What Else Do You Call a "Bumper Pull" Trailer?

[dcyrilc]

"Bumper hitch"

I've always heard them refered to as a bumper pull. As the means of attaching the ball to the vehicle has changed, the design of the hitch on the trailer has not. Therefore, I would consider the name bumper pull to still be appropriate for the trailer even if we are not actually pulling them by the bumper any more.

IE: if you buy a stock trailer and put dogs in it, is it no longer a stock trailer? IMO, the name stock trailer would still apply, as I believe bumper pull still applies. After all, we're refering to the design of the hitch on the trailer, not the towing vehicle.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Pops15]

Yep, we still frequently refer to "bumper pull" trailers, in fact my first trailering experience was with a clamp on hitch on the bumper of my 1946 Chevy 2 dr sedan. And of course, I've pulled many trailers with a ball on the bumper of my pickup truicks. But the other common term, as someone else mentioned, is "conventional" trailer vs fifth-wheel and gooseneck trailers.



Yep, not a culture; just a life style.

And did you know they sell an adapter to convert your fifth-wheel RV to a gooseneck?

I recently ran across my Dad's old clamp on bumper hitch that he had on his '59 Ford Ranch Wagon. If he was still alive he'd laugh at that thing and say some things about the good ole day just weren't that good.

 

[Soundguy]

We call them bumper pulls around here still and the others are goose neck or 5th wheel.

Chris

yep.. same here.. and if someone says tag along.. around here anyway.. that means the pintel hitch style tags that you see with a small hoe on them behind a dump truck or similar..

soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

And that's true of the vast majority of fifth-wheels, but they actually do make at least one for RVs that pivots both ways.

seems like my reese adapter has both for and aft and r/l movement...

soundguy

 

[Soundguy]

I recently ran across my Dad's old clamp on bumper hitch that he had on his '59 Ford Ranch Wagon. If he was still alive he'd laugh at that thing and say some things about the good ole day just weren't that good.

was it a chain on?

I saw one on an older 70's era station wagon the other day, pulling a 16' landscape trailer loaded with metal scrap to the recycler/scrapper.

tounge on the LD yard trailer was flexing and the car was squatted so that the chain ends were dragging!

soundguy

 

[EddieWalker]

I've never heard of the term "tag a long" before. I've only used the term bumper or just a regular trailer. I never thought it had anything to do with the hitch actually being on the bumper but that the trailer attaches to that area of the vehicle.

I didn't know there was a difference between goose neck and fifth wheel either. I've never towed or owned either, so it's all a bit of a mystery to me.

Eddie

 

[wvpolekat]

seems like my reese adapter has both for and aft and r/l movement...

soundguy

My Valley/Husky 15k fifth wheel hitch tilts front to back and side to side.

The entire gooseneck/fifth wheel thing gets REALLY irritating when you are truck shopping. I need a truck with a 5th wheel, so you look through ads and see one that says it is setup for a 5th wheel. You call the salesman about it, and find out it has a gooseneck ball in the bed. Which, is useless for me.

Yes, you can get adapters to put your 5th wheel on a gooseneck hitch. BUT, it is generally considered very hard on the trailer because you are pulling a 2 foot lever on the pinbox that it was not designed for. They void most frame warranties.

 

[Soundguy]

I went the other way.. I have 5th wheel rails and had/have a reese 5th wheel adapter. I have removed it right now, and bought 'the goose' it's a gooseneck adapter that fits 5th wheel frame rails.. So I got the best of both worlds.

soundguy

 

[Pops15]

was it a chain on?

I saw one on an older 70's era station wagon the other day, pulling a 16' landscape trailer loaded with metal scrap to the recycler/scrapper.

tounge on the LD yard trailer was flexing and the car was squatted so that the chain ends were dragging!

soundguy

Wasn't a chain on but I see those at auctions once in awhile.
I think this one uses j-bolts to tighten the upper and lower brackets on the bumper. Many years ago I used it on the front bumper of my truck to maneuver trailers in tight spots.

 

[dstig1]

Good info. Thanks, guys!

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I went the other way.. I have 5th wheel rails and had/have a reese 5th wheel adapter. I have removed it right now, and bought 'the goose' it's a gooseneck adapter that fits 5th wheel frame rails.. So I got the best of both worlds.

soundguy

That's the same set up that I have. Mine is a Reese brand gooseneck ball. My daughter calls it my "goose bump".

