Good Gooseneck Trailers

We have 2 Big Tex trailers. They are about as normal as any other trailer that the transport trucks haul around other than capacity.

Both trailers are 12,000 lb Dually axles and the suspension is identical to the spring suspensions the big trailers use. Same u-bolts, springs, levers, even axle tube size.

The only load limiting part of the axle is the hubs, rims and tires which are all smaller.

The frame is built to be light enough so as not to lose load capacity for the pickups.

We also hook these trailers to transport trucks too and hauled dozers, skid steers, mini excavators, etc.

The only downside to them is the weak ramps which are heavier and weaker than the ramps that are built for our 53 foot tridem stepdeck.

For transport trucks, I don’t like them as the brakes are hard work together with the air system and the light trailer weight makes them rough riding even with the truck having air suspension.

As for the Ford vs Chevy vs Ram.

I have seen them all haul heavy stuff.

The ford and Chevy will squat a lot with 2 tons in the box.

The Dodge Ram takes twice as much to squat the same depending on the factory spring setup.

I have photos of a 2000 Ford F-350 carrying 2 yards of salt weighing 4,200 lbs. Also our 2005 Dually F350 did that same thing with 2 yards of salt as well. Both trucks looks like they were aiming their headlights at the sky. Now, If I owned a ford truck, I would be replacing the springs right away as they’re very brittle from manufacturing process. All of our company ford trucks have had their springs replaced as they all broke.

The other is a 2001 Chevy duramax, with a 4,200 lb skid of cement bags in the box. The truck was sitting on the bump stops.

I have pictures of a 1997 Ram carrying 3 yards of crushed wet limestone weighing 8,400 lbs. This truck looked better carrying the weight than the other two.

Hasn’t touched the bump stops either.

Also have pics of the same 1997 carrying 3 steel crates filled to the top with solid steel pieces. Forklift lifted one crate at a time to load. This was about 4 tons as well.

 

I have heard both good & bad about Big Tex. What all went wrong with yours?[/QUOTE]

First let me say I was not in a good mood when I picked this trailer up. I drove about 4 hours up into Georgia to pick it up and my brother called and said he had stage 4 lung cancer. So when I got there all I wanted to do was get home and since it was a brand new trailer what could be wrong with it. I payed for it and hauled butt home. Then things became apparent to me over the next few days. This trailer was new in November 2017.

1 There are not enough screws holding the deck boards down. They only screw the ends of the boards to the cross members.
2 The cross members are not spaced out evenly. So when you load a trailer mounted generator you must careful located the jack on a cross member because the spacing is to great on the cross beams.
3 I paid extra for 14 ply tires. The weight rating of the tires and the wheels was not high enough for the weight rating of the trailer on the sticker. I had the sticker derated to 14,500 pounds. And yes I accounted for the weight transfer to the tongue. So I had to get 5 new tires and wheels.
4 Within a few weeks the main i-beams on the hitch began to rust.
5 The step up at the front of the trailer was 3 inches inside the rub rail making it useless. The other side was mounted correctly.
6 I paid for 'all LED' lights. Within a few weeks the tag lights burned out. They were standard bulbs not LEDs.
7 The hold downs for the mega ramps do not hold the ramps still and you must strap the ramps down to keep them from bouncing. If you do not strap them down the ramps and the tailgate damage each other.
8 One leaf spring broke, the main leaf, and I run under 26,000 and can not afford an over weight ticket. I do not over load my trailer.
9 Two of the ramp springs are busted. Big Tex does not sell replacements. You must buy genetic ones and bend the spring tails to fit the curve of the hinge bar yourself.
10 The mega ramps are very heavy to flip in both directions.Even with all the springs working.
11 The rear axle bent and the axle u-bolts broke when I hit a pot hole. And I am in FL and the roads are not that bad compared to the Ohio roads I grew up on. Big Tex mount their axles with non standard spacing for the spring saddles and the length of the axle itself is non standard. None of the Big Tex dealers in Florida carry spare axles. So replacements are 6 weeks out when you break down in the first of December. Dexter Axles shut down for weeks at Christmas.
12 The front axle u-bolts broke months later.
13 The wiring harness is made with the leads to the lamps to short so the plugs keep coming off of the lamps. Other leads are several inches too long and hang down.
14 The trailer flexes to much. I think part of that problem is the lack of deck screws. The guys at the welding shop were laughing as they danced on the trailer. It looked like waves on a lake.
15 The wiring harness was installed in the gooseneck with thin can metal tabs that do not support the weight of the pigtail. The pig tail is now secured with bungee cords.
16 They claim that you can haul freight on top of the mega ramps. However the metal on the bottom of the ramps is very thin and there are no cross members on the ramps them selves. So if the freight is on pallets which will spread the weight out you are ok. I tried to load a small trailer mounted water pump on top of the ramps but the thread plate could not support the load.
17 When you look at the side of the mega ramp it is cut to a design. On all the side pieces of the ramps where there is an inside corner the metal has split. And I was told the ramps are all the same for the 14GN, 20GN, and the 25GN. So if I was loading the heavier trailers my ramps would be in worse shape.

Overall the quality is just poor.

Anyone want to buy a trailer?

 

I own 2 Kaufman 35 ft flat trailers with 2 10k axles and a big text 35 ft with 5 for dovetail. 2 10k axles on that as well. The Kaufman pulls better if truck has lift to it but the big tex works better with lower truck. As far as which one is better to me there about the same as far as quality. Parts are about the same price. But I find that working on the Kaufman trailer is a little easier.

 

From what I can tell all of those mass produced trailers can have significant QC problems if you get an unlucky one. Even the supposedly good brands like Load Trail and Diamond C can have serious defects out of the factory.

 

I had a 13’ Chevy and then a 17’ Ford.The Chevy wouldn’t squat much but rode like crap.The Ford would squat a lot but rode like a dream.

 

Had a 2012 Big Tex and it sucked.Sold it and purchased a 2017 Load Trail And it has been a great trailer.