Bumper Vs. Gooseneck Payloads

[slowzuki]

Yeah, the extra weight of the gooseneck hurts in stop and go, they are quite a bit less aero dynamic depending on the shape of your loads. The hitch uprights and bracing catch the wind but if you've got a monster wind catching load on the trailer is not going to be the biggest effect.

Really? Is there a difference in gas mileage between goosenecks and bumper type trailers?

 

[Dargo]

I'd say yes, really. For me it depends on weight. If I'm hauling light loads I'd rather a bp, but for my tractor or skidsteer it is only a gooseneck. It's not possible for me to fit my tractor or a smaller one on a bp and distribute the weight so that my receiver is not overloaded, but with a gooseneck I can pull the load all the way to the front of the trailer and be just fine. I do get a lot of drama with bp trailers and it has to do with the tongue being attached 4 feet behind my axle as opposed to a few inches in front of it.

I also don't see where a pintle hitch trailer behind a dump truck can be compared to a bp. They are not even remotely the same given bp axles ares till to the rear of the trailer and pinlte hitch trailers have them almost centered where tongue weight is minimal.

I haul a 9 ton mini excavator, 8 ton track loader and 15,000 pound tractor behind my F350 on a pintle hitch trailer. I've hauled the excavator from IN to FL twice. Tows great, no issues.

 

[Highbeam]

This is a good thread. The original question about using a low GVWR truck to tow a GN or BP is an important one. I think you, the OP, has reached the wrong conclusion about the percentages of tongue weight. The 10% for BP and 20 or 25% for GN is NOT the maximum. You need that amount of tongue weight to provide stability. Also, your manual tells you that you can have a max 1500# GN tongue weight load but of course, if you exceed the GVWR or any other ratings then you can't utilize that maximum.

In any case you can only put 1000 lbs of tongue weight on your truck. Due to the fact that you need at least double the tongue weight on the truck with a GN vs. a BP, you will only be able to tow half the total trailer weight with a GN.

Low GVWR trucks (like a half ton) are not good canidates for GN trailers. Even with high GVWR trucks, like the F350 I own, you have some major cons with a GN.

Personally, I agree with Diamond and especially Dargo that a GN trailer is not a good deal. Everywhere you go, except open freeway and fields, the roads are built to allow a single lane to move your truck and trailer. It takes much more room to turn, and back, a GN.

With a high GVWR truck, you can tow a huge GN trailer.

 

[mjw357]

This little gooseneck horse trailer only has a single axle, so raking the tires is not an issue. It does track to the inside a bit on turns, but I learned to account for that long ago when I was driving 18 wheelers.

I'd like to see a picture of that. Haven't seen many single axle horse trailers, let alone a GN.

 

[xtn]

Sure, bumper pulls get steered a tiny bit to the outside because the rear bumper moves at first away from the turn direction. But it's a difference that becomes smaller as your trailer gets longer.

Even so, a bumper pull does not truly track behind the tow vehicle as some have indicated. Even a short 6x10 single axle trailer tracks inside the turn, despite the advantage of the bumper moving away from the turn direction. If you don't believe me take one through the drive through window at a McDonalds that has an 8' lane, with curbing on both sides and a tight radius. You WILL drag the inside trailer tire up over the curb.

I'm not arguing for or against either type of trailer. Just want to dispel the myth that somehow a bumper pull truly tracks with the towing vehicle. A friend of mine - driving my truck with my 29' bumper pull boat trailer behind it - used the fender of the trailer to take out a bricked gate post because he believed that myth.

xtn

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I'd like to see a picture of that. Haven't seen many single axle horse trailers, let alone a GN.

It's one of a kind. It actually belongs to my neighbor who doesn't have horses anymore. I keep it registered and maintained, and he lets me keep it at my house and use it whenever I want. He tells me the original owner was a rodeo cowboy that pulled it with his Cadillac. Of course this neighbor says a lot that makes even less sense than pulling a gooseneck trailer with a Cadillac.

I'll have to remember to take a picture tonight since I'll have it all hitched up for 4H.

 

[Duffster]

It's one of a kind.

No it's not. My neighbor has one too.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

No it's not. My neighbor has one too.

Seriously?? A single axle gooseneck "Featherlite"?

Does your neighboor also live in the motorhome behind the travel trailer behind the double wide? Does he have to borrow 20 bucks from you every month the week before Social Security comes out?

Maybe we're talking about the same neighbor.

 

[Duffster]

Seriously?? A single axle gooseneck "Featherlite"?

Does your neighboor also live in the motorhome behind the travel trailer behind the double wide? Does he have to borrow 20 bucks from you every month the week before Social Security comes out?

Maybe we're talking about the same neighbor.

LOL No it's not a featherlite. :laughing:

He does have a motor home as big as his double wide.

 

[aczlan]

Seriously?? A single axle gooseneck "Featherlite"?

Stephenville Trailers and Truck Accessories
Stephenville Trailers and Truck Accessories

They are apparently around, but uncommon.

Aaron Z

 

[AGGIE00]

I haul a 9 ton mini excavator, 8 ton track loader and 15,000 pound tractor behind my F350 on a pintle hitch trailer. I've hauled the excavator from IN to FL twice. Tows great, no issues.

