sharp corners. You'll just have to try it and see how much clearance you have.

Casey

[Duramax@Mattawa]

Jim P
Contributor
Member # 9900


I have a 5ver to goose neck conversion. I used it on a 38 ft Avion and pulled with a medium duty Navistar. Worked out fine. I've sold the truck and trailer but still have the conversion. $100 and shipping and it's yours.

[a5150nut]

I still remember the first 5th wheel I saw. They used a hitch that clamped to the rain gutters on a Dodge automobile. But they did use heavy sheet metal back then........

[cowboywildbill]

I have towed large 14,000 lbs plus fifth wheels, using the fifthwheel hitch and gooseneck adapters. I also work on campers and tow them part time, In my opinion I have found that they handle better with a goose neck adapter and, "I was surprised by this" My experiance is that they don't buck as much with the adapter. With the adapter you have a lower center of gravity in the truck bed, not at the top of the bed like a fiver. And as for lateral torsional stress, there is a lot less stress on the truck and trailer frames with a gooseneck, because it can pivot more from side to side, as two seperate units. When using a fifth wheel, the side to side stress is acually more because if the trailer or truck are on uneven ground, one will pull on the other for example if your truck is on high ground on the left side and your trailer is on high ground on the right side, it trys to flex the others frame, and that is hard on both frames. And it happens because most fifth wheel hitches have very little side to side play. I have found that it is easier to hook up the gooseneck than it is to hook up the fifth wheel. I know that sounds backwards,because when you back up and the kingpin is just supposed to latch into the fifthwheel, but the goose adapter that I have, also latches automatically when you lower it onto the ball, and I can reach the safety pin from the back of the bed, I couldn't do that on the fiver. It also leaves my bed empty to haul extra stuff, because that fifth wheel hitch isn't there taking up half of the bed. When I used to hook up to the fifth wheel, it was harder to pin the safety latch, because you had to try and reach the pin from the side over the bed and under the side of the camper, and the clearance between the two and position of the latch mechanism made it a pain to reach. I also like the idea that I don't have to wrestle that big fifth wheel in and out of the bed when I need to haul our other goosneck trailers. I use a bugie cord with a piece of tape in the middle of it, streched across the top my truck bed postioned over the ball. I just back up untill it is centered on the trailers gooseneck, and the rest is history, no guessing. It is also nice because I don't have those reese rails in my bed anymore, they were always a problem if you haul anything loose, like dirt or gravel they were a pain to clean out. Hope this helped, I didn't mean to ramble but I'll never go back to a fifth wheel hitch in my truck, I have been using the adapter now for over two years. I have found I can go off road better with the adapter. We rodeo and sometimes the places that we have to get to in order to park the camper are really in uneven(pastures) even crossing small ditches. I know that the camper manufacturers won't endorse any hitch other than what the trailer comes with, due to possible liability and possible warranty issues,but I have hauled new campers from thier factories, and the guy's that build them have commented when I asked about the adapter, and they stated that in thier opinion, "off the record" a goose is far better on the trailer than the loads of a fifth wheel hitch are. Just my two cents worth. Good luck in your towing.

[Colorado Kid]

I just look at how strong the front of a trailer built as a gooseneck looks compared to the flimsy front ends of 5th wheels and I won't even consider using a gooseneck coupler.

I will use a B&W Turnover Ball gooseneck hitch with a Companion 5th wheel hitch (Which is a 5th wheel hitch that attaches to the truck using the underbed parts of the Turnover Ball assenbly) on my next tow rig. This is what my father-in-law has and it's great. When the hitch is out the floor is clear, no rails. Hitch head rocks side to side, so Cowboy's concern about the truck and trailer twisting each other is addressed.

[Tractor]

The B&W is a good set up at around 1,000 to 1,200 bucks or so installed with the companion. The rv necks will never see the loads that a fifth wheel-duall wheeled flat bed will see. So I personally do not know about that comparison. Just take a look at a set of 10,000lb axles that are under a duall wheeled flatbed. And compare them to a RV. To each his own!!!!!!!!
TRACTOR

[cowboywildbill]

I agree, if I were going to tow with a fifth wheel hitch, It would be the campanion fifth wheel. But a lot of the other hitches don't have any side to side play and some only have it when they are unlocked in the off road mode. Gooseneck trailers are designed to carry more wieght than most fifth wheels. That is why the average fifth wheel hitch is rated at 15K and gooenecks are usually rated at 30K. I have the B&W gooseneck in my truck and I love it. I just got tired of putting that fifth wheel in and out of the bed.
Have a safe summer and enjoy whatever you decide to go with. Just be careful if your towing with a D/max not to pull your trailer in two! Just kidding. But they feel like they could do it.

