Fifth Wheel Hitch

Beef up your truck's towing capacity

Fifth wheel trailer hitches are similar to gooseneck hitches because they are trailer hitches that mount through the bed of your truck to brackets, some also attach right to the vehicle's frame at the rear bumper.

A fifth-wheel trailer hitch hookup is similar to the trailer hitch hookup used by an 18-wheel truck and trailer; however a fifth-wheel hitch hookup is a lot smaller and is used to tow a much smaller and lighter load - such as an RV, horse or motorcycle trailer, or a cargo trailer.

Since a fifth-wheel hitch is installed in the flat bed of a pickup truck, or right above the truck's rear end, the truck is able to tow more weight than a standard receiver-style hitch because these trailer hitches are supported by the truck's axle. This is why a trailer hauled by a fifth-wheel trailer hitch remains more stable and is easier to maneuver during towing. Thanks to fifth-wheel hitches pickup truck haulers get much stronger and effective towing performance overall.

Fifth-wheel trailer hitches do not minimize the space in your pickup trucks flat bed, rather many trailer hitch manufacturers offer fifth-wheel rail kit connections or removable balls, which easily allow the hitch to be removed from the truck's bed with the removal of a pin when not in use. Removable fifth-wheel hitches are easy to dismantle and leave the flatbed of a truck available for other types of cargo.

Fifth-wheel trailer hitches are most commonly used to haul recreational campers and RVs, livestock transport trailers, recreational automobiles such as motorcycles, ATVs, stock race cars, and for heavy cargo transport trailers.

Fifth-wheel hitches cost between $400 and $1,500 on average.

Gooseneck Hitch

Gooseneck trailer hitches, also referred to as a class 5 trailer hitch, are used for towing heavy trailers and loads with a full-size pickup truck. Gooseneck Hitches, or class 5 trailer hitches, mount through the bed of your truck, with brackets that attach to your vehicle's frame, usually just slightly ahead of the rear axle center line. A gooseneck trailer hitch, although it resembles the tow load of a 5th wheel truck because it attaches to the truck's bed, isn't a fifth-wheel trailer hitch.

Gooseneck hitches attach to the pivoted arms of gooseneck trailers with a ball mounted in the beach of the pickup truck. The coupling arm of the gooseneck trailer simply attaches to the gooseneck hitch mounted over the rear axle in the truck's bed. Because of the way it is towed a gooseneck trailer is often referred to as a kingpin load. A gooseneck trailer is generally pulled higher than most conventional trailer loads as it appears to become a part of the pickup truck's bed.

Gooseneck trailer hitches allow unrestricted use of the pickup bed, when the hitch is not being used, because the entire framework for the gooseneck hitch is located under the bed of the truck and only the ball is visible in the truck's bed. Therefore, when the truck isn't towing the gooseneck trailer the pickup bed will be free for other cargo.

Gooseneck trailer hitches usually cost between $180 and $400. However, despite the high price gooseneck hitches boast the following benefits:

• Gooseneck trailer hitches are safer to tow because the attachment between truck and trailer is more secure.
• Gooseneck trailer hitches distribute the weight of the gooseneck trailer more evenly.
• Gooseneck trailer hitches have complete control of the truck and trailer as one.
• Gooseneck hitches also have a higher tow load capacity.