Refer to the second paragraph in my post. Pintle hitch trailers, though pulled at the bumper, and your f350 to a half ton are not the same as what the op is talking about.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Stephenville Trailers and Truck Accessories
Stephenville Trailers and Truck Accessories

They are apparently around, but uncommon.

Aaron Z

That first one is almost exactly what I have, but mine isn't so shiny.

I love the ad...

THERE IS NOT ANOTHER LIKE IT, YOU CAN BE THE FIRST TO OWN SOMETHING SO UNIQUE CALL OR E-MAIL FOR PRICING

 

[Dargo]

Refer to the second paragraph in my post. Pintle hitch trailers, though pulled at the bumper, and your f350 to a half ton are not the same as what the op is talking about.

Um, you got me. I have no idea what you're talking about. No matter how you slice it, bumper pull trailers follow the tow vehicle better than GN trailers do. You can jack-knife and back a GN into a tighter area, but you can make tighter turns with a bumper pull. I've had plenty of each. Payload wise, as long as you have good brakes on either trailer, I still see no difference. It's actually relatively rare to see a 1/2 ton pull a GN trailer because of the design with the axles more towards the rear on the trailer leaving more tongue weight. In a half ton truck, I'd really want a bumper pull.

 

[HHR]

Sure, bumper pulls get steered a tiny bit to the outside because the rear bumper moves at first away from the turn direction. But it's a difference that becomes smaller as your trailer gets longer.

Even so, a bumper pull does not truly track behind the tow vehicle as some have indicated. Even a short 6x10 single axle trailer tracks inside the turn, despite the advantage of the bumper moving away from the turn direction. If you don't believe me take one through the drive through window at a McDonalds that has an 8' lane, with curbing on both sides and a tight radius. You WILL drag the inside trailer tire up over the curb.

I'm not arguing for or against either type of trailer. Just want to dispel the myth that somehow a bumper pull truly tracks with the towing vehicle. A friend of mine - driving my truck with my 29' bumper pull boat trailer behind it - used the fender of the trailer to take out a bricked gate post because he believed that myth.

xtn

The myth is a reality with my friend's GMC Yukon XL with Quadrasteer. That thing has amazing maneuverability with a trailer attached.

 

[Dargo]

The myth is a reality with my friend's GMC Yukon XL with Quadrasteer. That thing has amazing maneuverability with a trailer attached.

I think all just said that the bumper pull tracked the tow vehicle closely enough to not make much difference. Example; 30 ft pintle hitch seems to stay within a couple of feet of the tow vehicle. My 30 ft GN cut off about 6 or 8 feet from the track of the tow vehicle. In reasonably close quarters, that is the difference between making it or not making it around a corner.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Here are the promised pictures of my little gooseneck horse trailer on my half ton truck.

Tonight I had to leave 4H a little early. I was boxed in with a trailer in front of me, one on either side, and a fence behind me. I jackknifed the trailer past 90 degrees to squeeze between the two trailers on either side of me and was able to get out with about 6 inches to spare on either side. I couldn't have done that with a bumper pull.

 

[xtn]

The myth is a reality with my friend's GMC Yukon XL with Quadrasteer. That thing has amazing maneuverability with a trailer attached.

Nope. It might track closer, but still not truly in line. Any trailer axle farther back from the hitch than the hitch is from the rear axle of the towing vehicle is going to track inside to some degree, period.

If you want to say that it tracks a little LESS inside, then I'm okay with that.

xtn

 

[Reg]

Nope. It might track closer, but still not truly in line. Any trailer axle farther back from the hitch than the hitch is from the rear axle of the towing vehicle is going to track inside to some degree, period.

If you want to say that it tracks a little LESS inside, then I'm okay with that.

xtn

No.
For very large radius turns a BP trailer CAN actually track outside.
If, if, if IF..... the hitch ball is back far enough from the rear axle AND the distance from the coupler to the trailer axle (or mid point between axles) is sufficiently short.

I made the mistake of building a hitch one time (just ONCE) that hung WAY outta the back o' the tow vehicle.
For what I tried to accomplish at the time it worked FINE, though it had the obvious drawback of additional leverage against the tow vehicle, increased "effective' tongue weight, increased effect of side sway, etc., however it DID push the trailer out on slight turns.

I've often want to say this in a thread, now I have an excuse; "Do the geometry"
(-:

 

[xtn]

No.
For very large radius turns a BP trailer CAN actually track outside.
If, if, if IF..... the hitch ball is back far enough from the rear axle AND the distance from the coupler to the trailer axle (or mid point between axles) is sufficiently short.
(-:

Um... yes. If you read carefully you will see that the conditions you call for are excluded by my statement.

xtn

 

[downslope]

Here are the promised pictures of my little gooseneck horse trailer on my half ton truck.

Tonight I had to leave 4H a little early. I was boxed in with a trailer in front of me, one on either side, and a fence behind me. I jackknifed the trailer past 90 degrees to squeeze between the two trailers on either side of me and was able to get out with about 6 inches to spare on either side. I couldn't have done that with a bumper pull.

This is all relative. It depends on how close the trailers were parked on either side of you, how far back the fence was, the length of your rig, the length of the rigs parked alongside, etc.

Depending on all the above factors in some cases a BP would be better, in other situations a GN would get you out. Like Reg said, it depends on the geometry of the particular situation. A blanket statement can't be made that one type is more maneuverable than the other in all situations.