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Towing with a lifted truck?

33K views 21 replies 16 participants last post by  heinkelron 
#1 ·
I currently drive a 2007 F250 Outlaw with an 8" lift and 38" tires. I do live on a farm and therefore need to tow my horses on occasion. I currently pull a 2 horse slant load trailer but it is a bumper pull and quickly becoming too small for my needs. I am looking into getting a gooseneck trailer that can hold more animals, the problem is I'm not sure if my truck can tow one. I know I've seen trucks do it before but I'm not quite sure how they pulled it off. I'd love some advice as to whether this can be done. And taking the lift off my truck is not an option. I don't tow very often and personally I enjoy being a girl driving a sky-high truck!
 
#2 ·
You will probably need to find a gooseneck trailer that will tow level, while hooked up to your truck.

I think the biggest problem will be power, if you haven't changed gearing to go with the tall tires.

Another problem may be with your rear springs, if the lift was done with springs instead of blocks. Lift springs are generally alot softer than stock springs.

Good luck
 
#3 ·
With an 8" lift I think you are going to be stuck w/bumper pull horse trailers. I've seen goosenecks behind trucks w/4" lifts and 35" tires and they are not perfectly level. The trailers can be lifted up to match up to a lifted truck to an extent, but not up to your 8" lift. The gooseneck horse trailers just do not seem to work well w/much of a lifted truck. I have lifted toy hauler trailers before to match up to my truck; but that was for a 4" lift and 35" tires. This is usually done by flipping the axle springs from the bottom of the trailer axle to the top. I have not seen it done on a horse trailer. I think your best bet is a 4 horse slant bumper pull and put airbags on your truck for when you are running heavy weight in the trailer.
 
#4 ·
A friend who is a welder lifted his work truck that he tows with and then did some extensive very clever work to lift his aluminum livestock/combo trailer he hauled his horses in. Added a gorgeous ramp to his trailer. The height changed the center of gravity and he said it was obvious that the horses were not getting a good ride as the trailer was unstable when he would change lanes and the horses would move and trailer would lean.
He lowered his trailer and bought a pulling truck and used his lifted truck for welding rig only.

Standard height 4 wheel drives give challenges for a lot of gooseneck trailers, 8" lift is probably out of the question.

You could buy a trailer and mod it to raise the hitch part by raising the "floor" of the gooseneck portion but there could be some side effect that isn't discovered until you tow it.

8 and 10 inch drop hitch pieces with much weight on them bend a lot of hitches too. The weight with that increased leverage is more than the hitch was made for. You will need to do some reinforcing to keep from cracking the hitch.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Even my stock height 250 4x4 makes my GN trailer sit nose high about 2" over 28' in order to have a comfortable clearance between the bed rails and the neck-over.

IMO, the 8" lift is out of the question for GN.

Like previously stated, you're pretty much stuck with bumper pulls and with 2 horses and a decent size trailer, you're pushing the limits of the 6-8" drop hitch. I've seen them break in half.

An alternative to those drop hitches is the B&W Tow and Stow Pintle Ball hitch, or a standard pintle ball hitch with a multi-position mount that will allow for a substantial drop. You don't want to tow a BP slant at a severe nose up angle. You may want to look into BP stock trailers.

The benefit of the pintle ball hitch is the upgraded weight rating. You will need to find a high rated ball. The 2" I have is rated for 12k, the 2 5/16 is rated for 20k. Overkill? absolutely, but better to have more than not enough.
 
#6 ·
Forget about it, axle flips are possible for trucks with 4" lifts, but anything more than 4"s is out of the question...You can find some pretty large bumperpull horse trailers, the problem is with such a huge drop on the hitch, some kind of welding or custom fabbing would be required, in order to retain the factory capacity.
 
#7 ·
I had to flip the axle on my gooseneck trailer to pull level with a completely stock 06 GMC. I'd assume yours stock was about at that level, which would require 8" blocks on the trailer too, and IMHO would be unsafe and ugly. You likely need a second truck or less lift. I'm not convinced that you could do it with 4" of lift.

