1. Fully approved by Lippert for their warranty on the frame.
2. Overall weight drop of 60-70 pounds vs. stock kingpin and hitch.
3. Reclaim the usable bed space when not towing without awkward hitch removal. Ball and chains pulll right out easily without lifting or tools.
4. Improved bed space while towing
5. Air adjustable and shock dampened.
6. No more chucking (that I can detect)
Downsides:
1. Cost. Around $1200. I should be able to recoup about half of that selling the old Curt hitch and Lippert king pin.
2. Harder to hitch solo (working on a solution to that)
After unboxing in the bed of the truck I shimmed it up.
Using the trailers landing gear I adjusted the height to line things up.
I did the same on our trailer about 2 years ago. You won't regret it. I keep a small jar of white lithium grease [it's a little cleaner] in the front compartment and put a little on the ball every couple of hookups. It tows great. No clunks, no squeaks, no noise of any kind. Mine seems to ride best with the air about midway on the green section. Probably dependent on tongue weight. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
I think the grease I ordered is from Reese and especially for hitch balls, but it looks like white lithium to me. A little goes a long way. Good luck.
Sam
Looks like a quality piece of hardware! Love the weight savings. I think I'd pick this over the Andersen hitch. I guess with practice you can get the hitch up time down. I'd assume it's a little more finicky versus just backing in.
It is and the fuel transfer box makes it blind other than the cargo camera which isn't the sharpest picture. I have some bright yellow vinyl tape on order that I will stripe the center line of the bed with to help bring it in straight and wife can guide from the side. I'm sure we will have it down quickly. On the plus side no more worry about tug testing, if jaws are locked or reaching over the dually fender to grab the handle.
As I head off this morning for a load of firewood I am happy that I don't need to pull out the Curt hitch. :)
Not sure Herb. Ours is an 8 foot bed. I don't think the hitch holds the trailer farther back from the axle than a std. hitch so my gut says that it wouldn't be any different as far as possibly hitting the cab with the nose of the trailer. There is a FB group for the Goose Box hitch and I'm sure the group there might be able to help.