Has anyone converted from a fifthwheel style hitch to a goosneck with a ball ? Looking for input
Terry and Jo said
12:31 PM Mar 8, 2011
You'll get various answers for this one. I've never used the conversions, nor will I. For one thing, our fifth wheel is too heavy for using a conversion. It seems that I heard somewhere that they are limited to 18,000 lbs.
Another reason I wouldn't use one is because the extra neck to the hitch might be putting a different strain on the pin box and frame than they are designed to handle.
But, to give you more, there is this link, part of which I disagree with. On this link, they refer to the abiltiy of the conversion to handle just as much weight as a regular fifth wheel. It is not from what I would call a reputable source related to towing, but it does kind of cover pros and cons.
Rusty--you may want to be careful, I have it directly from Lippert, which makes a lot of fitfh wheel frames, right in their warrenty papers (they e-mailed me and had this part highlighted) any gooseneck or gooseneck type hitch will void the frame warranty. However if you have no frame warranty then its a moot point. Other considerations, its much harder to hitch up, first its very hard to see from the driver seat with an extended cab or a tool box, secondly you have to pretty much get the hitch right over the ball before lowering (much like a bumper hitch). But on the other hand there are many people using them, so they cant be that bad.
Another reason I wouldn't use one is because the extra neck to the hitch might be putting a different strain on the pin box and frame than they are designed to handle.
But, to give you more, there is this link, part of which I disagree with. On this link, they refer to the abiltiy of the conversion to handle just as much weight as a regular fifth wheel. It is not from what I would call a reputable source related to towing, but it does kind of cover pros and cons.
http://www.ehelpfultips.com/fifth_wheel_to_gooseneck_convers.htm
Terry
Flyone