Hi Keith,

I was also heading towards a gooseneck hitch (actually the Reese Goosebox) until I decided that I would rather keep the capabilities of my manual slider hitch. I agree that the simplicity of attaching just to a ball in the bed sounds like a good idea. I am going to tag ncitro Neil who has a lot of experience with the pros and cons of a gooseneck hitch.

Rob

Yoda Keith, Since you are out of structural warranty (possibly), no issue there since the reese one is the only one that I know of approved by LCI. However if you do your research, king pin connectors do not require safety chains where goose neck balls do. Also from hooking up a goose neck several times, I like the king pin as it's a bit more forgiving if you miss by a minor amount, not to mention you don't have to stop almost perfect to get the ball into the socket.

In my view hooking up a goose neck coupler is like hooking up a bumper pull ball hitch. Besides aligning side to side, you have to be spot on the ball. I prefer the 5th wheel hitch. Align side to side and back up 'til it latches. No back and forth to align the ball.
The high mount rear view camera will get you on the centerline. Depth perception front to back, not so much.

Thanks Rob, the Gen Y came out after I bought my Goosebox, so it wasn't a consideration for me but I've heard good things.

As far as the concept of towing with a goose ball, I love it. I love not having anything in my truck except the ball when I unhook. I don't find the camera super helpful for hooking up, it is good for left to right alignment but does not do much for knowing when to stop. I pretty much always have someone with me so it's not much of an issue. The cup on mine is sightly funnel shaped so you can be off about the half the width of the ball, similar to a bumper pull trailer.

The only downside to mine I'd say is my setup places the tailgate pretty close to the front compartment when hooking up. Even once the tailgate is up I still can't open my front storage. Not sure if the Gen Y positions differently than that.

Also I had hoped I would gain a lot of space in the bed while towing for stuff. I'd say it's been a lateral move from my Andersen at best. The footprint of the hitch is small, but because of the way the arm is made you don't get much height under it for things. I keep some low profile things in the back half, propane fire pit, and my power cord.

I do run chains, not a big deal, all the gooseball kits come with chain anchors that hook into the pucks. Honestly I'm glad to have them.

Yep there is the down side of getting my dimensionally challenged body in the truck to hook up the safety chains, etc

Gen-Y got back to me with drawings - good customer service.

NEW TURNING POINT PRINTS - 8921.pdf

However there appears to be a problem. As designed using a standard ball and shank (4" to top of ball from bed) I calculate 5 to 5.5" of rail clearance Fords 21,5 bed depth and .5" added for the retrax rails. I like to see 7" like I have now. I know there extended shank balls out there, but I am concerned about damage to truck bed hitch. The other is I think it also moves the trailer closer so tailgate clearance becomes and issue when hitching It is an interesting set up.

At least its good information.

Keith

Cannot help you with the height other than to say you want the 7". I am sitting at 7" now and still have had contact once (in a situation I should have walked away from). They make raised balls which should be fine, as long as it does not bring your ride off level. Would need to do some math there to see where you end up. Also they make offset balls that move the rig back a few inches, but they are not compatible with the factory puck system, they use a square shank to keep the ball from moving vs the round shank in the puck system. My next truck will come without the puck system and I will buy an aftermarket gooseball hitch to solve this issue.

Safety chains are not an issue, I keep them mounted to the anchors in the bed, and then the hooks go into the chain anchor points on the hitch (backwards from what you would think). Makes it super easy to hook them up, I do it all from the ground.

On the topic of trailer overhang to box rail clearance. You need more with a gooseneck connection to a ball in the box than with a traditional 5th wheel hitch. For a given amount of side-to-side "twist" of the trailer relative to the truck, a trailer on a gooseneck attachment will come much closer to the truck box as the top of the goose neck (where a traditional hitch would be) moves sideways. (Complicated to explain LOL)

Rob

Rob I agree as I have seen it with my PJ GN hay trailer, It can rotate much more sideways - a good 30 to 40 degrees. On a std king pin box the side rotation is limited to the max head rock of the hitch about 10 -15 degrees to the side.

