Can Short Bed Truck Tow Gooseneck Trailer with V-Nose

Published 05/19/2017

Question:

HI, I am looking at buying a 2002 Ford F250 Crew Cab to pull my 1994 Sundowner, two-horse Gooseneck trailer. The bed of the truck seems short, though. I didnt measure it, but the owner said it was 81 inches. Im attaching a photo of the truck from the ad and one of my trailer, which has a sort of tapered nose at the front. I dont want to buy the truck if it doesnt fit the trailer. Heres a link to the ad: Thanks much!

asked by: Stephanie

Expert Reply:

The angle of the nose of your trailer will definitely help with turning clearance. Especially since the coupler of the trailer is at the very front. It's hard to say just based on that if you'd have turning clearance for super tight turns but it does look promising. And for a short bed truck yours is on the longer side at 6-3/4 feet which also helps a great deal. So here's how you figure it out. You have to take some measurements and plug them into this formula otherwise it's just a "best guess" scenario.

(A + B) - C = Clearance
A = Distance from the gooseneck coupler center to the truck cab. For your situation you need from rear axle center to cab.
B = Offset used. In your situation you need to get distance from center of gooseneck coupler back to the where the V of the trailer is. So basically where it's at it's widest to the center of the coupler.
C = Width of the nose of the trailer divided by 2. Measure where the trailer is at it's widest before it starts to V in.

With this style of gooseneck trailer it is very common that you can make tight turns with a short bed truck so I would be surprised if there was an issue.

For a gooseneck hitch confirmed to fit your 2002 F-250 short bed the B and W part # BWGNRK1108 would be a great option.

expert reply by: Jameson C