Commercial Truck Success

Fifth Wheel & Gooseneck Bodies

For towing heavy trailers, there is nothing better than the fifth wheel or gooseneck trailer. Almost all of the "big rigs" on the road use the fifth wheel system. Most large horse trailers and similar trailers used on ranches all across the country make use of the gooseneck system.

You can haul more weight because of the design. The tongue weight on a standard hitch trailer is about 10% of the total trailer weight. On the fifth wheel and gooseneck, it is about 25% of the weight. This makes controlling the trailer much more sure. Due to the weight increase, the tongue weight must move forward to the point over the center of the rear axle for weight carrying capability and better control. In this way, the truck and trailer become more like one unit. This is the reason that most trailers in excess of 10,000 lbs. use a fifth wheel or gooseneck system.

We've seen a lot of different manufacturers of bodies for this application. We can highly recommend Douglass Truck Bodies for their great fifth wheel service body, along with Highway Products Aluminum RV and Trailer Tow Body, and Knapheide Manufacturing for their very well done gooseneck body.