Swap OEM Gooseneck Hitch for B&W Turnover Ball

[farmallboy]

I had a shop do the swap for me and glad I did. I'm too old for this **** anymore. RAM used a ton of Loctite Red for the hardware. Not a whole lot of room to work or get power tools in there, less if you don't have a lift. If your doing it yourself, take your time, have patience and properly stretch and warm your muscles and joints before getting into the swap. Eat a power bar. Watch heavy metal videos or an action movie. Get mad at your old lady, the IRS, your boss or whatever gets your primevil anger blood pumping. Attack the bolts like they owe you money and punched your mom. Young kid at the shop who did the job said it was one of the most entertaining and toughest things he ever had to do. He took off the muffler and cut a wrench in half to make s stubby to free up room and change out the gear.

This is one of the best mods I have done. I kept the OEM anchor pucks and didn't install the cheap B&W "anchors", so no drilled holes in the bed. I'm using a pair of Curt anchors that cost me $60. Pulling a 15k 38ft FW with a Goosebox. I basically have an empty bed and with the 4" offset ball I have tons of clearance. when I'm done, I remove the turnover and anchors and put them under my rear seat. Heaviest thing I have to mess with when coupling/uncoupling is the case of beer for the trip.

Remember to lift with your legs

 

[EARL99208]

FWIW....you can void the warranty on the FW and cause frame cracking using a gooseneck. I was a rep in the RV industry and know

Lippert (LCI) is the manufacture of almost every frame for the RV industry. On there website they advertise a gooseneck adaptor. Lippert also supports the use of a gooseneck pinbox produced by Reese.
GenY has yet to get Lippert's blessing but I'm pretty sure they will in the not so distant future.

 

[stinson87]

The Reese goosebox is approved by LCI. Goose adapters are not. I have a long box so don't need to do a turnover ball since I don't need offset to clear tight turns.

 

[EARL99208]

The Reese goosebox is approved by LCI. Goose adapters are not. I have a long box so don't need to do a turnover ball since I don't need offset to clear tight turns.
View attachment 39428

That's an interesting setup for taking the bikes along with you while camping……I like it.

 

[stinson87]

That's an interesting setup for taking the bikes along with you while camping……I like it.

Yes, way less stress than off the rear bumper. Iv seen too many people loose bikes off their trailer tail. And if it's disconnected it's hard to steal bikes 8ft off the ground

 

[Vr6mole]

Just installed mine in place of the factory gooseneck mount. Was not bad at all minus the step to cut the bolt shorter to allow the mechanism to slide open.

Exhaust came off extremely easy. I did mark the joint with a marker to line it back up easily. Heat shield comes off with 5-6 bolts very easily as well.

Can’t wait for my Goosebox to come!

 

[Jeff Swearingen]

I swapped OEM for B&W turnover.

It appears your truck is a megacab. Are you using the Reese Goosebox? If so do you have an offset ball? Does the nose cap get too close when making a sharp turn?

 

[orlando bull]

Love my B&W hitch, but Gen-Y now makes a 5" offset ball that works with the factory puck system. If it was out when I did mine, or if I had known about it, I would have gone that route and saved myself time and money from swapping out to the B&W. Just another option for someone who may be looking to swap solely for the ability to use an offset ball.

 

[flyingjack]

Love my B&W hitch, but Gen-Y now makes a 5" offset ball that works with the factory puck system. If it was out when I did mine, or if I had known about it, I would have gone that route and saved myself time and money from swapping out to the B&W. Just another option for someone who may be looking to swap solely for the ability to use an offset ball.

Older thread-ho;efully someone still watching, but; we're in the process of upgrading 2016 Chev 2500 and buying a new Big Horn 2500 with short bed. Is it basically SOP for short bed with OEM gooseneck hitch to bounce because it needs to be further forward. BTW, my 2022 FW already has a 16K Goosebox.
Thanks for any help.

 

[Grateful Dad]

The OEM and B&W sit directly over the rear axle, not sure what you mean?

 

[flyingjack]

The OEM and B&W sit directly over the rear axle, not sure what you mean?

Researching this topic, older threads talked about truck bouncing and stopped by swapping Ram OEM ball hitch to a B&W so it could be moved forward of axle and then use an extended ball. Can't speak to OEM; but, majority of recommendations including B&W and etrailer are over axle or slightly forward 1-4". Reading majority of info; place 1-3" forward. My 2016 8 bed Chev 2500 was installed 4" forward and for last 35-40,000 miles of towing has pulled fine= no issues. Hopefully that explains my question better.

 

[Grateful Dad]

I’ve got the B&W, didn’t get the oem prep though it mounts in the same location (or so I thought).

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

Researching this topic, older threads talked about truck bouncing and stopped by swapping Ram OEM ball hitch to a B&W so it could be moved forward of axle and then use an extended ball. Can't speak to OEM; but, majority of recommendations including B&W and etrailer are over axle or slightly forward 1-4". Reading majority of info; place 1-3" forward. My 2016 8 bed Chev 2500 was installed 4" forward and for last 35-40,000 miles of towing has pulled fine= no issues. Hopefully that explains my question better.

That is not apples to apples…. GM installs the OEM hitch 2” behind the axle centre on the short box trucks that is only GM. ford and RAM install it directly over centre no issues with them