All girls garage installing a gooseneck on a JTD ???

[FLUndertaker]

Jeezus, they lost all their bed space. There’s a right way and a wrong way to do everything. Here’s how you do this without losing valuable bed space.

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[Dakota]

A 2 door Gladiator (longer bed) would have no problem pulling small lightweight 5th wheel style trailers. I pull attached all over, including through the Rockies. 30+ year old vehicle producing 125-135 horsepower. The Scamp 19 trailer weighs 2500-3000 lbs. The tongue weight is only 400lbs. Gladiator would have no problem. 1989 Dodge Dakota Sport factory convertible. B&W turnover ball and Anderson Ultimate hitch with ball machined down from 2 5/16” to 2“. I do not know if a 4 door Gladiator’s bed is long enough to be worth the expense of adding a 5th wheel style hitch.

 

[Dakota]

The Anderson Utimate Hiitch has adjustable ball height. It allows me to pull the same trailer with my lower Dakota and taller F150 (1st picture above). Takes 90 seconds to remove the Ultimate Hitch and flip the B&W turnover ball so that all equipment is removed and I have full use of my PU bed.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

A 2 door Gladiator (longer bed) would have no problem pulling small lightweight 5th wheel style trailers. I pull attached all over, including through the Rockies. 30+ year old vehicle producing 125-135 horsepower. The Scamp 19 trailer weighs 2500-3000 lbs. The tongue weight is only 400lbs. Gladiator would have no problem. 1989 Dodge Dakota Sport factory convertible. B&W turnover ball and Anderson Ultimate hitch with ball machined down from 2 5/16” to 2“. I do not know if a 4 door Gladiator’s bed is long enough to be worth the expense of adding a 5th wheel style hitch.

Zero doubt such a setup could be pulled EASILY with a JT - it would be putting the load right where it belongs instead of way back of the axle. My only "beef" was the idiocy of the install in the original posts and hacked up job and crappy welding and other scary stuff.
The truck? No issues - but please, install the correct hitch correctly in the right place and if doing welding, don't do it like some untrained ape. Bad welds not only compromise the attachment or joint, but the parts being welded TO as well. The original was a clown show for clicks.

But a setup like you show, I'd have no problem pulling 3000-4000 pounds with a 400-500 pound tongue weight, and it would likely pull better than my car hauler since the load would be where it belongs.
I have no doubt you've been doing fine.

 

[Hootbro]

Has any 1/2 ton model truck ever come with a factory 5th wheel option?

 

[Dakota]

Has any 1/2 ton model truck ever come with a factory 5th wheel option?

Not that I’m aware of, however, if you look at all the towing guides for the past 2 decades they all provide bumper pull and gooseneck/5th wheel weight capacities for 1/2 ton pickups. The Big 3 has been providing gooseneck/5th wheel pulling capacities in their 1/2 ton documents for the past decade. RV manufactures now advertise 1/2 ton pullable 5th wheel trailers. It makes sense because 1) trailers are getting lighter and 2) a newer 1/2 pu can outpull many 10-15 year old 3/4 ton pickups.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

and 2) a newer 1/2 pu can outpull many 10-15 year old 3/4 ton pickups.

Got that right. When I was looking to trade my 95 F250 4x4 I went out shopping for another 3/4 ton truck. I shopped Ford, Ram and Chevy, and all of them asked why I wanted a 3/4 ton, and I explained my car hauler and so on. All 3 dealerships said a 3/4 wasn't necessary and pointed to the specs on their 1/2 ton versions. My Silverado 1/2 ton 4x4 pulled as well as if not better than my Ford had. The ford could haul a heck of a lot more weight in the bed - it could handle over 2,000 pounds in the bed and barely touch the overload springs where my Chevy squatted so bad at much less weight, but trailer towing? I'm finding this JT pulls my trailer almost as well as my Chevy did and gets better mpg on top of it all.
Where I used to HAVE to have a 3/4 ton truck, I am doing fine with this.

 

[Hootbro]

Got that right. When I was looking to trade my 95 F250 4x4 I went out shopping for another 3/4 ton truck. I shopped Ford, Ram and Chevy, and all of them asked why I wanted a 3/4 ton, and I explained my car hauler and so on. All 3 dealerships said a 3/4 wasn't necessary and pointed to the specs on their 1/2 ton versions. My Silverado 1/2 ton 4x4 pulled as well as if not better than my Ford had. The ford could haul a heck of a lot more weight in the bed - it could handle over 2,000 pounds in the bed and barely touch the overload springs where my Chevy squatted so bad at much less weight, but trailer towing? I'm finding this JT pulls my trailer almost as well as my Chevy did and gets better mpg on top of it all.
Where I used to HAVE to have a 3/4 ton truck, I am doing fine with this.

