Gooseneck Trailer Hitching

As helpful as bumper pull trailers are, there may come a point when the cargo you need to carry hits a certain weight class and, while your bumper pull may technically be able to carry the load, it may not feel as stable. This is where getting a gooseneck hitch trailer can be helpful. It provides the sturdiness that may make hauling your load less stressful, but using them may not be as intuitive, especially if you’ve never used one before. To help you out, Western Slope Trailer & RV has provided some gooseneck trailer hitching tips so you can make a smart investment and know what to do with it once you have it. When you’re ready to start shopping around, visit us in Rifle, Colorado, near Grand Junction and see what we have available.

Right for your Trailer?

The first step is figuring out if a gooseneck trailer is right for you. If you’re trying to spot them on a busy street, they use a hitch that doesn’t stick out behind the tow vehicle, but rather swoops up and into the bed of it (which means you’ll need a tow vehicle with a flatbed, like a pickup). This makes them look like fifth wheel hitches, but they’re different in that they use a ball hitch, rather than a sliding plate. 

Let’s revisit that parenthetical we threw in. Because of where the hitch is installed, you’ll need to make sure you have a pickup, or some other vehicle with a flatbed where it’s easy to set up the hitch. You’ll also want to make sure the tow vehicle can handle the weight of the trailer and the cargo, which may mean getting a bigger truck.

Benefits

When you look at a gooseneck trailer when it’s hitched to the tow vehicle, you’ll notice an overlap between the two different parts of the unit. This creates more stability and control for the driver and lowers the sway risk. It also means that the maximum amount of weight the trailer can handle is probably a little bit higher so you can carry heavy loads much more easily and safely. It might be overkill if you only have a little bit of supplies to transport, so consider what you’ll be transporting on a fairly regular basis and decide if a gooseneck trailer will make your life easier. 

Also know that gooseneck trailers have a tighter turn radius, so driving on narrower streets might be a little easier. This won’t replace the need to practice towing them in a more secluded location, but it’ll certainly make the learning process faster.

Installation

Buying the gooseneck trailer does not necessarily come with the gooseneck hitch. Odds are, you’ll have to go to a separate dealer for that. Luckily, gooseneck trailers are so common that you’re tow vehicle manufacturer might have one that specifically fits the make and model of your truck. But even after getting the right hitch, you may still have to pay an additional charge for installation. This may tempt some to try and install the hitch themselves, but we don’t recommend this. You need to carve into the truck bed in order to correctly install the hitch and if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can ruin a perfectly good pickup and have to pay even more money to fix it. If you’ve done this before and are feeling confident, then we won’t stop you, but if you’re less of a hands on kind of person, we highly recommend you bring your truck and hitch into a professional to have a more experienced technician do the carving. 

If you’re looking for a reliable service department, to help you with installations or any other trailer maintenance issues you may be running into, consider contacting our service department at Western Slope Trailer & RV. We’ll help you with your maintenance concerns and also help you choose the right trailer for your project if you’re still looking around. We proudly serve Rifle and Grand Junction, CO.