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Towing A Gooseneck w/ Shortbed?

7K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  welndmn 
#1 ·
Ok, here goes probably the dumbest question I've ever asked... today.
I came to the realization just now that the only pickup trucks I've ever used to tow a gooseneck trailer with were 8-10' beds, both in the standard and flatbed varieties, but never with a shortbed. The question isn't so much "can it be done?", but more of a "how much of a pain in the ass is it?"
The reason I ask is because I'm in the market for an extended cab or 4 door shorbed 99-02 F-250 or F-350 with a Powerstroke to tow my soon to be non-streetable 88 F-350. I say non-streetable because a fully built 460 is what some would call a gas hog, and driving it 50 miles to the nearest OHV park isn't really in the cards. I want the people hauling ability, without giving up the wheel base that a regular cab longbed offers, so a shortbed is the way to go. I don't really plan on building anything any time soon, and there are enough trailers in the family to haul what needs haulin'.
So, who out there tows a gooseneck with a shortbed, or a decently long (22'ish) standard hitch trailer, and how much of a PITA is it for you?
 
#4 ·
short wheelbase trucks can turn tighter.
As long as the trailer doesn't have a squared off nose, it doesn't make that much difference.
Yeah see, thats what I figured. I don't really care about the ride per-se, as long as its not like drivin a beanermobile or a damn log wagon.
 
#3 ·
As long as the trailer doesn't have a squared off nose, it doesn't make that much difference. You can get an offset ball mount for the goose if it's a little too tight to the cab though.
 
#5 ·
youll be just fine as long as your trailer doesnt hit the cab when you turn. In your situation it should be fine. I tried to hook up to a 5th wheel camper on the other hand and the SB wasnt long enough. Having the hitch over the axle like it needs to be didnt work because the camper hit the cab while turning so thats a no go.
 
#6 ·
I pull a 24ft gooseneck with my 4door shortbed F250 with no issues. The vertical portion of the neck is close to my tool box but still no issues except not much room in the bed working around the neck.
 
#8 ·
Right on. From my extensive experience moving road tractors and semi trailers, I know that shorter is better on the truck side, and longer is easier on the trailer side. It stands to reason that it would be the same with a regular truck. The gooseneck trailer that I want is a tandem dual 24' flat bed. Most gooseneck flatbeds are triangular at the hitch portion, so I figured cab clearance is no biggie. Alot of the farmers around here run dually trucks, But I don't need that, the '88 weighs 5060 empty with 35's so I'm figuring it will be maybe 6k to 6500 with 40s, winch bumpers and winches, and the tool box full of recovery gear. If needed, I'll install airbags on my tow rig. Thanks for the help guys.
 
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