Homemade Gooseneck Hitch.

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I have been researching doing this, and haven't found much, but finally came up with a design based off one I found that looked to be the best one.  I know most would say just get a B&W and I did, and gonna take the ball out and reuse the hitch for another truck down the road or sell it.  Here is the one I am using as a base design.  http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=319152If the upload works theres a paint drawing of my basic plan minus 5/16 braces on the reciever.  Main plate is 6" 5/8 flatbar, and the frame braces are 3in by 5in 5/16 that will be bolted to the frame and flatbar with 5/8" grade 8 bolts.  I know this is about 140.00 in material, and the BW is only 390.00 or so, but that takes the fun out of making things yourself that you can.  I feel like I need to get the most out of welding school by making as manything myself as I can.  I am really surprised to find that no one on here has tried to make there own hitch, and I don't mean screwing a ball to a piece of flat sheet and then bolting that to the bed.  LOL Attached Images
Reply:I made on just like that a while back. I used heavy 12" channel for the accross the bed and a 2" reciever tube welded in for the pocket. had some gussets on the tube and 1/2 side plates to weld the channel to the frame. I never did hook up the pin mechanism like I wanted just crawled under there and unpinned it when needed. I used a piece of 2" square for the hitch ball that was drilled and threaded on the end for the ball to screw into. The ball was then welded to the square (can never be to sure).The cool thing was making attachments to go in the tube. I had some gin poles on a frae in there at one point.no pix of the hitch but heres some of the attachment  Last edited by CarterKraft; 02-10-2012 at 12:29 AM.Reason: links no workyMillermatic 251Century 180 migSpectrum 625 Syncrowave 250DX
Reply:Pretty sweet.  I just about finished with a rear three point back blade attachment that I made for going into the reciever hitch on the back of one of my trucks.  It has a 5th wheel hitch that I made the mounts for, and plan on running hydraulics, or a winch like you have to control it.  I like making things yourself even though some think you should pay some other welder that can take the blame if something goes wrong.  Last edited by jfive; 02-10-2012 at 01:20 AM.
Reply:For snow? Definitely want to see more of this and porn details! Bert Originally Posted by jfivePretty sweet.  I just about finished with a rear three point back blade attachment that I made for going into the reciever hitch on the back of one of my trucks.  It has a 5th wheel hitch that I made the mounts for, and plan on running hydraulics, or a winch like you have to control it.  I like making things yourself even though some think you should pay some other welder that can take the blame if something goes wrong.
Reply:Originally Posted by jfive  I feel like I need to get the most out of welding school by making as manything myself as I can.  I am really surprised to find that no one on here has tried to make there own hitch,
Reply:I understand your point, but I may have left out a good point.  I have a camper that weighs 3800 lbs, a 22ft lite model that was a 5th wheel, but is now a gooseneck.  I don't plan on pullling anything crazy with it.  Its going on a F250 with a 302, so even if I sell it, it won't be pulling anything crazy I hope.  Trust me, I didn't go to some high tech welding school, more like a get certified to weld unlimited thickness in all positions with stick, dual shield, ect.  I did the learning part, and haven't finished to get certified.  I will if I can stop working long enough.  My teacher was a pipe welder for 10 years, then went back to school for more welding, and then owned his own fab shop for just under 20 years.  His goal was to have us welding on a trailer so that he wouldn't be afraid of being killed by it when driving by it down the road.  Kind of ironic but true.  Now I don't mean to sound like a show boat, but I was one of the best students in his classes, and I would say that half the class, or even more didn't finish and I would not trust to do more than tack some stuff up.  I could show you some of my work, and you decide, but as you know this is hardly a bend test.  I weld as much as I can so I don't get rusty.  I take my time, always weld in the flat position if I can, mainly cause its the way i was taught.  Not that i wasn't taught to weld horizontal or vertical up, but because its easier to weld flat, and if you can do it.  Now I might not have the years like you do, or skill, but my eyes are probubly better, and I am not on the down hill slope of welding.  I think most don't realize that many welders out there have bad eyes cause they are getting older, and have a harder and harder time producing the same welds they did when they peaked.  I only say this cause you say your a master welder, and I of course asume your older, and haven't meet many over the age of 50 that can see that well.  I know they have corrective lenses for welding and such, but I found alot of people that should don't even use them cause of pride.  Now I work in the oil field and see pipe welding, and all kinds of welding that my life is relying on daily, and I have to think if I could have done it the same or better.  Now I can produce welds good enough to have what I need and be safe, and I do take all things into consideration.  If I can I will put up some similar welds to what my hitch will be done with.  I plan on using 1/8 and 3/32 7018 on DC.  I have personally seen some of the most ghetto welding on gooseneck hitches and I know i can do better.  I am gonna run bolts where I should and not weld on the frame of the truck.  Having a family and house, and vehicles, ect that I worked hard to earn, I would not want to lose any of it in a lawsuit, and will only allow a 100% done hitch to be installed.  You ever go to your local RV store to see the highschool drop outs installing 5th wheel hitches that 20,000 campers going across the states will be hooked up to.  Now I understand they don't make the hitches themselves, but the fact that they could miss or forget something, cause they smoked to much grass that morning doesn't ease my mind about having the work done by someone else cause they can take the blame.  I don't want to have it come apart in the first place.
