I love the idea of a folding (or pull out) gooseneck hitch. It seems like it would work to let you have a flat surface in your truck bed when you are not using the gooseneck.

Any one have experience with these? What brands do you suggest?

Uncle and grandpa have the hide away (folding), brother in law has pull out. The folder can be hard to pull up if you don't use it very often, rust & grime. Pull out, well you just gotta make sure you don't forget where you put it. In my opinion they are both better than the always in the way ball.

We all have the B&W hitches, they pull out, then you turn it over and put it back in and it fits flush with the bed surface, rated up to 30k and I think like 7K of pin weight. The plug is made of a non corosive material. Been very happy with it.

matt

Where did you buy yours? What was the price? How difficult was install?

I have looked at several different products. Most of them require a mounting kit to go with them. Some require the rail set up off of a 5th wheel.

I am having a hard time dropping $300+ on a gooseneck hitch when I can make the standard ball in bed for around $50.

I guess you get what you pay for, I was putting it in a brand new truck and I wanted it look and function perfectly. I got it from Southwest trailers in san antonio, and had them instal it as well, didnt want to be cuting holes in my truck. They charged 550 for parts and labor.

I would bet you could put it in yoursel, but I just didnt have the time to mess with it.

matt

Found a good flip over (B&M) without plate. I am going to make my own plate set up to fit my truck.

Not sure what you mean by plate, but ours dont have the square plates that sit ontop of the bed surface either, there is just a bull that pops out and two U-bolts for saftey chain/surge break.

matt

The plate I am going to make will be under bed, connecting the gooseneck hitch to the frame. I will probably weld instead of bolting it in.

If your truck is under warranty DO NOT WELD ON IT!!! My buddy had his warranty voided because he welded his gooseneck to the frame like you are talking about. If I remember correctly something electrical happened and I think he said he had disconnected the batteries but it still caused something to happen, it's been 4 years so I don't remember exactly.

Been out of warranty for a couple years. It is 2002 GMC. Ran out of time, still way under 100k miles.

A lot of people weld thiers, I built one and welded it in. Somebody told me one time that if you were ever in an accident and the repair required frame work, the insurance could deny the claim saying that the welding to the frame weakend it.

On the truck I currently own, I installed a B&W. Easy install and I really like the turnover ball that frees up the bed

If you needed help, I could I could give you a hand with the installation

I ended up installing "Custom" pull out gooseneck hitch. Really was too easy. A little welding, a little work with 3" hole saw, and that was it. Will post pics if anyone is interested in this.