Escapees July-August 2024

After towing with conventional fi fth-wheel hitches for 15 years, we decided to try a totally di ff er ent towing system and upgraded to the Reese Gen 3 20K Goose Box. Unlike a conventional fi fth wheel hitch that sits in the bed of the truck, this hitch is actually a replacement for the original king pin on the trailer. The Goose Box hitches to a gooseneck ball in the truck bed, eliminating the need for a fi fth-wheel hitch altogether! We paired the Reese Goose Box with a B&W gooseneck ball. W e have now towed our 15,000 lb. Genesis Supreme toy hauler with this setup over 2,000 miles of varied terrain ranging from rutted dirt roads to towering mountain passes to tight switchbacks to freeways, and we’ve hitched/unhitched in 30 different locations. Our overall impression? We absolutely love it! The drawback with any fi fth-wheel hitch is that when you aren’t towing a trailer, the bed of the truck is occupied by a large and heavy, fi fth-wheel hitch. It isn’t easy to remove most fi fthwheel hitches, even with the modern puck systems, and we rarely removed ours. Unfortunately, this meant our great big powerful diesel truck could haul only small items that fi t around the hitch. Even then, it took some acrobatics to get at them! Something simple like taking our mountain bikes to a trailhead was downright awkward. Hauling big things such as lumber or furniture was nearly impossible unless we removed the hitch. Gooseneck Ball and Safety Chains In order to use the Reese Goose Box, we needed to get a gooseneck ball for the truck. Our Ram truck has the OEM puck system, so we got the B&W gooseneck ball designed for this puck system. It is very rugged. Best of all, it has a huge, hinged handle around the ball for inserting it into and removing it from the truck bed. This handle makes it possible to maneuver the

REESE GOOSE BOX By EMILY FAGAN #99408 Photosby EMILY AND MARK FAGAN #99408

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July/August 2024 ESCAPEES Magazine