The 5th wheel rails are a bit of a pain to have in the back of the truck all the time, but if I'm going to have them anyway for the camper, I might as well avoid drilling a hole in my bed for a ball. For the amount of weight that I pull with my 1/2 ton truck, the rail and spider set up is great.

 

[Reg]

OK, one more tiny shot at humor;
It really doesn't matter WHAT you call it,
it won't come to you when you call it.
Ha Harr...
===========================

I have a Hillsborough aluminum flatbed on a 1 ton frame, it has the trap door with gooseneck ball installed.
All this works very well for me and has done so for over 6 years.
Having a full width bed over has been much more convenient than just a 4ft or so wide space between wheel wells.
So much easier to toss couches and stuff on from the side for casual furniture moves.
NO questions of clearance between the underside of the trailer and the top of the truck bed sides.
No tailgate to mess with - and forget it is still down until the first sharp turn after hooking up.
{If you see folk with gooseneck or mini 5th trailers and no tailgate - don't ask whu they took it off (-: }
When I tow I just flip the trap door open, back under the trailer, etc.
There has never been a "grease the dog" (which then greases the house) scenario.

From time to time I have been asked to move campers to/from seasonal sites for folk who don't know the difference between (mini)5'th wheel and gooseneck.
I like helping people out and once in a while it doesn't bother me if I spend a few bux and don't get it back.

I have no interest in obtaining insurance coverage for this and since these trips would typically cross State lines... to do it for anything more than exact out of pocket expenses would classify it as interstate commercial hauling. So insurance would be HIGH to haul a couple of other folks' trailers say 100 miles each way a couple of times a year.

OK, so I tried to figure out a rails set for one owner's hitch that she has - though she has no truck (Widow, long story).
There is no reasonable way to mount a (regular production) Reese - Drawtite turn-table over a flat bed and get to a workable pin height.

I looked at the various hitch adapters and converters, they all add too much height and/or require modification of the trailer - these are not MY trailers, so I'm not getting into that possibility.

Summary/Conclusion;
If you want a flat bed AND want to tow both goosenecks and mini 5th wheel trailers you will need to plan WAY ahead for this.
There is ONE hitch on the market that might do the job, but it is somewhere around $800, so I haven't investigated it to see what height it would end up at.
It might be worth it for someone who owns and uses both trailer types, but I don't.

 

[weldingisfun]

I have always called them receiver hitch, ball mount, ball hitch trailers. :laughing:
But, bumper pull seems to be the commonly accepted description.

 

[Renze]

In holland, bumper pull trailers are referred to as "a tandem" to describe a tandem, "a hook-on" for anything single axle (but some call every light trailer a hook-on) and then we have a type of trailer you dont see as much in the USA: The light duty 2 or 3 axle turntable steered trailer. It gives great stability, both with high COG loads, crosswinds as well as cornering. Most folks cant back them up though, so use is limited to those who go to worksites with a skidsteer or mini ex behind a 4x4

In heavier trucks, there are opleggers (literally lay-on trailer, which is a 5th wheel semitrailer) also the turntable steered trailer, but the heavy truck mid axle trailer is called a wipkar (seesaw cart)

The gooseneck hitch is unknown in light trucking here: Its either the small 5th wheel, a 50mm ball hitch up to 3500kg, and the self locking muzzle coupling.

 

[Soundguy]

That's the same set up that I have. Mine is a Reese brand gooseneck ball. My daughter calls it my "goose bump".

The 5th wheel rails are a bit of a pain to have in the back of the truck all the time, but if I'm going to have them anyway for the camper, I might as well avoid drilling a hole in my bed for a ball. For the amount of weight that I pull with my 1/2 ton truck, the rail and spider set up is great.

I have a specail hauler/tool box bed anyway.. has extra 50g fuel tank on xfer pump.. betweent hat and the tool boxes, there is no real useable space anyway.. so the rails are a non issue. I got enough room for some spare timber for jack stands and a spare tire and that's pretty much it.

soundguy

 

[TractorRob]

...
There has never been a "grease the dog" (which then greases the house) scenario...

I've got to ask, what does "grease the dog" mean?

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I've got to ask, what does "grease the dog" mean?

Speaking from experience... My dog rides in the back of my truck. When I have my "goose bump" installed in the bed grease will sometimes get on the dog from the ball.

My dog doesn't come in the house, but I can see how it would create domestic contention if he did when he was greased from the ball.