You say you live on a farm, so realize that being level is half the battle. The first time you take the horse trailer over a terrace in the pasture the gooseneck rails will ruin a bed if they are too close to it. You have to be careful with a gooseneck on a properly set up trailer and truck when going off pavement.
 
#8 ·
You could always have a trailer built or modified in order to clear your bedrails. You could always buy another cheaper truck to use around the farm though.
 
#9 ·
That much lift on the trailer would require a huge step up or an ungodly long ramp. Not to mention lifting a trailer puts live weight at a very high center of gravity--making the trailer unsteady with shifting weight.

I'd buy a different truck if a gooseneck was a must. If not, stick with BP's and get a nice hitch. My 2 pennies. :thup:
 
#11 · (Edited)
I have a 2003 F250 w/ 4.5" lift and 315/75r16's. I tow a Trails West 4H gooseneck with no problems. That being said, I couldn't go any higher and have the trailer be level (which is critical).
 
#12 ·
Hi, rookie to this website, not to towing bumper pulls. Currently we have a 1996 F350 4x4with a four inch lift and on 35" tires. I use a drop hitch which nearly levels the little bumper pull. I do agree it looks like a very bumpy ride for the horses. I am interested in finding a gooseneck, but when I park the truck next to them, there is no way they would clear the bed rails it seems. Just looking for some ideas/advice regarding how to make it work, other than removing lift. Do some goosenecks ride hire or are built hire than others? Thanks.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Do some goosenecks ride hire or are built hire than others? Thanks.
First, I'll keep my opinion of lifted trucks/owners to myself. Secondly, there IS a BIG difference in gooseneck horse/stock trailer design. My truck is stock height, and I bought my Charmac gooseneck 3 horse in '90. The bed to gooseneck subframe is barely acceptable, about 5". There's one spring calf branding I go to yearly and I have to extend the gooseneck tube 3" longer to clear a rise in the dirt road on the way into their branding pen. Later I re-adjust so it rides level again.

Live and learn, a month later in 1990 a team roping buddy bought a different brand gooseneck and it has over a foot bed to gooseneck clearance. Point is, look at a lot of brands. The trailers themselves may all be the same height but the clearance between the bed and gooseneck subframe will be different between brands. At the time I bought mine I didn't realize this.
 
#14 ·
I have never seen a gooseneck trailer factory built to clear bed on lifted trucks. I have seen lots of lifted trailers but then load height for horses gets to be a problem.
Ram dually 4x4 at factory height present problems for owners. I know several people with those trucks and gooseneck horse trailers that have rear tire failures due to the angle. Torsion axles used almost exclusively on living quarter and aluminum big trailers don't tolerate the angle since the load shifts to rear axle.
 
#16 · (Edited)
I don't know, I think those were evidently a failure, I remember seeing adds when they first came out years ago. Of all the truck/trailers I see during tourist season, I never did see one in person. With that extra joint, that makes them a real pain to back up.
 
#17 ·
Can't say I've seen a single one of those out here.
 
#18 ·
I have never seen that setup out my way either. My question is wouldn't that be considered double hauling since the first is connected to the bumper hitch I believe and then you have the gooseneck connected to the bumper pull. So you would only be able to use that in certain states. Am I on the right track or way off?
 
#19 ·
I went and looked at trailers for my lifted truck to find the right one that would work the best. Found on and it isn't level but pretty close and yes it does put extra added weight onto the rear axle/tires. I had it completely loaded and had each axle weighed and I wish I remembered were that ticket was so I could say what it was. I pull all over the place with the horses cross country back and forth. Truck has 6" lift with 38" tires. I don't have any issues with braking, hills, decent, or anything else. Just the problem with the trailer slightly elevated. If you have the correct brake controller then your braking will not ever be an issue regardless of the lift if the truck isn't too high to actually pull a gooseneck.
 
#20 ·
I have never seen that setup out my way either. My question is wouldn't that be considered double hauling since the first is connected to the bumper hitch I believe and then you have the gooseneck connected to the bumper pull. So you would only be able to use that in certain states. Am I on the right track or way off?
Don't know, but it seems like it would not be classified as another vehicle just like a converter that's required on a set of doubles (rear trailer) is not either.
 
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