So strong is my interest in a gooseneck trailer that I have started investigating what size would actually suit my needs. And I feel that the biggest thing my trailer should be able to carry is a full-sized truck, especially since I'm gearing my experitise to diesel and heavy-duty pickups are usually what have diesels nowadays.

After a little research, I have determined I would need a trailer with a capacity of 10,000 pounds to comfortably haul a full-sized truck, complete with duals on the rear axle. The heaviest truck I've found is a Ram 3500, with a curb weight of 8960 pounds. Yes, no trailer would be able to carry that monster and still be light enough for a F-150 to pull the combined mass, but still the capacity is nice even if I wouldn't even use a third of it most of the time. However that apparently will require

Now how about dimensions? Well that aforementioned truck is about 248 inches (20.6) from bumper to bumper, so a 22 foot deck should provide enough space to work with. Though if I wanted a tool box or a winch, I'd probably need to have another foot or two of deck. Or just find room in the bed, which would probably see more use out of straps and chains anyway. As for width, 102 inches (8.5 feet) appears to be the legal maximum before it's considered a wide-load. The largest size I've seen so far is 8 feet. So while loading a dually might get a little hairy, it should be doable.

So a 22x8 deck seems to be sufficient, but there remains the issue of loading. I expect most trucks would be very hard on plain old ramps that look like ladders. Then again the ramps on our lifts at school are only a quarter inch thick and we've driven heavy-duty trucks up onto them. However they're also only about two or three feet long and the climb is only up a few inches. To allow for an 8-food wide deck, the deck must be above the tops of the tires, thus either very long, very heavy, ramps are required, or the trailer accommodates flip down ramps and a sloped end of the trailer. A 5 foot slope with 5 foot ramps seems sufficient, at least for trucks and other equipment, and now makes my theoretical trailer 27 feet.

But wait, the trailer still needs one more important dimension calculation, the gooseneck itself. According to PJ Trailers, whom claim to be the #1 professional trailer brand in America, their goosenecks are 8 and halfish to 9 and a bit feet.

Thus a trailer to my specifications would be over 35 feet in length, 8 feet wide, have 8 tires across two axles, would weigh in at least 5,000 pounds, and sounds somewhat impractical now. Typing this out really helps put the whole thing into perspective and makes me reconsider if I really need the ability to haul a heavy-duty truck. Also me thinks I need to do some research on ramps.