Reply:Originally Posted by jfive  You ever go to your local RV store to see the highschool drop outs installing 5th wheel hitches that 20,000 campers going across the states will be hooked up to.  Now I understand they don't make the hitches themselves, but the fact that they could miss or forget something, cause they smoked to much grass that morning doesn't ease my mind about having the work done by someone else cause they can take the blame.  I don't want to have it come apart in the first place.
Reply:Originally Posted by smokin_dodgeBesides, your garage isn't even set up with the appropriate welder basics!! you have a 5 gallon bucket holding up the tongue of your grater blade, and a log holding up the body......facepalm....
Reply:Originally Posted by jfiveWhat is a grater blade?
Reply:I understand your only trying to help, and you have good points.  I am not gonna teach english anytime soon, and don't think its that important for what I have in the works.  I excelled at math, not english.  Probably a good thing for a welder on the side anyways.  I eventually want to do welding on the side when I get all the tools and finish getting certified.  I have worked for small companys where when something metal breaks you fix it yourself.  So thats part of why I went into welding classes.  I have welded on and off for the last 15 or so years.  First learned to stick weld as a kid from my cousin that was working in a guys fab shop.  Should have stuck with it, but gave up and didn't really get back into it until I had a small amount of welding training in autoshop in highschool.  That was only mig welding, but found I picked it up pretty good.  Then for 10 years I really only did mig welding for work and some stick.  I wanted to learn stick, mig, and tig so I took all three classes at our college.  Did good at all three.  Had a GPA of 3.67 and no one did any better in my classes.  Not saying I did the best as I had 2nd year students doing certification welds while we did first year welding.  I was the only kid in my mig class that got thru all of my joints and was able to move on to dual shield which was a 2nd year class.  Only got to do it for two weeks, but still I was proud of getting thru all the welds and being able to do more advanced welding.  I just want to stick up for myself as a welder in training, and in no way am I telling you what to do or not to do, and I ask that you only give advice such as what you would do differant.  As far as the three point attachment, its not my idea.  I stole it from the plowing forum.  A company makes the three point attachment to go into the reciever, where you buy the rear blade and hook it up without making anything.  I just saw the pictures, and made everything myself.  It works and it was alot cheaper than even a small gas snowblower.  My driveway is pretty huge and would take all night to do with anything small.  I did what I had to so that my wife can get out of the driveway to get to nurse classes without waiting for a few hours for me or someone else to do the driveway.  It works rather well, and since I don't have the tractor my dad normally lends me, I now can do it myself with my own equipment rather than depending on someone else to do it for me.  Just the kinda person I am.  Kinda like that Ronald Reagan quote from above.
Reply:Originally Posted by jfiveI have been researching doing this, and haven't found much, but finally came up with a design based off one I found that looked to be the best one.  I know most would say just get a B&W and I did, and gonna take the ball out and reuse the hitch for another truck down the road or sell it.  Here is the one I am using as a base design.  http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=319152If the upload works theres a paint drawing of my basic plan minus 5/16 braces on the reciever.  Main plate is 6" 5/8 flatbar, and the frame braces are 3in by 5in 5/16 that will be bolted to the frame and flatbar with 5/8" grade 8 bolts.  I know this is about 140.00 in material, and the BW is only 390.00 or so, but that takes the fun out of making things yourself that you can.  I feel like I need to get the most out of welding school by making as manything myself as I can.  I am really surprised to find that no one on here has tried to make there own hitch, and I don't mean screwing a ball to a piece of flat sheet and then bolting that to the bed.  LOL
Reply:I agree.  I am putting mine in a truck i paid 2000.00 for.  I am also using all the hints from the other people about braces.  I wasn't gonna weld it to the frame anyways, but I do like the ideas that others came up with to make it better.  I have a 2003 dodge I am selling that the guy had a "professional install" and they welded it to the frame since the gooseneck hitch they used was a universal kit and rather than come up with something to attach it to the frame, they welded it.  The welds are definately not up to par either.  Mine will be removeable, and the ball will be able to flip too.
