porthole
Retired
Tried out my cement piers this past week. With the eyebolt in the center they work great. Going to make one minor change with two of them and then they will probably stay in the truck for the entire RV season.
And so it begins
- Thread starter porthole
- Start date
porthole
Retired
I have probably 4-5000 miles using the goosebox now with perhaps 2 dozen hookups.
Towing it seems ok, as mentioned before, different from what I had, not better or worse, just different.
The trailer sits a bit lower on the truck. Enough so that even with cutting the "ears" on the pinbox frame I still hit my roll top cover bed rails on uneven ground. I cannot use the air bag to gain enough height to clear the rails on tight uneven turns.
Hooking up is a royal pain. Based on just the difficulty of dropping the hitch on the ball I would NOT RECOMMEND this hitch to anyone.
The hitch needs to be about perfectly centered over the ball to drop. The cone on the hitch is the reverse of what it needs to be. If you look at the Anderson hitch they now have a polymer cone that will allow the ball to not be centered. Drop the hitch off centered and the cone will guide the ball up into the hitch.
Dropping the hitch onto a not centered ball just allows the hitch to sit on the top of the ball. Even if the reverse cone is a bit over the downslope side of the ball, the friction will not allow it slide over and down. That might be amplified by my front jacks being angled out, which minimizes side to side movement.
Probably got spoiled with the jaws of a conventional hitch having a wide receiver for the pin along with a MOR/ryde pinbox allowing 3" of total side to side movement of the pin.
On flat level ground it may take 5-10 minutes or so.
On uneven ground I have spent probably 30 minutes hooking up.
I have added blue tape stripes to the goosebox and my toolbox. That helps a bit.
I have given up using my portable backup camera. It helps some, but it does not have image reversing capability, so using mirrors and non reversed image is a challenge.
I do use a magnetic pickup tool to at least tell when I am nearly overtop the ball.
Disappointed with:
The first hitch delivery (damaged boxed with hitch not in the box rolling around, damaged, parts missing)
The 2nd hitch air leak, misaligned parts allowing scraping and squeaks, useless correct air pressure decal
Difficultly hooking up
You still need to keep a good amount of clearance around the ball because of the shape of the goosebox
Disconnect height required (have to get in the habit of always using my 2-by pads under the jacks)
Lack of response from the Reese Goosebox people with regards to the reverse cone shape.
Before dropping the hitch on the ball but directly over it, there is only about 2" of clearance between the open tailgate and the RV. That doesn't leave a lot of room for error when not backing in perfectly straight.
Have I mentioned how hard it is to connect?
Pros - empty bed with 10 pound ball removed.
Towing it seems ok, as mentioned before, different from what I had, not better or worse, just different.
The trailer sits a bit lower on the truck. Enough so that even with cutting the "ears" on the pinbox frame I still hit my roll top cover bed rails on uneven ground. I cannot use the air bag to gain enough height to clear the rails on tight uneven turns.
Hooking up is a royal pain. Based on just the difficulty of dropping the hitch on the ball I would NOT RECOMMEND this hitch to anyone.
The hitch needs to be about perfectly centered over the ball to drop. The cone on the hitch is the reverse of what it needs to be. If you look at the Anderson hitch they now have a polymer cone that will allow the ball to not be centered. Drop the hitch off centered and the cone will guide the ball up into the hitch.
Dropping the hitch onto a not centered ball just allows the hitch to sit on the top of the ball. Even if the reverse cone is a bit over the downslope side of the ball, the friction will not allow it slide over and down. That might be amplified by my front jacks being angled out, which minimizes side to side movement.
Probably got spoiled with the jaws of a conventional hitch having a wide receiver for the pin along with a MOR/ryde pinbox allowing 3" of total side to side movement of the pin.
On flat level ground it may take 5-10 minutes or so.
On uneven ground I have spent probably 30 minutes hooking up.
I have added blue tape stripes to the goosebox and my toolbox. That helps a bit.
I have given up using my portable backup camera. It helps some, but it does not have image reversing capability, so using mirrors and non reversed image is a challenge.
I do use a magnetic pickup tool to at least tell when I am nearly overtop the ball.
