Feedback wanted on new Pinbox and Hitch selections

[esscobra]

chains stay attached to trailer like emergency trailer brake wire- they connect to u shaped bolts attached to frame-hitch that are spring loaded- pull up and attach chains, fall flush with bed with no chains- there is a newer gooseneck air ride pinbox - I think the same goosebox mentioned - that is lippert approved so wontvid warranty- my trailer builder told me about it when discussing getting getting new gooseneck hitch installed in new truck- but I already have b&w fifth wheel hitch setup- and the ease of hitching v gooseneck made me stay with my current setup- I do have the mor-ryde pinbox option from factory- if tom would have allowed it - I would have gotten the trial air - but am happy with mor-ryde-

now being one who has towed both 5th and gooseneck the 5th is much easier to see and hitch up- but because the 2018 gmc denali hd does not have the camera showing the bed- I would be more difficult to hitch the gooseneck-

If it were me in your situation I would sell current setup- get the air ride goosebox ( have heartlnd or lipert send you one) and use factory ball which s removable- and hve next to nothing in your bed and no lifting and hitching wont be as big a pain with the camera system.

 

[CoveredWagon]

Here's the way I've done it. On my Chevy with factory 5th wheel / gooseneck hitch package the Andersen Ultimate hitch base frame covers the puck holes. You drop in a gooseneck ball in the center hole and set the Andersen hitch on it. Amen done. Torque a few bolts and your ready for the chains. Since the puck holes aren't available I've just attached them together around the base at the gooseneck ball in the bed. When you purchase the chain kit you get two eye bolts that replace the through bolts on the king pin adapter. The chains have shackles on one end an safety hooks on the other. I hope the pictures make sense it's dark here. If you want better pictures I'll take the tomorrow. If you're going to Shipshewana you can play with in real time



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now being one who has towed both 5th and gooseneck the 5th is much easier to see and hitch up- but because the 2018 gmc denali hd does not have the camera showing the bed- I would be more difficult to hitch the gooseneck-

If it were me in your situation I would sell current setup- get the air ride goosebox ( have heartlnd or lipert send you one) and use factory ball which s removable- and hve next to nothing in your bed and no lifting and hitching wont be as big a pain with the camera system.

this not a true gooseneck as some think of it. The ball on the Andersen mount is up high. Granted you can't see it directly, but I have cute little cure for That too. I add a picture of it tomorrow as I have to move the Rv .

For anyone who is interested I suggest you go to the Andersen web site and take a look.

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Not too late. Will be months before I'm into anything new.

Curious on the safety chains. I do understand the requirement with using a gooseneck hitch and likely, using a 5th wheel hitch that is anchored in the truck bed to a gooseneck ball.

I have 2 questions in this area:

1. When using the gooseneck attachment system, the hooks/rings/whatever that the chains connect to at the bed, do those come out easily for a flush bed floor?

2. If NOT using the gooseneck attachment system, rather, using the puck/bedrail system, I assume no safety chains needed - is this correct?

Not to the best of my knowledge. The laws as as I recall in some states state that any trailer not having a captured attachment i.e. jaws on a 5th wheel around a king pin must have safety chains. Please don't take this to court or your lawyer. This from my memory of many years ago. Although I've heard others claiming the same with more recent history.

 

[jbeletti]

Dave (Covered Wagon) - thanks for the pics and your feedback. We won't make the Indiana rally this year. Have a great time!

 

[CoveredWagon]

Dave (Covered Wagon) - thanks for the pics and your feedback. We won't make the Indiana rally this year. Have a great time!

Jim do the pictures make sense. Did you get my comment about the chains?

oh and I have a simple little thing that makes alignment with the ball without a camera a snap. pictures of that tomorrow

 

[jbeletti]

Jim do the pictures make sense. Did you get my comment about the chains?

oh and I have a simple little thing that makes alignment with the ball without a camera a snap. pictures of that tomorrow

Yes - pictures make sense. What I'd like to see is a picture from someone who uses the eye-bolts that come with the Andersen Gooseneck hitch and then to see the bed with everything out and to better understand how to quickly and simply remove the safety chain eyebolts from the bed.

 

[AFMagnum]

Jim,

Lots of great info and pictures in this thread, but if you don’t have the time to read 47 pages, start with JWalker’s post on page 42 (#413). He has a couple more pictures on page 45 with the hitch pulled out.