Reply:It's doable.I don't favor plates, although I do have a hitch on my Dodge which is just some flat plate on top of the bed floor, bolted to the frame web via L shaped pieces.  This was something I threw together many years ago before I started welding.  It's seen a lot of heavy service.Now I favor a beam setup.  A set of small beams (channel) carrying the load to the frame, stiffened for fore and aft movement by a web of plate.  Again, the whole thing is bolted to the frame.  This was the method I used to build the gooseneck hitch for my 1 ton.  It was a build spread over a bazillion threads, and I can't really find them anymore.A simple piece of 3" channel will carry much more weight than the thickest plate (within reason 1/2-3/4" plate).  Only place you really need thick plate is where the ball mounts, in order to resist shear.All of the welding, in the case of a pickup truck, can be done off-truck so no out of position welding is required.  You'll have to remove the bed just to install it.  This lends itself to beginners skills.When drilling holes in the frame,, remember to drill them in the neutral section of the beam (the center, or as close as possible to the center), anything above/below the neutral position will either be in tension or compression.  These areas are subject to fatigue cracking.  Not saying you can't drill near the flanges (reasonably near), but if possible keep the holes to the center part.As a beginner, I'd reccomend stick welding all the way.  No MIG or Flux Core (simply not reliable enough in the hands of someone not used to setting parameters).  Stick welds at least have decent penetration even if they sometimes look somewhat lousy.  7018 would be my choice, as it's charpy rated (impact resistant in cold weather), and seismic rated I believe (remember the truck is moving all the time, and flexing).If you're a responsible person, and not a haphazard idiot, you should do fine.  Remember your responsibility to others when you build something that's gonna be somewhat dangerous if done incorrectly.  There's no shame in grinding out bad welds and doing them over.  I do it.  I'm constantly thinking of consequences.The design is crucial, the prep work and fitup is crucial, etc.  You'll find that you spend very little time actually running the welder, the real work is prior to the final weldup.I didn't start out doing this kind of project, it was years before I felt confident enough to do this kind of job.  And I had some very valuable help from some people who took me under their wing to rectfy some bad habits I'd developed."Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:I tried to get the beginning of it done today to post some pictures so one could have an idea of my skill level, but my friends plasma needs a new tip and they were closed by the time we realized it.  Cutting a 3x3 square hole in the middle of the flatbar to put the 3x3 .250 wall tubing through and gonna have an extra 1/2 above for additional plate, like the B&W has.  Here is a drawing of my intended braces on the bottom side.  All thick lines are the braces except for the ball sleeve and the pin guide.  Thanks for the advice farmersamn.  I always use stick when I can, and 7018 is mainly the rod I use.
Reply:I agree with Chuck. That is a very poor example.Last edited by tanglediver; 02-11-2012 at 12:11 AM.City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:I spent a week on google trying to find a design that looked good, and came up with nothing but crap.  Most where like you guys would say "putting people at risk", and I do care about the other people, and not to mention my wife and kid who will ride with me.  I assure you it will be plenty strong, and won't come apart ever.  The brackets I made for my last truck held up great when it was still a 5th wheel, and I don't plan on the gooseneck being any differant.  Keep in mind this is a 1999 wonderer lite 22.5 5th wheel at 3800 lbs.
Reply:I have to wonder if all the welding done to the ball in the link posted affects it's strength.Leo
Reply:Originally Posted by NVWI have to wonder if all the welding done to the ball in the link posted affects it's strength.
Reply:Originally Posted by farmersammI've seen it done quite a bit.  Usually in addition to to the nut which holds it in place.Zoom in on the pic, and you'll see that it's been done here (there's a "zoom tool")http://www.thehitchstore.com/goosene...d26jp3gdv812g5
Reply:Still haven't started yet besides cutting pieces, but I did do some welding in the garage today just for practice.  Had to add some legs to a small wood stove I am building and thought I would show you what my welds look like up close.  Not saying its perfect, but pretty dang good if ya ask me.  Done in horizontal position with 7018 3/32 at approx. 92 amps DC.
