Hmmm...well that's an interesting development

"MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s" (mastermario)
08/15/2017 at 12:32 • Filed to: Truck Yeah

So the truck I just bought was set up to seriously tow. It has gooseneck mounts, fifth wheel rails, and a swing/swivel hitch (more on this in a second).

I towed the boat for the fist time and it’s like it’s not even back there. Setting the cruise at 72mph seems optimal since once you go above that the exhaust note starts getting loud enough to be annoying (it has a custom dual exhause with the cats removed and 4.10 gears). This is fine with me as you shouldn’t be in a rush when towing anyways.

Now about that swing/swivel hitch, this is what it is (when I saw this truck it was the first time I’d ever seen or even heard of them)

It allows the receiver to swing side to side or slide in and out when hooking up a trailer. Useful if you don’t have a back up camera or a spotter. Well, I’m hoping that when I was messing around with it to see how it works it didn’t completely latch, because it slide out on the way home. Seems to be built sturdy enough for that not to be an issue if it does happen, but still. So now I’ll have to keep an eye on it and if it happens again I think I’ll be replacing it with just a regular receiver. Anyone here have any experience with this type of hitch?

DISCUSSION (18)

HammerheadFistpunch > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
08/15/2017 at 12:39

Seems like a complicated solution to a simple problem (the hitch) but good to hear it tows nicely. Does the hitch have any other benefit? or just hookup?

DucST3-Red-1Liter-Standing-By > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
08/15/2017 at 12:39

Huh, that’s funky. I wish I had one with my old job. Trying to hook up a trailer with an old work truck at 3 am by yourself sucks. Especially when you have to do it every night

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
08/15/2017 at 12:41

Did it have cats from the factory? Apparently on the GMT800 3500's with the 8.1 were heavy duty enough to not require them.

CaptDale - is secretly British > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
08/15/2017 at 12:41

Never seen or heard of one before. Strange, but a neat idea. I personally would prefer a regular receiver hitch. In my mind this is just more stuff to break. But if it is sturdy and strong then I say use it until it makes you uncomfortable, if it does.

Duck Duck Grey Duck FTMFW! > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
08/15/2017 at 12:41

I have no experience but I have seen a lot of farmers with a very similar style of hitch for pulling hay wagons and such. Maybe ask a farmer is what I am getting at.

Hammerdown > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
08/15/2017 at 12:49

Can’t say I’ve used one on a pickup, but have seen and been around several. Used similar things on tractors and other implements. I would assume the procedure would be:

Back up close to the trailer, but not under the ball.

Unhook the hitch and pull it out and to the trailer ball.

Hook the trailer on the ball and lock it like normal.

Get in the truck and back up. Hitch should lock back into position.

Pull forward slightly and hit the brakes to rock the trailer on the hitch.

Get out and check to make sure the hitch is locked.

That’s my best guess... I take no responsibility for what happens now.

Hammerdown > HammerheadFistpunch
08/15/2017 at 12:53

The idea of this style is for pulling trailers that take a pin, like haywagons, ammonia trailers, or other farm equipment. It’ll be too heavy to move the tongue of the trailer and getting it just perfect so the pin slides in is a pain. This makes it easy for one person to do. I’d guess this truck spent some extended time on a farm.

Kinja'd!!!

HammerheadFistpunch > Hammerdown
08/15/2017 at 12:55

makes more sense.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Hammerdown
08/15/2017 at 13:04

As far as I know it wasn’t a farm truck. The guy I bought it from said it was owned by a landscaping company first and they just used it when they needed to tow equipment on longer trips.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Hammerdown
08/15/2017 at 13:07

That would be the jest of it, though it’s not really even necessary anymore on this truck since at some point someone installed a backup camera that looks directly at the ball, it’s stupid easy to line this thing up on your own.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > DucST3-Red-1Liter-Standing-By
08/15/2017 at 13:08

Yea, getting in and out of the truck 5 or more times gets annoying. Good news for me is that the PO installed a backup camera on this truck, it’s stupid easy to line up the ball without using the fancy hitch.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies
08/15/2017 at 13:09

It did, the PO gave them to me, so I have the original cats.

Pickup_man > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
08/15/2017 at 13:59

The company I work for used to make those style of hitches, but that was way before my time and we don’t make them anymore, so I don’t know much about them. I can say they were mostly meant for farm use so you could adjust the hitch instead of having to back up multiple times. Pulling forward I believe would lock them back in place and you’d be good to go.

Kiltedpadre > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
08/15/2017 at 14:14

If that landscaping company did hydroseeding they may have had a trailer setup like that.

JR1 > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
08/15/2017 at 16:39

How much could these tow? Just read the new 3500 can tow north if 21,000 pounds.

Shift24 > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
08/15/2017 at 17:27

Man that thing is beautiful and the correct motor. The diesel for those years can be troublesome and now hard to find some parts. Have always loved the GMT400 and glad to hear it runs great.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > JR1
08/15/2017 at 21:28

Officially it’s rated at 10000 regular towing and 13000 with a fifth wheel. But I doubt it would have any issues with much larger loads.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Shift24
08/15/2017 at 21:31

Yep. I lucked out on this one. I was looking for either a Duramax diesel, a Ford 7.3, or a ‘96 and newer big block chevy. The diesels were just too damn expensive but trying to find a clean big block was a pain. Luckily I wasn’t in any rush so I could take my time. I started looking for a truck back in May/June