Curious if anyone has gone this route. If so, what engine, and how important is the bed length? My F-250 came with a factory GN setup, but a cursory view of Ford's site does not show anything for the F-150.
And the new F-150 diesel is apparently due in this spring, as a possibility.

Or if you have done with a Chevy or Dodge 1/2 ton, also interested how well it worked.
Both of my current GN trailers are in great shape, and I hate to go back to BP if it can be avoided. Loaded trailer weights vary from 5-10k.

My dad did this with his GMC 1500. It worked well. He had the larger V8. Granted he was only pulling a horse trailer. 5-10K is well under max weight for a 1500

He does now have a 3500, but the 1500 is still around.

There is a rancher I see at the sale barn that has a gooseneck in an f150. He pulles a 20 ish foot cattle trailer.

I also have an employee with a 5th wheel in an F150. He only bought the 5.25' bed and has creased the cab trying to turn the 5th wheel

I have a 2001 Silverado 1500 with the 8ft bed that I pull a 24ft gooseneck cattle trailer with. All loaded up it is probably 12-13k. I do have airbags on the rear to help out with the suspension though.

I won't win any races and it pulls it well enough plus unloaded it doesn't jar my brains out like a 3/4 ton pickup would when driving around the pasture.

Less about the engine and more about the weight on the rear axle. Gooseneck will put much more weight on the rear axle vs a tongue trailer. Beefing up the rear axle suspension could be benefiical.

My first truck was an '85 F150 we pulled a 16' gooseneck with four horses in it that my brother and I showed all over the state and racked up around 150,000 miles doing it. It got retired at that point and became my college vehicle. Never had any major issues until I got it around 200k and had to rebuild the motor, then the ****** at about 236k. We gave it to a friend in need after that and I'm not sure how much longer it ran after that. Was a good truck.

I know, cool story bro.

The majority of folks out there with 3/4 ton pickups never need them for what they use them for especially with the way half tons are being built nowadays.

CanyonLakeAg said:

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The majority of folks out there with 3/4 ton pickups never need them for what they use them for especially with the way half tons are being built nowadays.

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This, and changing needs where the 3/4 ton is not as needed. The 2012 F-250 I currently drive has been a trouble-free truck, but the gas 6.2L sux on fuel mileage.

I pulled a gooseneck with my early 90's F150, and also had the same hitch installed into my dads F150 of about the same age.

I have to go up a couple of hills to haul cattle for sale. It seemed to work fine, but I never felt completely comfortable just because I could feel the engine revving when pulling up the hill with a load of cattle.

I feel much more comfortable with a Cummins Diesel 3/4 ton although most of my nervousness is just because I hate the thought of breaking down with a load of cattle.

CanyonLakeAg said:

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The majority of folks out there with 3/4 ton pickups never need them for what they use them for especially with the way half tons are being built nowadays.

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Though I don't disagree, having disposable income is about getting what you WANT, not what you NEED.

F150 with max towing package is rated to ~12k towing

1/2 tons can do a lot of things, but the bigger limitation is payload rather than towing capacity.

I was hopeful that the new diesel Nissans were going to go a long way of being a "tweener" that is more like what most people need and use, but it ended up being almost as fuel efficient as a larger, heavy duty diesel and with a semi-floating rear axle (instead of fully floating where the spinning axle itself does not see bending from a load) that limits rear end load capacity well above the rating of the tires. Gooseneck hitches are useless if you can only transfer a few thousand pounds to the rear axle, most gooseneck trailers will come close to doing that unloaded.

Bob_Ag said:

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1/2 tons can do a lot of things, but the bigger limitation is payload rather than towing capacity.

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And stopping. Can't forget about stopping...

3/4 ton units have significantly larger brake units than 1/2 tons...unless things have changed.

Trailer brakes should be doing the stopping.

Payload is the number 1 thing you should look at with a gooseneck on a 1/2 ton. You can mediate that with air suspension or leaf spring stiffening.

If you are hauling something heavy, electric trailer brakes are a joke. If you haven't found that to be the case in your experience, you haven't hauled anything heavy enough yet and tried to stop quickly.

Moving to 17" and up wheels was a quantum leap in braking power due to the larger rotors that would then fit.

harge57 said:

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Trailer brakes should be doing the stopping.

Payload is the number 1 thing you should look at with a gooseneck on a 1/2 ton. You can mediate that with air suspension or leaf spring stiffening.

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You have way more faith in trailer brakes (a) being installed, preferably on both axles, and (b), the trailer brakes working anyway near the level vehicle brakes do.