Disappointed with:
The first hitch delivery (damaged boxed with hitch not in the box rolling around, damaged, parts missing)
The 2nd hitch air leak, misaligned parts allowing scraping and squeaks, useless correct air pressure decal
Difficultly hooking up
You still need to keep a good amount of clearance around the ball because of the shape of the goosebox
Disconnect height required (have to get in the habit of always using my 2-by pads under the jacks)
Lack of response from the Reese Goosebox people with regards to the reverse cone shape.
Before dropping the hitch on the ball but directly over it, there is only about 2" of clearance between the open tailgate and the RV. That doesn't leave a lot of room for error when not backing in perfectly straight.
Have I mentioned how hard it is to connect?
Pros - empty bed with 10 pound ball removed.
Bones
Well-known member
Well that pretty much sucks. I'm waiting for Reese to come back and repair my current fifth wheel hitch. I'm going on the second week now without an answer.
Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn
Well-known member
Sorry to hear Duane.
Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
porthole
Retired
I guess the good news is I still have a floppy head hensley ts-3 sitting on the dolly in my garage.
I have a brand new, un-installed reese goosebox sitting on another dolly in my garage, should be able to sell that to someone at a good discount
And the new trailer comes with a MOR/ryde pinbox.
Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn
Well-known member
I love my B&W Companion puck hitch and my Trailair FlexAir combo. I think it's the perfect setup. Hitch is still small enough in the bed of the truck, it comes apart and can be removed in minutes by myself, The latching mechanism works perfectly, the shock on the side of the hitch holds the head in place when not towing and when hitching, my T-REX bar put it "over the top" for convenience.
I could not be happier with my decision to move from the Reese to the B&W Companion
Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
I could not be happier with my decision to move from the Reese to the B&W Companion
Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
BigGuy82
Well-known member
Surprised that you didn't mention the need for safety chains in your list ...
porthole
Retired
I don't see the use of chains as an issue. Just part of the procedure, sort of like doing a brake pull check, which isn't required with this hitch.
For20hunter
Pacific Region Directors-Retired
I completely agree! This is my same setup and I love it (including the T-REX bar that Jerrod made me). In my opinion, its the absolute best hitch/pin combo on the market!
Rod
Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn
Well-known member
LOL
For20hunter
Pacific Region Directors-Retired
You mean the 2 T-REX bars I made youLOL
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LOL! Okay, I guess I had that coming!
Rod
porthole
Retired
I ordered this box from etrailer. It was wrapped in packing tape that is impossible to remove. On the sides where I could remove the tape it left all the residue, and it doesn't come off. On the sides I can't get a fingernail lift to start removing the tape.
etrialer's 1st response was "we don't do returns for tape residue"
After a tart response from me they upgraded to we will ship another one out.
That was followed with "according to our warehouse, all the junction boxes have tape on them.
The tape and residue in this picture cannot be removed without damaging the box.
Attachments
BigGuy82
Well-known member
Something changed somewhere because mine had only two small pieces of tape on it to hold the cover on. It was a little sticky but it came off ok. Did you try Goo Gone? The box did a great job and I had lots of room to work in.
Regarding eTtailer, they have never been my favorite. I’d tell you about a huge issue I had buying a pin box from them but I don’t want to hijack this thread.
porthole
Retired
Two small pieces I could deal with. But this is 3" wide, probably old stock tape. I can't even get the backing off on one side.
I have limited to what I tried to remove it with, as I want etrialer to replace it. So far I only used rubbing alcohol based on their suggestion, even though I was pretty sure it would not work.
BigGuy82
Well-known member
Petroleum based. Depending on the type of plastic it could melt it. Try this:
https://www.amazon.com/Weiman-GG44-...=UTF8&qid=1510110990&sr=8-15&keywords=googone
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Silverado23
Iowa Chapter Leaders
Heat from a hair drier works well to soften adhesive from labels and tape to make it easier to remove.
goo gone or Vegetable oil (or oily peanut butter) usually works well to safely remove any remaining adhesive. It may take a bit of time then the vegetable oil can be removed with dawn, water and a rag.
If etrailer will not replace then maybe the manufacturer would.
goo gone or Vegetable oil (or oily peanut butter) usually works well to safely remove any remaining adhesive. It may take a bit of time then the vegetable oil can be removed with dawn, water and a rag.
If etrailer will not replace then maybe the manufacturer would.
porthole
Retired
eTrailer has shipped out a new box with a return tag, and the new box was inspected before shipping.
According to my Parcel app it will be here Monday.
Parcel App... Hm... Guess I gotta install this and check it out!