Reply:What program did you use for those drawings?TA Arcmaster 300CM3XMT 304S22P12 suitcase feederX-Treme 12VSOptima pulserTA161SMaxstar 150STLHypertherm PM45OP setupStihl 020AVP, 039, 066 Magnum
Reply:Paint.  nothing special.  Sometimes you got to zoom in 400% to make things come out perfect.
Reply:Bead looks real nice. The only "bad" thing I see is that you stopped at the corners. You will want to wrap the welds around the corners rather than stop like you did. This eliminates places where cracks want to start..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:I did do that on a few of them.  For the most part I would run it through the next corner so I wouldn't have to tie into it.  A few of them I stoped to early.  thanks for the compliment.  In the past I wouldn't show any of my stick welds to anyone.
Reply:IMHO, the gooseneck hitch is the least of your worries.  If your truck is about 20' long and the blade extends behind  it 10' or so approx. Then you would  need about  30 feet of clear ground/apron ahead of your pull just to move the snow/pile it out of your way to the edge of a road.  And you've got to release that pile and get free... only way to go is ahead. This will take some room to use. Angled blade throwing a row off to the side would help if you could see what's going on at the rear while you drive.The second thing I wonder, because I'm older and stiffer in the neck is how you will monitor the blade as you work.  The back window, 1/2 fogged up, with the gear and tailgate in the way?  Lites? you'll need a lot at night. Doesn't look too easy.   I realize you have a lot of grading experience, I have not.  so these items may be minor to you. I would prefer either a front blade with angle adjust  or a small tractor with a  box blade and a FL..Do you already have a hydraulic pump and tank  mounted in the engine area to run the pick up cylinder. B&W makes a frame mounted gooseneck hitch, EZ to mount Ez to use.Paragraphs would make your posts easier to read. Nice 7018 runLast edited by PapaLion; 02-14-2012 at 04:13 PM.Lincoln Power MIG 215Lincoln WeldPak 3200HDLincon ProCut 25Lincoln WeldanPower 225 AC/DCIf all else fails... buy more toolsWatch some of these, and you'll see that I am not the only one that has done this.  Some out there are marketing, and selling there versions.  I think this one is a great one, as I can use other three point attachments.  I live in montana where its more open than other city enviorments.  I have a 20 wide driveway thats 1/8 mile, and have a 50 x 50 parking area.  I'll work on the writing.  I need a lift system, but no matter what I don't have a tailgate, so I can see whats going on.  I agree about the stiff neck, but really you can't see much when the plows on the front, hence the springs that people break all the time running into ****.  My copycat design actually just raises up for the most part instead of what happens to front plows.  Now if you where going backwards with a the blade reversed, it could grab.  It does have its flaws but still works.  [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH90OVZghuM&feature=related[/ame][ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeQwdh9em6k&feature=related[/ame]Here is the way mine will work.  [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFWMGdFUNi4[/ame]
Reply:Having spent several hundred hours pushing snow, I see a few issues with this idea. One if you've got a decent amount of snow it can pile up under the rear tires. Also you are on top of the snow you want to plow, one reducing your traction and 2 packing down the snow under the tires and making it harder to remove.  I always clear myself a space to plow out of and turn around in first and then start pushing. If heavy snow is called for or heavy drifts, I'll park in the drive facing out that way I can push my way out 1st and then start clearing my drive and street.  Last is that if you can't drag the snow out because you loose traction, you now have a packed wall of snow that will "trap" your vehicle. You can't get any momentum to try and punch your way out. I find all these issues trying to back drag with a plow in heavy snow especially if it's wet.. I've had similar issues running a box scraper on the back of the Kubota tractor if the unit is set wrong and it digs in too much.As far as not seeing where the plow is in front of your truck, you should see how close I can get with the plow, and I've got a lot more plow on both trucks than the average guy to have to deal with. I know exactly where the plow is and can get withing 2-3" of a parked car if need be. That's what flags are for if nothing else.I'm not saying it will not work, only that there are better ways to do this..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Jfive if you listen to dsw and smokin dodge you will never be able to build anything. They seem to think everything needs to be engineered by some so called professional. I have worked off plans and on projects that were "professionally engineered" many times. Some times things work out and some times they don't. I have refused to build some things acccording to a "professionals" plan because they  were just plain dangerous not to mention ridiculous. As far as being just out of school, that has nothing to do with it. I have worked with guys that had 30-40 years experience and i wouldn't trust them to weld on my bicycle. Just because some of these guys have 10,000 posts on here doesn't make them experienced welders. The only way you will get experience is by doing, not reading some blowhards opinion on the welding web. I say go for it.