When shopping for my 20' GN flatbed, most dealers were quick to point out "two 7k axles, this trailer is built to carry a load"....but brakes on one axle. I ordered mine with brakes on both axles, but honestly could not tell you they work as intended, or should I say as well as they could.

So yeah, 3/4 ton truck brakes can be a positive thing vs 1/2 tons...been there, done that.

Put airbags. Will be equivalent to 3/4

Ordered my car hauler with brakes on both axles as well.

A half ton with the long bed (the longer the wheel base the better you can control a trailer) would be the best but at the rate we are going we may never see new ones again. Heck we may be lucky to get the 5.5ft bed in a few years.

Yeah....I'm in the "F--- That" category.

If I have a trailer with a gooseneck, it's not going on a half ton truck. I know I'll get flamed, but the F150 does not seem like the right tool for this job. Just because you can....

Id take my 13 year old F250 with integrated brake controller, diesel, and gooseneck with brakes to a brand new F150 any day of the week, regardless of how its built out.

BrazosDog02 said:

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Yeah....I'm in the "F--- That" category.

If I have a trailer with a gooseneck, it's not going on a half ton truck. I know I'll get flamed, but the F150 does not seem like the right tool for this job. Just because you can....

Id take my 13 year old F250 with integrated brake controller, diesel, and gooseneck with brakes to a brand new F150 any day of the week, regardless of how its built out.

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You won't get flamed by anyone with any sense.

Those mentioning the brakes are right. Please don't rely on trailer brakes. They take a lot of the heat (literally) off of the truck brakes, but shouldn't be depended on completely.

If the brakes on the trailer are that poor then I wouldn't pull it. I have stayed around the 10k mark with a 1/2 ton and have never had problems with the trailer brakes doing the work.

harge57 said:

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Less about the engine and more about the weight on the rear axle. Gooseneck will put much more weight on the rear axle vs a tongue trailer. Beefing up the rear axle suspension could be benefiical.

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Actually, the opposite is true. A gooseneck setup moves the weight of the load further forward on the truck, thereby distributing the load better. With a bumper pull you're literally putting the load as far back ask you can, thereby placing ALL of the load on the rear axle (unless using a weight distributing hitch).

It may move it forward a bit which helps stabilty, but the tongue weight of a gooseneck is typically at least double what a regular trailer is when carrying the same size load.

My dad used to pull a 32 ft 5th wheel travel trailer with a '92 Chevy 1500 V6. Slow goings, but he pulled it to Glaveston, New Orleans, and plenty of closer camping trips like that.

I'd be willing to bet the brakes on 1/2 tons today are just as good as the brakes on 3/4 tons that are 10 years old, and smokes anything from the 1990's or older. I've pulled the same 14k# loads with a '01 F350, '12 F250, and '16 F150, and the 150 did better than the wore out 350, but miles behind the 250. Proper weight management and planning your turns/stops ahead of time will make hauling the loads you're talking about with a 1/2 ton more than adequate.

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slammerag said:

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Put airbags. Will be equivalent to 3/4

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Wut?

I have a 01 supercrew with a gooseneck hitch. Pulled 12ft gooseneck all over south Texas with show steers.

The bed is tiny so a toolbox covered the hitch and hasn't pulled in at least 10 years

My former neighbor used his daily driver '95 GMC 1500 for ~20 years with his 18' gooseneck trailer to haul cattle to the commission every few months. He also hauled his horses from Texas to Illinois multiple times a year with the same trailer. He wasn't winning any races and moved his limits in when he was hauling. I drove it a few times half loaded and it was fine, although I definitely felt the power diference between it and my 2500HD using the same trailer with the exact same load/circumstances.

Brakes on late model 1/2 tons are pretty big these days. And the electric brakes on my trailers all work like they are supppose to.

Most GN trailers are going to be heavier obviously, but not all.

I would think that a GN style trailer, of appropriate weight, would actual be better for the 1/2 ton vs a bumper pull. Distributing the weight better etc. Surprised you don't see more of it. Airbags are cheap too.

Modern 1/2 ton will have no trouble pulling that load, and gooseneck is always preferable to bumper pull. Really it just depends on how often you're doing it.

We hauled 20ft steel stock trailer with 3-4 horses a couple times a year in dad's old '74 chevy 1/2 ton for two decades. Key there was a couple of times a year. It was plenty capable, but if I were hauling regularly I'd have a 3/4. Only problem with modern 3/4 is they are way to tall - looks goofy when pulling a 20 yr old trailer sagging around behind.