Is there a clear "best" aftermarket gooseneck hitch?

[BigRigChris]

question regarding the turnover ball. I just purchased a 2016 Ram 2500 6.4 last week and it has a B&W turnover. The lever to release the ball will not move. I want to remove the ball as I do not have a gooseneck trailer at this time. any ideas how to get the lever to release? watched youtube videos but I havent been able to find this exact lever. sorry if im hijcaking a thread, all new to me

 

[crash68]

The lever to release the ball will not move. I want to remove the ball as I do not have a gooseneck trailer at this time. any ideas how to get the lever to release? watched youtube videos but I havent been able to find this exact lever.

The lever should be in the driver's rear wheel well just above the frame. If it's not there you going to need to crawl under the truck to see what's going on. It's possible it's rusted up underneath.

 

[Mountaineer83]

Also, if it is rusted you can spray some PB Blaster or WD-40 up through from underneath. Just keep spraying it up though where the ball goes through and it should release it.

If you need a pic let me know. I can grab a pic of mine.

 

[BigRigChris]

Ive sprayed it a couple times, the lever is stuck solid, just wasnt sure if I need to pull straight out or if its supposed to slide back and then pull out, like a safety lock or whatever

 

[tjfdesmo]

The lever does move fore and aft to lock into the unlatched/open/out position, but I think it just relies on the latch spring to stay engaged. Maybe the pin is stuck in the ball? I don't know if the end of the pin is visible, but maybe a wack with a drift might shock it loose, but the last thing you want to do is mushroom the end of the pin. Have you tried a few sharp raps with a BFH and a block of wood on the ball itself to loosen thing sup?

 

[Mountaineer83]

They do get stuck easily if left installed. Mine was in for a while and was a little hard to move as well. I'd keep hitting it with lubricant and as mentioned above, maybe strike down on the ball a few times with a hammer and block of wood. Eventually it should hopefully break free.

As a side note, had a draw bar stuck in a receiver and had to hook it to a tree to put tension on it, then keep hitting it with a bid sledgehammer. Took a while, but it broke free.

 

[Earl73]

If I decide to get a 5'er toy hauler I'm going with the B&W. Pretty much every review I have seen puts it at the top of the list. I already have their gooseneck flipover. I just WISH the RV manufacturers would give us a goose option instead of the 5'er... I don't want to stack adapters on top of adapters or have to strip out my bed every time I want to hook the trailer up.

I swapped this directly on to the pin box tabs on my camping trailer. We go out at least once a month and have been using it for 3 years now. Approved by Lippert for installation on their frames.
http://popuphitch.com/products/rvgc-gooseneck-coupler-cushion-adjustable-models/

and FWIW, I think the B&W turnover is the best truck hitch.

 

[JFV1134]

I installed the MOPAR OEM gooseneck hitch. It fit in the factory holes and frame connection points. Included diagrams for exactly where to drill the large holes in the bed. I prefer the MOPAR puck system over the B&W ball system. The chain tie down points are significantly stronger than B&W.

 

[MSgtZ]

My 2014 came with a B&W goose neck hitch and the turn over ball was left in for probably the whole life of the truck (ball side up). As I use my bad a lot and don't own a goose neck trailer at this point I needed the ball removed/flipped. Even here in central Texas the ball froze into the hitch. The dealer tried everything to get it out and gave up on it, but they did get it up far enough to have the locking pin hole exposed. Long 1/2" drive extension, long pry bar, 4lb sledge hammer, plenty of PB Blaster and 30 minutes of careful hammering got it out the rest of the way. Take the ball out regularly and clean/lube to keep rust from forming. That being said I really like this B&W hitch and it is a quality product.

 

[Mountaineer83]

B&W is an excellent company. I was recently installing my companion 5th wheel hitch and my cheap torque wrench over torqued the pin and bent it.

I called and they offered to replace the turnover hitch for free one time. The pin is built in so it cannot be replaced. Not many companies will do that anymore. They've made me a customer for life because of it.

 

[JFV1134]

I ended up getting the Mopar OEM gooseneck prep kit. I prefer the puck style to the B&W turnover. Nothing wrong with B&W, but I find that the ball gets easily rusted/crusted in its sleeve. It’s also a dirty job reaching in the wheel well to pull the release lever.

One other major benefit of the OEM kit is the chain tie downs are mounted directly to the frame rails separate from the main ball. The B&W kit has its cheap D-ring tie downs mounted to the same connection point. Also, continuous up and down of the chain tie downs will rub paint off the bed metal and promote rusting.

Just my two cents.