[tanker]

Camping World has a kit to change 5th wheel to goose neck $386.00 USD. (campingworld.com)

[markelectric]

I am pulling a 30 foot Cougar with a gooseneck hitch that I built. I took an old pinbox from the dealer to get all the measurements from and built the adapter. I think I spent 79 bucks at tractor supply for the coupler and about 40 bucks for the plate steel. the dealer told me all was fine as far as the fifth framework went but told his service boys under no circumstances to touch the adapter I had built. Seem that another customer had built one a while back that broke and tried to sue the dealer. After I and my 11 year old daughter hoisted the overbuilt adapter into place and bolted it on, while the whole service dept watched, the dealer owner looked at my creation and said he was sorry about not helping. Turns out he was so impressed with my hitch after it was bolted on that he asked if I wanted to build them to order for him. I think I will stick to electric work.

[arveetek]

When I was employed at a local RV dealership several years ago, we sold a brand new 37' Carriage triple-axle fifth-wheel to a gentleman who took it home with no problems. However, about a week later, he called us up and told us what a piece of junk his trailer was, and that there was something terribly wrong with it. He said it was bucking back and forth so bad, he couldn't stay in his driver's seat. He was even threatening to sue us.

Well, he brought it back to the shop, and that's when we discovered he had put a gooseneck adapter on. Apparently he had a buddy take the trailer home for him, and then he modified the hitch to be used in his own truck. The trailer frame wasn't built for the geometric changes made by the gooseneck adapter. We finally convinced him to install a regular fifth-wheel hitch in his truck, and all was fine after that, towed like a dream. We also pulled the lower front cap off the trailer to inspect for frame damage, but we didn't find any.

Again, I caution against going this route, especially on larger trailers. Please consult the trailer manufacturer for further advice before doing this modification.

Casey

[arveetek]

One other thing to keep in mind. The landing gear/front jacks on most RV's aren't that heavy-duty, and tend to wear out after even minimal use. Installing a gooseneck adapter will put extra strain on the landing gear by having to raise and lower the trailer an extra 3 to 4" everytime you hook up.

When using the standard fifth-wheel hitch, you can just back out of the pin on the trailer after taking the weight off the truck. On a gooseneck, you have to raise the trailer completely off the truck bed and ball before separating.

Just another thing to think about!

Casey

[cowboywildbill]

I don't think I have ever just pulled out from under my fifth wheel with out jacking it up or down in at least a half a foot or two in order to get it level, mostly for the fridge. I have owned two fifth campers two bumper pulls, and I have never worn out a jack motor yet. But I know that the motors can burn up though, because I have replaced them for customers.
I just looked at a gooseneck trailer at a dealer yesterday, and it is called something like a"Work & Play" It is a fifthwheel type trailer that you can put your motorcycles or whatever in the rear, and live in the front just like a camper. I noticed that it had a gooseneck and not a fifth wheel kingpin. When I asked the service guy if there was any difference in the frame, he said It was heavier, for the loads in the back, but that the manufacturers said that they are't going to build any of these with a fifth wheel, because they said it is much safer to pull as a gooseneck. And it was about 36 ft long. So I guess they are starting to build them as that way also. I will try to get a picture of this thing, and then if I can figure out how to post it, I'll put it in a post. Have a great weekend.

[Jim P]

Thanks everyone for all the great advise.

After reading everyones posts, I have come to the conclusion that using the gooseneck adapters are probably not the best way to go. It seems that some people get by with them just fine but others don't. It probably has to do with the size of the trailer and how it is built.


Here is what I am thinking of doing. The guy I bought the trailer from said that he will give me his hitch. I thought his was only attached to the bed. I didn't realize it but he made up some plates that attach to the side of the frame and then extend up to the underside of the wheel wells. The bolts that looked to be just bolted through the wheel wells are actually bolted through these plates. So it seems pretty strong this way. I am thinking that not only is the price right but this will also give me more room in the bottom of the bed for hauling fire wood and stuff that won't fit in the trailer. Does this sound feasible?