Hey y'all , I'm a new member as I decided here would be a good source when I get closer to getting in the market for a new truck .Like the title says, has anyone pulled a gooseneck with their half ton? I'd assume it would pull better than a bumper pull, but wondering if anyone has any pics of their setup or experience. Thanks!

 

search for member @5.0GN he towed a GN 3 place horse trailer with a 13 stx and reported good findings.

 

I have a lot of experience in the past with a gooseneck (18' grain hydraulic dump and livestock trailer). I was loaded up to about 18,500 combined scale weight fully loaded with wet corn or soybeans. I personally wouldn't tow a gooseneck of any substantial size with anything except a 3/4 ton gas-engine truck or 1-ton gasoline or diesel. Preferably a regular-cab eight-foot bed, or with a minimum 6/5' bed on the extended-cab or super-crew models.


If you are talking about pulling a camper, find the exact model you want first, then buy the truck necessary to pull it with at least 10% excess capacity on payload/towing capacity/frontal area limits. Consult the Ford Towing Guide.

 

I did pull for 3 years a GN with my 13 STX 4x4 SC 5.0. It did great. I am looking at bigger trailers this year so I decided to get a 350 last year when they were closing out the 16s. The budget only allows one big ticket item every year or two lol! Could not pass up the huge deals on the 16s.

Here is a pic of my 13 and the trailer, its bone stock, no bags, timbrens, or added springs, just put the hitch in, and went. It had the ITBC and trailer tow package, and appx 1800lb payload from the factory. It was within all the factory numbers for GVWR, GAWR, but slightly over GCWR in the pic. The trailer as pictured was over 9k, as there are 3 horses aboard and all our tack and gear for a long show weekend.

 

I occasionally tow a small fifth-wheel RV, so I have Reese bed rails in the bed of my F-150 SuperCrew. One time I needed to tow a big gooseneck equipment trailer, so I bought a Reese gooseneck hitch that plugs into the bed rails. https://www.etrailer.com/Gooseneck/Reese/RP58079.html


Works fine. My 3.5L EcoBoost drivetrain has amazing power and torque, so it can tow a heavy gooseneck trailer over hill and dale with no problem.

But when towing that loaded gooseneck trailer, my F-150 was severely overloaded over the payload capacity and rGAWR of the F-150. If you plan to tow a gooseneck trailer with your new F-150, then I would strongly suggest that you order the F-150 so you can have one with more GVWR and payload capacity than the normal F-150. You want the Heavy Duty Payload Package (HDPP), and dealers rarely stock them. So plan ahead and order one with HDPP and whatever else you want in a pickup. And be sure to order the 3.5L EcoBoost twin-turbo engine and trailer tow mirrors.


HDPP with 3.5L EcoBoost engine includes the max tow pkg, and max tow includes the integrated trailer brake controller, so if you order HDPP and the tow mirrors, you'll have everything you need, except the hitch, to tow a heavy trailer.


But HDPP has some restrictions. No really-short bed. No fancy trim package. The base Lariat trim package is as fancy as it gets. If you want King Ranch or Platinum or Limited trim, then you'll need to move up to a SuperDuty.


In a SuperDuty, you can order the fifth-wheel/gooseneck prep pkg, which is the Reese Elite install pkg for 5er and gooseneck hitches. The Reese Elite has under-bed rails, so when you remove the hitch, nothing is left in the bed. I have no problem with the "industry standard" in-bed rails in my tow vehicle, but lots of folks want a clean bed when the hitch is not installed.

If you buy a new SuperDuty that has the fifth-wheel/gooseneck prep pkg, that does not come with the gooseneck ball. So you'll need to buy the Reese Elite Pop-in gooseneck ball that plugs into the prep pkg. https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Ball/Reese/RP19315.html

 

Do yourself a favor and get the under bed turn over ball type hitch, they are a clean install and preserve full use of the bed. They work very well and are not super expensive. I went with the Drawtite version on mine and it was great. The other brands, curt, and BW are good too, my 350 has a BW hitch.