They must have been low on 3/4 ton trucks and/or more money to be made selling you a 1/2 ton.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

They must have been low on 3/4 ton trucks and/or more money to be made selling you a 1/2 ton.

Karl Chevrolet sells tons of fleet vehicles and their lot was loaded with 3/4 ton, they almost lost a sale when my specifics for a truck weren't found on any 1/2 ton they had.
Seriously, the towing capacity of the Chevy was as good as the bigger Ford was in the prior decade.
Only payload was better on the 95 Ford 3/4 ton compared to 2011 1/2 ton Chevy.

I dunno about their profit margin. I just found it interesting that when I pulled in with a 3/4 ton 4x4 all dealers talked about 1/2 ton. The Chevy 1/2 ton towing specs were as good as the Ford 3/4 ton towing specs. Must have been the same for Ram as they said the same thing "you don't need a 3/4 ton truck for that trailer".
The Chevy towing specs jumped a fair amount if I had gotten the lower gear ratio but I bought off the lot (and made them add the accessories I wanted)

My Ford was sold before I left with the Chevy.............

 

[jdwhichard]

nice you welded rear goose neck underbed rail to the shock tower i put a inbed fifth wheel mount on mine because the shield over the the rear axle , plate and ball in the bed . now im going to put in bed fifth wheel rails in mine as a backup for the f250 . i can use the goose neck rails but i have to go behind the axle for second the second 5th wheel rail since the bed is so short . Any idea where to mount the rear 5th wheel rail ? i need distance from cab when backing i dont want to make it a convertible even with a slider with a 93 inch wide fifth wheel camper

 

[Escape.idiocracy]

Karl Chevrolet sells tons of fleet vehicles and their lot was loaded with 3/4 ton, they almost lost a sale when my specifics for a truck weren't found on any 1/2 ton they had.
Seriously, the towing capacity of the Chevy was as good as the bigger Ford was in the prior decade.
Only payload was better on the 95 Ford 3/4 ton compared to 2011 1/2 ton Chevy.

I dunno about their profit margin. I just found it interesting that when I pulled in with a 3/4 ton 4x4 all dealers talked about 1/2 ton. The Chevy 1/2 ton towing specs were as good as the Ford 3/4 ton towing specs. Must have been the same for Ram as they said the same thing "you don't need a 3/4 ton truck for that trailer".
The Chevy towing specs jumped a fair amount if I had gotten the lower gear ratio but I bought off the lot (and made them add the accessories I wanted)

My Ford was sold before I left with the Chevy.............

If you don’t need to tow very often I can see the logic in picking up a 1/2 ton truck. If you tow a lot you are beating the piss out of a 1/2 ton.

our next tow vehicle will be a 450/550 capacity for the simple fact that all of the wear and tear components are that much more overbuilt than the 2/350 capacity trucks. Brakes, power is de Rated for longevity, cooling system, tow points, literally a night and day system.

just because the sticker says you can tow that those magic numbers- does not mean you should….
Is 2020 a blurr??? I can’t even count the amount of meme’s and photos of wrecked gladiators pulling too large of campers. I understand a lot of other factors went into their accidents… the fact of the matter is why.
Again- if it’s a few tows a year…. I get it… but if you regularly tow, do it right…..

 

[mrmo]

Ive pulled trailers for 30 yrs, from 8k to 25k, pintle, 5th wheel, gooseneck. Aint no JT .ade for gooseneck shit. Truck only weighs around 6k, asking for a bad wreck

 

[CrazyCooter]

Ive pulled trailers for 30 yrs, from 8k to 25k, pintle, 5th wheel, gooseneck. Aint no JT .ade for gooseneck shit. Truck only weighs around 6k, asking for a bad wreck

JT can do gooseneck just fine within the limits. You are probably just equating goosneck with only huge heavy trailers. With your towing experience, you could probably agree that a hitch over.forward of the axle tows better/safer than one located beind the rear axle?

 

[PJZ]

Not to beat this dead horse, but within the limits as @CrazyCooter says is correct. In addition to the Scamp you could go with one of these Escape trailers. Would be a nice rig if someone put some thought into setting it up. The concept is interesting.

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