When it comes to selecting the best hitch design for your tow vehicle, you’ll likely come across the three most common hitch types:
- Receiver hitches
- 5th wheel hitches
- Gooseneck hitches.
While there are certainly pros and cons of each design, we’ll compare them below so you can get a better idea of the features and benefits of each hitch style. That way, you’ll be able to choose the best hitch type for both your tow rig and your trailer design.
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Receiver Hitches
Receiver hitches are extremely popular. The versatile hitches feature a square receiver tube that accepts a wide variety of towing accessories including ball mounts, bike racks, cargo carriers, and more. Plus, they’re often application-specific and designed for easy DIY installation. Depending on your vehicle, receiver hitches are available from Class I (up to 2,000 lbs. gross trailer weight) to Class V (20,000 lbs. gross trailer weight) for heavy-duty towing.
Want more insight? We’ll toss some links to a few handy guides to trailer hitch class ratings at the bottom of this article.
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5th Wheel Hitches
When the hauling gets heavy, a 5th wheel hitch is your go-to solution for smooth and stable towing performance. Depending on your vehicle’s towing capacity, some 5th wheel setups can handle up to 30,000 lbs. of gross trailer weight.
Designed to mount on a truck bed above the rear axle, these heavy-duty hitches feature a coupling device that resembles a semi-truck’s 5th wheel. This configuration allows a truck and 5th wheel trailer to make sharper turns compared to a receiver hitch and trailer setup.
Additionally, a 5th wheel hitch allows for limited side-to-side tilt for excellent stability on the highway, making them a popular choice for towing large recreational trailers.
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Gooseneck Hitches
Like a 5th wheel hitch, a gooseneck hitch mounts above the truck’s rear axle and some setups can handle up to 30,000 lbs. of gross trailer weight. But this is where the similarity ends. Most of the gooseneck hitch mounting hardware is hidden under the truck bed with only a 2-5/16 inch hitch ball protruding into the bed.
The trailer gooseneck can tilt on the ball mount in all directions, making the hitch the preferred choice for agricultural and large equipment towing on uneven terrain.
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Other Popular Hitch Designs
Other common trailer hitches include weight distribution hitches. A good weight distribution hitch helps balance the load between the tow vehicle and trailer for improved stability and control. We’ve got a more in-depth article on the topic here: What is a Weight Distribution Hitch & How Does it Work?
Then there’s the pintle hitch. A pintle hitch (AKA a “Pintle Hook”) features a hook-like design that allows for greater articulation compared to a hitch ball. This makes them a great choice for towing heavy equipment on the roughest terrain.
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More Helpful Towing Resources
Safe trailering and towing require a serious attention to detail, so we’ve put together a handful of other good resources for you—to ensure both you and your cargo arrive safely. Click the links below to learn more.
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