Homemade Gooseneck Hitch - Safe?

[Flywheel]

Hi All -

We have a friend that will be pulling 5k - 12k horse trailers and he went the homemade hitch route.

I would just like to know if you all think it is safe-enough or not.

It uses a piece of 3/8ths c-channel with what looks like an 8" web spanning the frame rails. It is mounted to the frame rails with (2) grade 8 bolts drilled down through the channel and frame per side. The c-channel flanges were cut down a little bit where it meets the frame in order to fit under the bed.

The thing is that the bolts on each side are only about 4" apart.

Seems to me like there will be a lot of stress on those bolts being so close to the centerline of the ball. Is this set-up robust enough for pulling these loads?

The truck is a '99 F-250 gas 4door SWB.

[MrJimi]

NO WAY IN THE WORLD does that sound safe, sounds like an easy way to shear the bolts
if in doubt ?? DON'T !!!
Not safe
that is going to kill the horses and all involved and other vehicles and people on the road

[gamudslinger88]

Yea that isnt enough. All home made goose neck hitchs I have seen have at least a 3/8 plate the width of the frame rails and about 12-14 inchs long and there bolted on the top of the bed with 4-6 bolts 5/8 grade 8 bolts per side. They had spacers to go bettween the bed and the rails to keep from pulling the bed down but the spacers were made from sched 80 pipe. I have a friend who has this set up and its been in the bed of his truck for years with no problems.

[Bill1013]

My home made hitch is 3/8" plate 24"x width of frame rails, bolted down thru bed U supports and thru the frame rails W/4 - 5/8" grade 8 bolts, heavy flat washers top & bottom. Pulling a 14K GN loaded with a F350 CC LB dually. GVW 15,200 . GN ball rated 22,000 from TSC . 700 miles no problems over some ruff roads and lots of mountains .
See my pics. 92 F350

Also have rails on it for a 16K 5er hitch, to pull the 30 ft Jayco.

[mgraveman]

Originally Posted by Flywheel

Hi All -

We have a friend that will be pulling 5k - 12k horse trailers and he went the homemade hitch route.

I would just like to know if you all think it is safe-enough or not.

It uses a piece of 3/8ths c-channel with what looks like an 8" web spanning the frame rails. It is mounted to the frame rails with (2) grade 8 bolts drilled down through the channel and frame per side. The c-channel flanges were cut down a little bit where it meets the frame in order to fit under the bed.

The thing is that the bolts on each side are only about 4" apart.

Seems to me like there will be a lot of stress on those bolts being so close to the centerline of the ball. Is this set-up robust enough for pulling these loads?

The truck is a '99 F-250 gas 4door SWB.

I can buy a cheap gooseneck hitch for $100.

That sounds similar to what I have used on several trucks that I have bought with that style hitch on them. I ultimately pulled them off because I was worried about a lawsuit. Safe or not, he is acting as engineer and anything that goes wrong is HIS fault.

That said, I never had trouble with them.

[88beast]

ya least go with a fr wide piece of 6 in c channel with 4 bolts and a 4 in piece inside it like this : [c something like that will be strongest but the bolts are usualy the weakest link

again this is fully under the bed so id use c chanel if he wants to do over the bed use a piece of 3/8 flat fr wide X 24 in then use pipe or tubing or the old hitch (lets all recycle) to brace it in front and rear

[Chyrel]

There are so many things wrong with your friend’s design. Nothing that might cause catastrophic failure, (NOW) but in time look out!

First off I would never place the toes of a C-channel laying on the frame of a truck, in time it will wear 4-lines in the frame, then the bolts loosen up, then break!
He should have welded a bearing plate across the width of the C-channel, even if he had to notch the flanges to allow for proper height.
The C-channel is working in it’s weakest form, that means you have to weld strong backs running parallel with the flanges. With the 2 5/16-inch ball being in the center of the C-channel you run the risk of point loading the C-channel, which will allow a cup to develop. No big deal, but you can avoid this with a doubler plate.

When I built mine I used 10-inch x 20-pound C-channel, skip welded two 3/4-inch x 2-inch flatbars inside the C-channel, and cut a 3/4-inch x 9-inch circle for a doubler plate. Used four 3/4-inch grade 8-bolts. I grantee this hitch will take more than the Dodge can handle!

If I still had the F-550 I would have doubled the size of everything!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...fetychains.jpg

[BC06PS]

Tell him to buy a manufactured one or at least add a 200% overbuilt safety factor to anything he's thinking about building.

When I was about 18 my family owned a feedstore. After school I would drive to the purina mill and pick up feed with 1979 f350 flatbed and 30 gooseneck. The flatbed had a custom dropdown ball that was welded to the bottom of the bed. My dad had some shadetree welder design it. It looked great and it even had a coverplate when it wasn't pulling a trailer.

Anyways, it worked for about 6 months. That is until i hit a bump on some lousiana highway and it ripped out the welds. I think I was pulling about 14k lbs in feed. The neck of the trailer dropped through the hole the dropdown hitch and in front of the axle of the truck. Thus ripping the wires to the trailer and the brake lines on the truck. Thankfully, the truck was a granny 4 and not an auto so I had some stopping capability. That truck always smelled like poop from that day forward.

Sorry for the long story, but take it from my expience that could have been much worse had it not been on a rural road. Don't go cheap on your gooseneck hitches

[gamudslinger88]

When I read that story it makes me think that whoever built it didnt have enough welded area to support the weight. If the weld broke it was a poor weld but if the weld held together and tore the parent metal then he either didnt have enough weld or the flat bed he welded too was too thin for the weight. A good weld bead with 100% fusion and penitration should be stronger than the parent metal. I am designing and building my goose neck hitch right now. Its the width of the frame rails and 24" long. I am bolting it down to the 5th wheel brackets that go to the frame as well as 8 additional bolts that go through the frame, A total of 10 grade 8 bolts, four are 9/16 shank and 8 in the frame are 5/8 shank, all kits I seen came with 4 grade 5 1/2 to 7/16 bolts. The plate is 3/8 A572 grade 50 high tensil strength, it has 50,000 pounds shear strength and the welding method will be MIG with Flux with gas with .045 wire thats 70,000 tensil strength. I will brace the load area with another plate diamond shaped and add some other bracing as well. I think this will be overkill because every hitch I look at has been less than I feel safe towing with. I am a certified welder and fabricator for 9 years for a railcar repair company, I have welded on tank car vessels that held 500psi in and didnt burst so I feel comfortable doing this. I am curently a quality assurance inspector for the same company as well as a non destructive testing tech. and I still lay beads on a regular basis. I am not braging by no means but I am just letting the naysayers see that I am no "shade tree welder with a household welder", I have welded a few times

[Chyrel]

Originally Posted by gamudslinger88

I think this will be overkill

You think!

[gamudslinger88]

yes sir