Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Keystone RV Forums > Keystone Tech Forums > Towing
Click Here to Login

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 10-13-2014, 10:49 PM   #1
tnraptor
Member
 
tnraptor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: savannah tn
Posts: 70
Goose neck adapter vs b&w companion

My raptor 3712 has gooseneck ball adapter on it from way I bought it. Haven't pulled far enough to tell how its gonna do. I've never used a companion so not sure how good they are. Looks like adapter could move or rock without moving truck where companion would allow torquing to left or right. Just looking for opinions and ideas?

kansas bow hunter.
pickwick lake is home though.
tnraptor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-13-2014, 11:06 PM   #2
tnraptor
Member
 
tnraptor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: savannah tn
Posts: 70
I have 2012 f250 4x4 four door.
B&W upside down gooseneck ball.

kansas bow hunter.
pickwick lake is home though.
tnraptor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2014, 04:34 AM   #3
hankpage
Site Team
 
hankpage's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Venice
Posts: 5,346
In another post you said you just towed 750 mi. How did it tow for you then?????
__________________
Hank & Lynn
2007 Cougar 290RKS, E-Z Flex, 16" XPS RIBs ( SOLD .. Gonna miss her ... looking for new 5r)
2004.5 Dodge 2500 QC, LB, 5.9HO, WestTach gauges, Ride-Rite
hankpage is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2014, 05:49 AM   #4
trueweb
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Central VA
Posts: 146
Is the truck a short or long bed?

How much offset are you planning to have on your gooseneck adapter?

The benefits of the gooseneck adapter are that you keep the "heavy stuff" on the trailer, just flip the ball and connect, so no loading and unloading the hitch from your bed. There are also less moving parts to maintain.

I have the 9" gooseneck offset and I loved it, but it just ruined my weekend. It came with the camper I bought and was fine until I added a tonneau cover that mounted inside the rails. Because the offset makes the overall length of the pin box longer it has the potential to hit the side of the bed. Well, the cover rails narrowed each side by 3", I had to make a tight turn. Long story short, it destroyed the tonneau cover rail and bend the top bed rail about a 1/4" out. Hopefully a body shop can pull it straight since there was no paint damage, the rail took the brunt of the hit.

A 5" offset will just fit inside the bed at 90 degrees (no rails on my truck with my pin box, pin box length and truck bed width varies), however a short bed with a gooseneck adapter won't let you turn 90 anyway, you get a max around 63 degrees before you hit the cab (the 9" hits the rails at about 64 degrees, so the extra 4" offset has no measurable advantage). I'm probably going to change to a 5" offset, which will clear without rails, but really you can't turn sharp enough with a 5" you'll hit the cab before you hit the rails and that's easier to keep an eye on. A 3" offset would be perfect, but I can't find one and a 0" offset cuts you down to a 59 degree max angle, but with no risk of ever hitting the rails.

Hope that helps!

I'm certainly open to help with my problem, anyone ever straightened the top rail of a pickup with a come-along?

More info: My trailer has the Popup RV2 installed now. I'm planning to purchase just the lower portion of the RV1 to reduce the risk of hitting the side rail. Worst case scenario with the RV1 I can remove the tonneau completely before towing and have no issues hitting the bed at any angle or tilt. It's about $310 for the part and a lot less work vs $1,300 for a companion slider which would be the only other thing I could do.
trueweb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2014, 08:31 AM   #5
tnraptor
Member
 
tnraptor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: savannah tn
Posts: 70
Hank my buddy just brought it 750 miles home to me from pipeline I bought it from him never towed it. I have b&w hitch to be installed this Friday and now a air lift bags. Debating on buying fifth wheel companion because its adapter comes with camper be cheaper to use it as my Buddy does.

kansas bow hunter.
pickwick lake is home though.
tnraptor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2014, 08:35 AM   #6
tnraptor
Member
 
tnraptor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: savannah tn
Posts: 70
[IMG]http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/14/e4f24219172daa16d7358d11b7b20cda.jpg[/IMG
that's adapter thinking he told me 9inch and my truck is 2012 f250 short bed four door 4x4

kansas bow hunter.
pickwick lake is home though.
tnraptor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2014, 08:36 AM   #7
tnraptor
Member
 
tnraptor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: savannah tn
Posts: 70


kansas bow hunter.
pickwick lake is home though.
tnraptor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2014, 08:37 AM   #8
tnraptor
Member
 
tnraptor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: savannah tn
Posts: 70
I see 15inch but idk if that's it or not.

kansas bow hunter.
pickwick lake is home though.
tnraptor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2014, 09:42 AM   #9
JRTJH
Site Team
 
JRTJH's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Gaylord
Posts: 26,857
tnraptor,

You indicated that your tow vehicle is a 2012 F250 crewcab 4x4. If it is the 10,000 lb GVW, then your maximum payload (with a gas engine) would be somewhere around 2600-2800 lbs. My 2013 Supercab 4x4 payload is 2768), If you have the 6.7L diesel, then your payload would be at least 500 lbs less, or closer to 2100-2300 lbs. You can check the yellow decal on your driver's door pillar to find your specific payload data. It's not going to be anywhere close to 4000 lbs.

