Andersen Aluminum Ultimate Hitch Redesigned

Me Again wrote:


Have you ever heard of a 5th wheel king pin crystallizing and failing?

Crystallized balls do happen!

However different strokes for different folks!

Chris

"crystallizing", haven't heard that term used in decades.

I know a lot of folks who tow, and have done it myself for approximately 40 years now and never heard of or saw a fatigue failure of a ball. I have a cousin to whom the weld on the tongue of a new boat trailer failed, the coupler and chains stayed attached to the truck. Boat manufacture paid for the damage from that one. I personally had the receiver crack bad enough I replaced it on the class IV hitch on my 2011 ram 2500. Could have resulted in failure if I didn't inspect it periodically. With not all balls being equal rating wise I could easily imagine someone using the wrong size, or weight rating. That said, the only news stories I remember seeing on the issue were failure to properly hitch or that they were looking into the wrong size ball.

As far as kingpin failure, I have personally seen/heard and gazed upon the results of at least a half dozen 5ers dropped onto the bed of the truck over the years, the latest being last year when I watched a newer fiver drop down on a newer truck 2 sites away as I sat there enjoying the morning sun and a cup of coffee. I didn't have the heart to join the crowd that rapidly gathered around.

Finally, I've had to assist with the investigation of a pintle hook hitch failure after a mechanic used the wrong grade bolts to install it to the tug used to tow well over 300k. You need to ensure you're using equipment rated for the job at hand, and inspect it regularly.