BTW is my clearance guess correct based on the units dimensions? I think the shank needs to be 2 to 3" longer above the coupler.

Yoda Keith, you may need to make a call to Morryde to find out if there is a replacement box available. https://www.etrailer.com/question-535701.html

Probably not the answer you are looking for since it means you may need to go with a slider. Although they do offer there version of the turning point (with the rubber mounted king pin) https://www.morryde.com/wp-content/u...ers-Manual.pdf and without https://www.morryde.com/products/you...ating-pin-box/

I know spending your money again. I did spend the $800+ and upgrade mine to the fixed rubber pin box. Don't think I will ever go back to a standard pin box again, smoothed out some of the jerking (even felt with the GN flatbed) from the trailer bucking on rough roads (there are just some roads that are beyond help).

I see a place to spend more of mine and your money https://www.morryde.com/products/cord-keeper/

Thanks Joseph
I have a long bed coming so don't really need the turning point box. What I am trying to do is decide what hitch set up for my new truck. Your Morryde information is good though.

Right now I believe I have three options.

Option 1
Use my existing Reese Titan R20 hitch and mount it atop a rail to puck adapter. This will raise the hitch 2 to 2.5" and I can lower my current hitch 2 inches, maybe a bit more. However the new truck is higher than my old one by probably 1.5". So I need to have some adjustability. Worse case I can swap out the 20" tires to 18" offered on the Lariat trim level. to lower the truck 2" depending on the tire profile. Then I will need Ford to reprogram the computer for the smaller tires - it can be done from what I have read..

Option 2
Replace my existing hitch for a Ford puck mount one. Looking at B&W Companion. Not sure if I would get the 20K or the more robust 25K. Discussion for another time. I like the B&W set up as you can drive out if the jaws get hung up in the open position.

Option 3
Replace my existing pin box with a goose neck style that will bolt up to the turning point mount and use the GN ball mount in the truck.. The Gen-y fits that requirement, but when I add up the GN measurements (post #6) I don't think I will have the bed rail clearance I will need.

Thanks
Keith

Hi Keith,

I can confirm that the OEM ball is 4" from bed to top of ball and bed to box rail is 21" . . . which (I think) are the dimensions that you are using for your calculations.

Rob

Yoda
Hi Keith,

With all the tire/suspension/box height combinations . . . this is nearly impossible to figure out by "calculation" . . . trust me, I tried!

I don't think that there will be much ride height difference between 18" and 20" wheels with OEM tires. Manufacturers usually adjust tire aspect ratio to keep the tire OD close to the same so that they are not changing suspension to achieve spec ride height with different tires. I measured several different late model F250/F350 trucks with different wheels and (OEM) tires and all had a tailgate height of 58" more-or-less.

My F150 had an unloaded tailgate height of 57". With trailer, this came down to 53" and I brought it back to 54" with air bags. (net 3" drop)
The new F350 starts at 58" unloaded and comes down to 55" with the trailer. (net 3" drop . . . but, 1" higher than before)

I think you should work your calculations on an (estimated) 55" to 56" tailgate height with the 5th wheel attached.
(Perhaps more than the 55" that I measure because your pin weight is less)

Rob

Thanks for confirming the dimensions. I used 22" bed to top rail to accommodate the retrax cover rails. I agree on the 55". I have the long bed, so maybe the squat will be the same with the extra bed weight, However I have the 11400 GVW package, but I think yours is the same.

I think I will keep the options open but not buy anything ahead of time (for once). When the new truck gets here I can fabricate up a wood base to approximate the adapter (2.5" thick?), lower my existing hitch (if I still have it), get everything in the truck set in the approximate location, and lower the king pin into place and measure. That way I only buy what I really need this time. And I forgot I already raised my trailer about 1.5" with changing to the 16" tires.

Thanks folks for the thoughts

Enough pondering for today

Keith