The EMPTY pin weight of the 2006 Raptor 3712TS is 2995 and will increase significantly with any cargo you load into your trailer. You might want to look at your payload before doing too much "modifying" to your truck, it sure looks like you're going to be grossly overloaded by the time you get part of your camping equipment loaded into the trailer, and that's with nothing in the bed of your pickup and no passengers.
__________________
John



2015 F250 6.7l 4x4
2014 Cougar X Lite 27RKS
JRTJH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2014, 09:48 AM   #10
Tom
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Abilene TX
Posts: 26
Quote:
Originally Posted by tnraptor View Post
My raptor 3712 has gooseneck ball adapter on it from way I bought it. Haven't pulled far enough to tell how its gonna do. I've never used a companion so not sure how good they are. Looks like adapter could move or rock without moving truck where companion would allow torquing to left or right. Just looking for opinions and ideas?

kansas bow hunter.
pickwick lake is home though.
B&W Companion is a very well made product. Take a look at one and that will immediately become obvious. It will allow for 6-way movement of the pinbox.
Tom is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2014, 10:46 AM   #11
trueweb
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Central VA
Posts: 146
That looks like a 2-3" offset max, you should have no clearance issues if your truck dimensions are similar to mine.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tnraptor View Post


kansas bow hunter.
pickwick lake is home though.
trueweb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2014, 01:48 PM   #12
tnraptor
Member
 
tnraptor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: savannah tn
Posts: 70
Yes its 6.7 diesel truck

kansas bow hunter.
pickwick lake is home though.
=================================
I'm installing air lift bags on truck. May need a dually but that'll be few years down the Rd when I trade this one.

kansas bow hunter.
pickwick lake is home though.
===================================
Thanks for comments. I'll try companion on my next trip see what the difference is.

kansas bow hunter.
pickwick lake is home though.
tnraptor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2014, 09:54 PM   #13
tnraptor
Member
 
tnraptor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: savannah tn
Posts: 70
If you put weight in the back of toy hauler say 1500 pounds will that take weight off the pin??

kansas bow hunter.
pickwick lake is home though.
tnraptor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2014, 09:56 PM   #14
tnraptor
Member
 
tnraptor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: savannah tn
Posts: 70
Also the air bags will they help or make it possible to use f250 or is a dually required? Guess you could add a leaf spring to f250 or would that help??

kansas bow hunter.
pickwick lake is home though.
tnraptor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2014, 10:18 PM   #15
Festus2
Site Team
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Fraser Valley BC Canada
Posts: 7,015
You have indicated that your are going to install airbags in your F250 and have asked about the addition of helper springs. Keep in mind that neither of these two will increase the payload of your truck or increase its towing capacity. They might help in making the truck and the toy hauler sit more level and to make the ride in the truck smoother. One way of increasing your truck's payload is to decrease its weight - something that you are not likely to do.

(Let's also keep in mind that the topic of your thread is a comparison between the goose neck and the Companion - not airbags, helper springs, SRW vs DRW or shifting weights around to lower hitch weight).
__________________
2008 Cougar 5th Wheel 27RKS
2005 2500 GMC Duramax
Festus2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-14-2014, 11:52 PM   #16
tnraptor
Member
 
tnraptor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: savannah tn
Posts: 70
Meaning one or the other spring or bags festus. The guy made an interesting point about pin weight so there for it shifted the question a lil but all in all I'm trying go figure out best way to make this truck work with camper cause its all I got!! So if its k could I please discuss an interesting topic when someone mentions it as I'm not a veteran RV man or tow lots of trailers. I do drive a towboat that's 1200ft long by 105ft wide but still don't know much about pulling campers.
From the sound of it I need a semi lol but seriously I think I need a dually its just not in the budget. So maybe I just need to ask how to make the best out of what I got?????

2012 f250 6.7 diesel 4x4 four door lariat. B&w gooseneck ball to adapter, air lift bags

2006 raptor 3712 1000lb cargo in toy hauler garage.

kansas bow hunter.
pickwick lake is home though.
tnraptor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-15-2014, 03:51 AM   #17
Javi
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Waco, Tx
Posts: 5,456
Tow boat driver and bow hunter... you can't be all bad

As for pulling that trailer with what you got, that 6.7 will pull it all day and night.. what's gonna get ya' is the GVWR of the truck and that can't really be changed, think of it as the depth of the channel, 2 fathoms is 2 fathoms and running a barge drawing 3 ain't gonna float..

Air bags and helper springs will make the truck look better when loaded, but tires are probably gonna need changing to carry that load. As long as it don't look over loaded... tires flat, headlights pointing up like you're coon hunting you will most likely not get stopped and checked.. BUT... don't speed or break any other traffic laws 'cause if you get stopped and the LEO is sharp and paying attention he's gonna tag you..
Javi is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Keystone RV Company or any of its affiliates in any way. Keystone RV® is a registered trademark of the Keystone RV Company.


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 05:54 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.