Do I Have Enough Clearance On my Ford F250 6 ft bed to Turn Sharp with a Gooseneck Trailer

Updated 04/14/2011 | Published 04/12/2011

Question:

Hello, we have a ford 250 6 ft bed. We purchased a gooseneck horsetrailer that does not clear cab. Would like it to clear all the way so no chance of hitting cab. which had already been done Our old trailer was 7ft wide. This one is 8 ft wide and more boxed in the front part of gooseneck with sort of a point in the middle of the front of the gooseneck.. What can we do? Would this 4 ext work or do we need more?? Wait to hear from you Peg

asked by: Peggy R

Expert Reply:

In order to determine if you will have enough clearance or how much of an extension would be required to safely execute a 90 degree turn you will need to take a few measurements and use the following formula.

The formula looks like this:

(A + B) - C = Clearance

Where A equals distance from center of gooseneck coupler to truck cab, B equals the distance in front of or behind the the front of your trailer the center of the coupler is. So if there was an overhang on the front of the trailer this number would be that distance as a negative, or if you had an extension on the front of your trailer it would be the distance of the extension that extends out in front of your trailer.

C is the width of the trailer divided by 2.

To get the A measurement you will measure from the center of your coupler out to your truck bed. For B you will measure from the distance from the center of your coupler to the front of your trailer. If your coupler is on an extension this number will be positive, if you have an overhang over your coupler this number will be a negative. For C you will use the 8 feet of the width of your trailer converted to inches divided by 2. This would be 48 inches.

Once you crunch these numbers you will have how many inches of clearance that you would have at a 90 degree turn. To be safe you would want at least 2 inches of clearance. So if you ended up with a number of -4 a four inch extension would work for you.

expert reply by: Jameson C