Gooseneck hitch adapter

[debiray]

My truck already has a gooseneck hitch installed and the saleman at the dealership said all i needed was a 5th wheel adapter for the gooseneck and i would be fine. the owners manual states that you should not use the 5th wheel adapter and it will void the warranty. just bought the 2012 heartland bighorn not trying damage it or void the warranty. any suggestions? ps: i havent picked up the BH from the dealer yet.

ray

 

[cookie]

Ray, I believe that towing with a gooseneck will void your frame warranty. And I think that your salesman don't know what he is talking about.
To clarify this, call Heartland and get the official word.
Depending on what gooseneck hitch you have in your truck, you may be able to get a fifth-wheel adaptor.
Heartland Customer Service
877-262-8032 / 574-262-8030

Peace
Dave

 

[hoefler]

Don't do it, it will void your frame warranty!! A goose neck adaptor will put the pin box under a load it is not designed for.

 

[Hastey]

I did it, my dealer told me that it would be no problem. Since then I have found out that it voids the warranty on the frame. With that said I check the welds on my pin box all the time and have had no problems. The ride is terrible because you lose the air ride option. I'm planning on converting back to the pin.

I regret it!

 

[jmgratz]

Stay with the proper 5th wheel hitch. You are not towing a cargo or horse (cattle) trailer but a moving house.

 

[lwmcguir]

My truck already has a gooseneck hitch installed and the saleman at the dealership said all i needed was a 5th wheel adapter for the gooseneck and i would be fine. the owners manual states that you should not use the 5th wheel adapter and it will void the warranty. just bought the 2012 heartland bighorn not trying damage it or void the warranty. any suggestions? ps: i havent picked up the BH from the dealer yet.


ray

Most of us in the farm/ranch community use the GN adapters and have since they came on the market many years ago. Having said that I don't think the coaches frames are as well built as they were way back when. Now they build them lighter/longer and the frame isn't as heavy. You can add some additional stress under bad road conditions at the angle welds. Otherwise under normal conditions you are moving the same mass. It does void the warranty which is only a year or two depending on who you work with. Regardless most all of us here use them and havent had any problems. If you dont use the TV like all of us here do to pull GN's most of the time, then I would stay with the 5th Wheel. Our ride is fine and the coach tow's great. We do use the 5th Airborn and CP as well as have upgraded axles and tires. The axles/springs were the weak point on our coach. The were designed to just barely cover the coach and not much cargo. Don't use the GN unless you are willing to risk the frame issue. Almost all if not all of the frame issues noted to date on the forum have been using the normal pin box however. Again they are light and won't tolerate dropping or large pot holes very well at high speeds. Many folks have proven this. The most additonal stress is going to be when you stop. If your braking system won't stop the coach on its own (and many don't per the forum) then you are going to test the GN adapter when you have a panic stop. This is part of the reason we went with larger alxes/springs/brakes as the factory equiped coach woundn't stop the Augusta to my satifaction. Now with almost twice the brake pad area it does. Good luck

 

[codycarver]

Why take a chance. Buy the 5th wheel hitch.

 

[bdb2047]

I talked to a rep from Reese at Hershey show in Sept. He said they had a gooseneck hitch that was approved by Lippert and would not void warranty.Was to be available in Dec.I did not look into it any futher as I was not interested might work for you.

 

[sjs731]

debiray,
is the hitch you currently have a B&W hitch? They make an awesome 5th wheel hitch that drops right into the hole for the GN. I am very happy with mine.

 

[Hastey]

debiray,
is the hitch you currently have a B&W hitch? They make an awesome 5th wheel hitch that drops right into the hole for the GN. I am very happy with mine.

I'm glad to hear that. I'm going to convert my trailer back and I have B&W on my truck.

 

[debiray]

Steve it is a B&W and thats seems the way we are going, with the 5th wheel hitch that drops in. I'm new to this so is that an ok hitch?

ray

 

[lwmcguir]

I talked to a rep from Reese at Hershey show in Sept. He said they had a gooseneck hitch that was approved by Lippert and would not void warranty.Was to be available in Dec.I did not look into it any futher as I was not interested might work for you.

Would like to see this when it hits the streets.

 

[cgunn]

Ray..I bought a truck that had a B&W turnover ball gooseneck hitch already in it.
I bought the B&W Companion Fifth Wheel Hitch and it works great.
It is a well made hitch made right here in the good ole US of A.
This site had the best price I could find and is where I bought mine,with free shipping...
http://www.rvwholesalers.com/catalog/b-w-18k-companion-5th-wheel-hitch-kit-14-2924.html

 

[PSF513]

I can tell you that the B&W companion hitch is clearly the way to go. I have that for my truck and am not sure I would trade it for anything else I have seen. AND, not hard or time consuming to change back to the gooseneck ball

 

[rustyshakelford]

in feb, i will be ordering this. its called the reese goose box. the only thing that is keeping us from getting one on the way now is that we need to run across the scales to make sure that we will be in spec. max trailer weight is 16k and 3200lbs of pin weight. i have a bad feeling that we are heavier than that but i would like to confirm first.

it looks like a great product and we would love to have the air ride option along with the reduced clunking. i have found it for 1k shipped. we have the companion currently and have no complaints other that i would like to free up bed space and not have to remove it when hooking up to the gn trailers. Only another note, i can have it removed in about 2 mins.

brett

 

[Cyberwarfare]

I am also a B&W companion hitch owner and very happy with it. I went that route as when I am not towing my fifth wheel, I am towing our GN horse trailer.

 

[drzr]

I had a gooseneck hookup in my truck that was not B&W so the companion would not work seeing the piece for Companion that goes in truck bed is square and hole in my bed was round. I bought an adapter that was round for bed and square for companion around $100(have receipt somewhere...I think) will sale adapter (used once) reasonably let me know. If this is not to be posted here please let me know. Thanks

 

[sjs731]

debiray,

I love it so far. I got it last August and used it probably a dozen times. Easy to hitch up. The jaws are silver so you can see if they wrap around the pin easily. Also the hitch is a very nice looking gray paint. Something different from all the black hitches out there. I also like not having any rails in my bed when I take the hitch out.