Reply:Originally Posted by nodak ironmanJfive if you listen to dsw and smokin dodge you will never be able to build anything. They seem to think everything needs to be engineered by some so called professional. I have worked off plans and on projects that were "professionally engineered" many times. Some times things work out and some times they don't. I have refused to build some things acccording to a "professionals" plan because they  were just plain dangerous not to mention ridiculous. As far as being just out of school, that has nothing to do with it. I have worked with guys that had 30-40 years experience and i wouldn't trust them to weld on my bicycle. Just because some of these guys have 10,000 posts on here doesn't make them experienced welders. The only way you will get experience is by doing, not reading some blowhards opinion on the welding web. I say go for it.
Reply:I understand what he was saying.  I am gonna build it no matter what he or others say.  I think I got my point out that I am building it, and give advice on what I should change in my design, and how I weld, but not on doing it or not.  I know I am not a super welder or anything, but I do have a steady hand, good eyes, and a good deal of past experiance with fixing things in crude ways, and have first hand seen what can happen if you weld something wrong.   I was working at a gravel pit changing a crusher cone on a big gravel crusher, and we had to weld 1" eyes onto the hardened steel cone.  The guy installing the cone at the time welded one of the ears on, and had an emergency and had to leave.  My boss at the time a certified at one point welder, with lots of experiance 30+years welder the other ear on.  The differance is his eyes aren't what they use to be, and he wasn't wearing his glasses, and didn't do a good job of welding it.  One he used 1/8" 7018, and it just didn't penetrate deep enough, and it didn't mix right with the hardened steel.  We had to have another company come and finish helping install the cone.They came and used there crane to lift the cone into place.  The welds held for a long time, but 1 1/2 feet above the crusher, one of the ears broke off, and the ear flew up and hit one of the guys in the nose, cuting it in half at the bridge.  Now if he had been standing any closer, I think we would have been calling 911.  Lucky for him it just grazed his nose and we got a saftey kit out and taped it back up.  He bleed all over, some swearing accured, but in the end he just needed to have it taped and glued.  When they rewelded the ear on, they used Ni99 rod, and where really upset with whoever welded the ear that broke.  After seeing this, I decided to take welding classes as soon as I could and being laid off that winter, I took a advantage of a letter unemployeement sent me where they said I could use up to 4000.00 towards taking some classes.  1600.00 for 8 credits of welding later, I feel like I have a good base of welding, and how to and not to do most things.  I do want to finish, but in the mean time, I am gonna take full advantage of what I learned and put my skill to use.  My teacher said that you need to weld all the time to keep up on the skill.  Even he has to do things even if he doesn't need to build anything, just to keep his certifications, and just to keep up with it.  I know alot of older welders that could probubly do anything that DSW or other master welders can do, but most have bad eyes now, and will admit they aren't as good as they where when they where my age.  My wifes grandpa is double master certified, but at 87, I don't think I would ask him to build anything for me.  In his prime yes, but not now.  Wish I could have learned from him back in the day.  As far as the plow goes.  I can unhook mine in 30secs or less.  How about you?  I built it to do my driveway, and probubly my father in laws behind me.  Its more for doing roads than anything else.  I only have tested it, as i don't have a winch or ram setup yet.  Probubly gonna just do a winch as its the easiest.  Mine has three positions, straight/angle left/angle right, and you can do the same in reverse.  Its not the best by anymeans, but for under 200.00 in metal and a little bit of free time, I ain't complaining.  gonna be close to 300.00 after I get the winch and get it hooked up.  Check back and I might make a video showing it in action if we ever get enough snow to make me go out and finish it.
Reply:The truck is ony there for power.  How about building a seperate free standing  blade on wheels with a hydraulic cylinder to raise and lower, another to angle it.  Pull it with a receiver hitch.  We do this with sand here, which is much like the snow.This is more than you need but you can see the design idea. Attached ImagesLincoln Power MIG 215Lincoln WeldPak 3200HDLincon ProCut 25Lincoln WeldanPower 225 AC/DCIf all else fails... buy more tools