 

[esscobra]

Here's the way I've done it. On my Chevy with factory 5th wheel / gooseneck hitch package the Andersen Ultimate hitch base frame covers the puck holes. You drop in a gooseneck ball in the center hole and set the Andersen hitch on it. Amen done. Torque a few bolts and your ready for the chains. Since the puck holes aren't available I've just attached them together around the base at the gooseneck ball in the bed. When you purchase the chain kit you get two eye bolts that replace the through bolts on the king pin adapter. The chains have shackles on one end an safety hooks on the other. I hope the pictures make sense it's dark here. If you want better pictures I'll take the tomorrow. If you're going to Shipshewana you can play with in real time

View attachment 54809View attachment 54810View attachment 54811

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this not a true gooseneck as some think of it. The ball on the Andersen mount is up high. Granted you can't see it directly, but I have cute little cure for That too. I add a picture of it tomorrow as I have to move the Rv .

For anyone who is interested I suggest you go to the Andersen web site and take a look.


I have seen -fully understand the Anderson- researched hitches while trailer was on order - but for same type of hitching- the gooseball means nothing extra in bed to remove- Anderson advantage is that it does no void warranty b/cause uses std pinbox, but this pinbox is lippert approved



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Not to the best of my knowledge. The laws as as I recall in some states state that any trailer not having a captured attachment i.e. jaws on a 5th wheel around a king pin must have safety chains. Please don't take this to court or your lawyer. This from my memory of many years ago. Although I've heard others claiming the same with more recent history.

I have seen -fully understand the Anderson- researched hitches while trailer was on order - but for same type of hitching- the gooseball means nothing extra in bed to remove- Anderson advantage is that it does no void warranty b/cause uses std pinbox, but this pinbox is lippert approved

 

[Bones]

Yes - pictures make sense. What I'd like to see is a picture from someone who uses the eye-bolts that come with the Andersen Gooseneck hitch and then to see the bed with everything out and to better understand how to quickly and simply remove the safety chain eyebolts from the bed.

JWalker did his chains a bit different. He bolted the chains to the pin box mounting frame and has the hooks on the other end.

 

[CoveredWagon]

JWalker did his chains a bit different. He bolted the chains to the pin box mounting frame and has the hooks on the other end.

With the GM factory 5th wheel / gooseneck package the Andersen Ultimate hitch covers the puck holes. Also the Andersen chain package includes the eye bolts, so it was an easy choice. And just as a matter of personal choice I guess I prefer not to have to deal with the chains hanging off the pinbox.

 

[TGLBWH]

I just upgraded my hitch to a 21K Demco Recon. Has the small profile like the Anderson (triangular shape) with a normal head. Total weight is 100 lbs . Great ride and inexpensive. comes apart in three pieces with pin for each. Good luck on your shopping. It is available in rail and puck style.

 

[porthole]

Not too late. Will be months before I'm into anything new.

Curious on the safety chains. I do understand the requirement with using a gooseneck hitch and likely, using a 5th wheel hitch that is anchored in the truck bed to a gooseneck ball.

I have 2 questions in this area:

1. When using the gooseneck attachment system, the hooks/rings/whatever that the chains connect to at the bed, do those come out easily for a flush bed floor?

2. If NOT using the gooseneck attachment system, rather, using the puck/bedrail system, I assume no safety chains needed - is this correct?

Anderson or Reese offer no definitive answer to the gooseneck chain requirement.

My opinion, that law relates to true gooseneck trailers, which when looking at them, appear to be just two pieces of pipe with a pin used for adjustments.

I see no real reason for the chains with my hitch, but I have them.

Compared to a conventional 5th wheel, we do a brake test, and as a few of us have proven, sometimes you can go several hundred yards before your unlocked 5th wheel pin releases and drops the trailer on the bed of your truck.

With either the goosebox or anderson you could probably go several miles to several hundred miles before you hit a bump big enough to bounce an unlocked goose ball hitch off the ball and bounce around your bed, and probably at a much higher speed.

I'm using eyebolts on the hitch and the chains are shackled to the chain anchors in the bed.
Takes all of 10 seconds to remove each chain, longer to get up in the bed to access them.

Did you see my reviews on the goosebox?

Personally, if you are thinking the ball route, go for the aluminum Anderson (which current models cover the puck holes on Ford's).

Talk to MOR/ryde about replacing that bolt on bottom plate with a gooseball receiver - with a proper alignment cone.

