homemade gooseneck conversion

bdog · Apr 14, 2005

I have a very stout carhauler tongue pull trailer that I use to haul my tractor. It has a 5" channel frame, good axles, etc but it has too much tongue weight and my tractor is sitting in the only place it can due to the loader and implements. I went and had it weighed today and I have 1500lb tongue weight so I am going to convert it to a gooseneck. The weight on the axles is 1300lbs under their rating so the conversion should fix the problem.

I have been welding for 15 years and have built many trailers and bumpers, receiver hitches,etc so I am totally confident in my welding skills on this but I have never built a gooseneck hitch so I am looking for any suggestions. I am planning on using 6" channel and more or less copying the design from my livestock trailer. I guess I was wondering if there are any design features that you really like or hate on gooseneck trailers so I can build accordingly

Darren · Apr 14, 2005

I'm curious how the tongue weight was figured. Did you have the trailer loaded and setup the trailer to weigh only the tongue? The reason I'm asking is that a equalizing hitch can redistribute the load so that more weight is on the front wheels of the tow vehicle and there's much less tongue load on the hitch itself. While some folks add helper springs to help, an equalizer hitch can work for trailering and keep the vehicle suspension stock so the ride quality is still there when you're not towing a trailer.

bdog · Apr 15, 2005

I weighed the trailer at the truck stop. I put the tires on one platform, and unhooked and rested the tongue on blocks on another platform. The tires weighed 5880, the tongue 1760. I have two 3500lb axles so I am ok on the axles but a lot over on the hitch which is 7500/750 tongue weight. Also I am slightly over the 7500 gross trailer at 7640. I just don't see an easy fix other than going gooseneck.

Av8r3400 · Apr 15, 2005

If your trailer is a 7000 GVW vehicle (2 3500# axles), at the weights you described, it is overloaded and illeagal.

IMHO: I think it is time you traded it in of a larger/heavier goose-neck unit.

aardvark · Apr 15, 2005

Another thing to take into account, is that any weight you remove from the tongue is going to be shifted back to the axles. Taking 1000 lbs off the tongue (if this is your plan) will just shift that 1000 lbs back to the axles. You may want to check with your insurance company before you do this, because the liability of modifying your trailer which is already DOT legal may cause problems if you are ever in an accident. This is compounded if the trailer was overweight to begin with. It would make an easy target for a sue happy lawyer, that's the only reason I'm bringing it up.

Darren · Apr 15, 2005

As the last poster mentioned, you still have a problem with being overweight. Now you're planning on adding more metal to the trailer to make it a gooseneck. I expect when you get done you're going to easily be over 8,000lb gross. If the manufacturer's plate says 7,500 GVW, your problem got worse. Even if you upgrade the axles, you are still stuck with the load rating on the mfgr's plate and that's what the cops are going to look at if they inspect you.

bdog · Apr 15, 2005

Av8r2230,

I know it is currently overweight and that is why I want to convert it to a gooseneck.

Aardvark, I am not going to take weight away from the tongue, I am going to convert it from a tag along trailer to a gooseneck. The tongue weight should increase slightly due to the extra steel but I am not shifting the load more to the rear or anything like that. Just changing from a tag hitch that is rated at 7500 gross/750 tongue to a gooseneck that is rated at 30k gross / 5k tongue.

Darren,

I already thought about this. I called the Texas Dept of motor vehicles and they said once I do the modifications I need to take a picture, have the trailer weighed, and then bring in my title and surrender it for a new one that can have new weights that are approriate to my liking.

Basically I am going to figure 7k on the axles plus a minimum of 25% tongue weight for a new gross weight rating of 9000lb.

I went by and talked to some guys that custom build a lot of trailers. Around 25 a month. They are actually the ones that gave me the idea. They looked at my trailer and said the frame is plenty stout for a gross weight of 14k. They were going to convert it to a gooseneck add two 7k axles and relabel it a 14k.

I like this idea but 2 7k axles with brakes and then the new 16" tires and wheels will set me back over a grand and my axles are not overweight anyway so I am thinking just go to gooseneck and problem solved.

Thanks again for all the advice. I am pretty much sure this is waht I want to do, I am just unsure of of exactly how I am going to design it.

Av8r3400 · Apr 15, 2005

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( ...and my axles are not overweight anyway so I am thinking just go to gooseneck and problem solved...)</font>

Your axles are overweight already. You said the trailer is weighing in at 7600lbs +. That is 600+ over. Add the additional steel for the goose neck and you will be further over. Changing the center of gravity and putting more of the gross on the tongue (goose neck) does not change this.

Will it work? Probably. Will it be insurable and legal? ???

dliston · Apr 15, 2005

I think what everyone's trying to say is that it doesn't matter if you have part of the trailer's weight distributed to the tongue or gooseneck. The maximum the trailer can weigh with 2 3500# axles is 7000 pounds - no matter if it is distributed better or not.

If you start adding steel to the beast by goosenecking it without changing out the axles, you are compounding the problem - lowering your carrying capacity on the trailer to stay legal. If you re-tag it with a higher rated value, that doesn't change the fact that the axles are not adequate to carry the newly rated weight.

Just my take on it all,
Doug /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif