Will this be strong enough?

handirifle · Apr 16, 2017

The B&W goose neck consists of three main parts, the two rails and the center section that holds the ball. Today I got the rear rail in there and the center section. I ran into one small hiccup, where the center bolt on the front rail prevents the center section from coming flush. According to the rail instructions, I mounted the bolt in the rear center, but after doing some research it does not seem to matter, so I will move it to the front center.

I have it held in place by two 3/8" carriage bolts. Those plus the center section is bolted to the rear rail. Currently the rear 1"x2" rail, is just sitting on top of the frame, but the carriage bolts hold it in place so I can see how I need to mount the front rail.

Here is a drawing of the end view of the frame, with the Reese frame bracket for the rail. The black line is the bracket and it shows a bolt coming down through the bed (sort of) through the bracket. This bracket is 1/4" steel. That is the left drawing. The right drawing is the front and rear rails (heavy black) seen on a side view. The front rail (the 2x2x3/8" angle) will be set on edge, with a hole drilled through the top. This will allow me to remove that bolt, install the rail, and reuse that bolt to hold the front rail to the frame bracket. This will be stronger than my previous designs because there will be no drilling, and the bracket will prevent the rail from lifting. The dashed line represents the center sections of the goose neck hitch.

This drawing shows how the rear rail sits on the frame of the truck. This is exactly as it did with factory mounting. The round circles on the rail, are where the 1/2" grade 8 bolts go.

Sometime soon after Easter I will take some actual pictures and post them. I still will need to make an adapter to bolt the rear rail to the frame bracket, but this will be stronger too, since the 2 grade 8 bolts that will hold it to the frame bracket, will only hold the rear rail.

Hope this makes sense. Looking forward to completing this, since this was one of those things they said could not be done.

Btown · Apr 16, 2017

handirifle said:
Since I was dumb enough to buy a short bed truck, when I bought my diesel, I have had to go through some changes finding the ideal hitch to tow with and avoid damage to the truck. I started with a Curt slider, and hated it because it felt and sounded like it was going to come inside the truck at every stop and start. It was, admittedly, their low end model.

It seems almost all trucks have the shorter 6.75 foot bed. Finding an 8 foot bed on a truck is rare today. But you can still hit the cab with the trailer with an 8 foot bed. Don't ask me how I know.

handirifle · Apr 16, 2017

Well after a lot of "guess" before, I got back under the truck and did some actual measuring. What I discovered is this is not going to go quite as smoothly as I hoped. First off, the angle will actually fit right between the two rail bolts, and not under one as I had hoped.

Here is a REAL picture of a piece of 1.25x1.25 angle I stuck up there just to test.

It does align with the center hole in the bracket, but I am seriously not knowing a way to get a bolt in there from the top. The hump in the rail sits right over that hole and I would have to unbolt the entire hitch rails to get a bolt in there.

By the way I also discovered with the goose neck center section in there it will be darn near impossible to reach the bolts above the fuel tank. They were incredibly hard before, but the goose neck REALLY blocks the access I used to have.

This is a shot without the test angle, and this is the wide open side.

Also a shot of the center section in position. The 1x2" rear rails is on the RH side of it.

And the bed with the center section in place. At least it LOOKS like it will function. (edit, forgot to mention, you can see the center bolt that I moved from the rear hole to the forward hole)

This shot of the outside shows nearly everything. To the right is the 1x2" rear rail, and center are the 3 factory holes I will be using. The left and right holes will be for mount bolts and the center hole (driver side only) will be for the release rod for the turnover ball. My thumb is pointing where the farthest rail bolt is positioned on the other side of the bracket.

It looks like I will be back to the "Z" bar idea, unless someone here has a better idea (other than forgetting the whole idea).

handirifle · Apr 16, 2017

In case anyone thinks of this, I tried reversing the angle to face the opposite direction, and it will not work because then it will not fit between the center section and the truck bed.

handirifle · Apr 16, 2017

For reference, in the first picture, the center section is to the right of the angle. So the vertical part is up against the center section.

I am also exploring the possibility of notching the angle, at the ends to basically close off the angle, and welding that end closed. I would make the length so the end "caps" would butt against the inside of the bracket, and drill a hole through the bracket and angle and use a grade 8 bolt and nut to hold it in position.

Another REAL challenge is going to be getting the angle up in place, period. I can no longer unbolt the bed to lift one side, so I will need to think this out and get creative.

Suggestions appreciated here.

Btown
That sucks. I could still hit mine, if I go too far past 90. Hopefully I don't get THAT forgetful, or preoccupied.

JJZ 109 · Apr 17, 2017

Btown said:
It seems almost all trucks have the shorter 6.75 foot bed. Finding an 8 foot bed on a truck is rare today. But you can still hit the cab with the trailer with an 8 foot bed. Don't ask me how I know.

Mine measured 6'10" from front of bed to tailgate, so I'm cautiously optimistic that the Sidewinder will work for me.

Btown · Apr 17, 2017

Yes and my 8 foot bed measures 8'3".

handirifle · Apr 17, 2017

Jjz109
When you move the pivot point back 22" like the sidewinder does, you will have to try real hard to hit the cab. I have 6-8" from the rear window now and my 5th wheel is 8'4" wide.

JJZ 109 · Apr 17, 2017

handirifle said:
Jjz109
When ypu move the pivot point back 22" like the sidewinder does, you will hace to try real hard to hit the cab. I have 6-8" from the rear window now and my 5th wheel is 8'4" wide.

Great to know! After adding a 10 inch RV5 pin extender and it wasn't enough, I can live with a little overkill. My camper is an even 8 feet wide. I'm awaiting arrival of the Sidewinder. Even though Etrailer says it will work fine and Reese recommends against it, I'm giving it a shot. It's a 16k unit. My camper is 11,400 gross so I think I have plenty of wiggle room on that issue.