MOR/ryde made up a prototype bottom plate for me when I bought the trailer and had a pullrite slider in the GMC.

 

[jbeletti]

All this feedback is really appreciated. Thank you Heartlanders!

Here's what I'm thinking now:

1. I don't really want to have to use safety chains in the truck bed
2. I don't really want to use an adapter between the truck bed and the hitch
3. I'd prefer to use the puck system directly

Given the above, I'm "leaning" towards the B&W Companion OEM 5th Wheel Hitch - link. This hitch would give me a nice clean floor when removed. If I did go this route, I might consider the Lippert Flex Air pinbox.

 

[porthole]

Another distinction between the anderson and reese goosebox. Although they both require an exaggerated pinbox hookup raise to connect, the anderson is already elevated in your bed, allowing clearance for "stuff'

With the goosebox, I can't have anything much higher then about 4" in the bed or it interferes with hooking up.

 

[jbeletti]

Hi Duane - thank you for weighing in here. Yes, I read your Goosebox review this morning. Thanks for that.

 

[jbeletti]

Another distinction between the anderson and reese goosebox. Although they both require an exaggerated pinbox hookup raise to connect, the anderson is already elevated in your bed, allowing clearance for "stuff'

With the goosebox, I can't have anything much higher then about 4" in the bed or it interferes with hooking up.

That's a great distinction. At times, I do have "stuff" between the hitch and the tailgate while towing.

 

[TravelTiger]

All this feedback is really appreciated. Thank you Heartlanders!

Here's what I'm thinking now:

1. I don't really want to have to use safety chains in the truck bed
2. I don't really want to use an adapter between the truck bed and the hitch
3. I'd prefer to use the puck system directly

Given the above, I'm "leaning" towards the B&W Companion OEM 5th Wheel Hitch - link. This hitch would give me a nice clean floor when removed. If I did go this route, I might consider the Lippert Flex Air pinbox.

View attachment 54820

We've been very happy with our Companion. Very well built. It's manageable for one person to remove/replace if you take the head off beforehand.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Alan_B]

We've been very happy with our Companion. Very well built. It's manageable for one person to remove/replace if you take the head off beforehand.

Ditto. It works well with the Ford pucks.

 

[porthole]

That's a great distinction. At times, I do have "stuff" between the hitch and the tailgate while towing.

Once hooked up it is minor, but something to be concerned with.

It's the back and forth trying to get lined up where it becomes a problem. I have already permanently realigned two of the dog pen panels, one being the gate :-(

 

[dykesj11]

Here's what Andersen told me when asked about chain requirement: "This is kind of a grey area. We were tested as a fifth wheel hitch and are approved as a fifth wheel hitch. According to DOT regulations because it is a fifth wheel hitch we does not need safety chains. However we do utilize a gooseneck ball to secure the fifth wheel hitch into place creating a solid base with no moving points. On conventional gooseneck trailers chains are required due to the latching mechanism on the gooseneck trailer. The Andersen Ultimate Connection does not utilize a latch nor does it pivot at the point of the ball. Our unconventional setup is much like the OEM puck system that is utilized to accept fifth wheel hitches sold in the newer trucks today. Unfortunately it is up to the DOT office to interpret the regulations and laws. We have only heard of one case, out of the 40,000 units that we have on the road today, where the DOT officer insisted on having the customer add safety chains to his setup. For this reason we do offer safety chains (part # 3230) for our Ultimate Connection."

I had the Companion hitch and other than weight, it was great. I had the gooseneck version so just dropped it in, latch it, tighten the top bolt and take off. Other than weight, it as easy as the Andersen. But if you move it in and out a lot, that weight becomes a big pain (and seems bigger the older I get). You don't need chains for sure with the Companion if that's important.

Might be that you could do trial runs with each for a comparison. That's nice about either of these two systems - they go in and out easily. Welcome to use try my Andersen but it's the gooseneck version. As many folks as you know and see, I'm sure someone would let you check'em out.

This what the bed looks like empty. Nice and clean and flat.

 

[dykesj11]

One more thing regarding Andersen - there is a difference in towing with the Andersen being WAY smoother than the Companion was. Chucking and other jerking as a result of the kingpin moving in the hitch jaws is non-existent. I don't have pinbox add-ons such as MorRyde or Flex Air so don't know if they make chucking, etc go away.