Andersen Aluminum Ultimate Hitch Redesigned
I follow Andersen hitches on Facebook and they have announced a redesign of their Aluminum Ultimate Fifth Wheel Hitch...here are some screen shots of the Facebook post.
Thanks!
Jeremiah
Thanks!
Jeremiah
Forum Discussion
- I should of been more specific. My Ram has the factory 5th wheel prep. The hitch with the king pin adapter weighs about 46-48 lbs total. The Reese ball and chain anchors is another 10 lbs. the chain kit is another 10 lbs. so right at 65-70 lbs total.
With the Pullrite I need a picture frame @ 80 lbs, the hitch @ 70 lbs, chains and mounts @15 lbs. that is a minimum of 160 lbs. not sure if Pullrite includes the weight of the pinbox adapter or not.
So it's a hundred lbs heavier. I wish they built one with the Ram puck ready system. - "The additional "weight" transferred to the bed is the rotational force applied when starting/stopping. The main hold-down pin and under-frame mount still carries the majority of the weight. Think about why most of us won't use a GN adapter because of the extra stresses on the FW frame. Now, raise the hitch point up into the same plane as our FW hitches and that rotational force has to go somewhere, and that's to the bed. The pin still carries the weight, as I keep saying, the bed picks up the stresses from the rotational forces.
FWIW, I just emailed B&W and we'll see what =they= say about it. :-)
Lyle "
B&W would not have supplied me with two plastic strips to be used as spacers between the bottom of the hitch base and the low bed corrugation to transfer the load to the bed cross members if there was not a problem. The base sitting on the bed is the only thing keeping the hitch head mostly stationary same for the Ultimate. Bobandshawn wrote:
I like the Pullrite design. It's probably 100
Lbs heavier which I don't like. But the funnel is cool.
The Pullrite site say's the hitch weighs 53 lbs. A little heavier than the Andersen Ultimate at 35 lbs. but lighter than the Andersen steel version which weighs in at 75 lbs.
Andersen now also offers their version of the funnel too.- I like the Pullrite design. It's probably 100
Lbs heavier which I don't like. But the funnel is cool. - LEt's not forget that Andersen has a competitor to this design as well. Pullrite with their SuperLite 20K 5th Wheel Hitch Adapter. I would imagine Pullrite did their due diligence when designing their version of the Andersen. If this was such a faulty design, I doubt you'd have another competitor entering this market.
Bobandshawn wrote:
I think seeing one small issues with the Andersen bending slightly under a panic brake situation does not tell me the company has a failed product. I'd be suspect the person did not have the brake controller set properly or had bad brakes on the rig. The trailer had to be putting a heck of a lot of forward weight pressure on that hitch to do that which would indicate something was wrong with his trailer brake system. My trailer doesn't push me through an intersection when I brake hard. In a perfect world the braking should be fairly neutral with the TV stopping itself and the trailer stopping itself. Now in a front end collision I can understand hitch failure. And if he did indeed have a partial or total brake failure of the trailer I'd say the hitch held up fine.
Could not agree more with this statement.
I have yet to see one single Anderson hitch FAILURE. I saw the same pictures as everyone else and saw a hitch DAMAGED but it didn't Fail. Sorry, I'm on the team of "It's just as good a hitch as the rest".
The nay-sayers will still continue with their bashing of the 'bent' hitch being a catastrophic failure and the company is on the brink of massive law suits and recalls. At the end of the day, under the impressive description of the incident, the hitch did it's job and kept the trailer BEHIND the truck. It did not FAIL as seems to be thrown around quite rapidly.
For me, it's irrelevant as my used truck came with the Reese hitch already on it. So, this continues to be pure entertainment for me but not so sure about anyone actually shopping. :)
I hope those shopping are taking into consideration that anyone that has ever bought anything has 'the best' and the rest of the available product is probably sub-par to what they currently own. Even if they have never actually used it. Not just this topic but in general.
P.S.. to those -> My GMC is better than your Dodge. :)Bobandshawn wrote:
I think seeing one small issues with the Andersen bending slightly under a panic brake situation does not tell me the company has a failed product. I'd be suspect the person did not have the brake controller set properly or had bad brakes on the rig. The trailer had to be putting a heck of a lot of forward weight pressure on that hitch to do that which would indicate something was wrong with his trailer brake system. My trailer doesn't push me through an intersection when I brake hard. In a perfect world the braking should be fairly neutral with the TV stopping itself and the trailer stopping itself. Now in a front end collision I can understand hitch failure. And if he did indeed have a partial or total brake failure of the trailer I'd say the hitch held up fine.
There's been several comments similar to yours, which basically all echo the same thought: was there a problem with TV brakes or 5er brakes, was it setup properly, what were the circumstances, etc. We should be reminded of the exact words of the person who posted this:
"After about 7000 miles of flawless performance, I had a problem with it. We had a panic stop, going down a pretty steep hill. Brakes to the floor, anti-locks chattering, wife screaming, you get the picture. Pretty much the worst case scenario for putting lateral stress on a hitch, short of running into a wall, train, semi, etc."
A few salient points to consider:
1. The guy clearly had some sort of equipment failure related to the brake system which contributed to his circumstances.
2. This fellow is the only verifiable incident of having sustaining hitch damage I've seen. THE ONLY VERIFIABLE ONE. I don't consider the one single negative Amazon review to be valid, especially since folks clearly aren't buying these from Amazon.
3. Later in that thread on CumminsForum, the guy states that he installed his hitch based upon the original instructions (tighten/torque bolts then connect trailer), whereas the new instructions tell you to do that AND re-torque after the trailer is connected. From personal experience, I can tell you that after the trailer weight is on it, it does need to be re-torqued. No doubt that this very likely contributed to his issue.
4. He stated that he towed at 15K or 15,500 pounds. His truck is noted in his sig line, and without knowing all the details, its safe to say that, at those numbers, he's on the upper end of his TV's limits.
Contrary to the point that some folks are trying to make, Andersen didn't just dream up some sort of hitch arrangement, fab it up, crush it, and then put it on the market. Some engineer(s) had to dutifully take the time to evaluate every known criteria related to all the forces applied to this hitch. That person(s) has professional licenses, education, and experience in this field. Some person(s) has assigned their livlihood and career to this design, and some insurance company is standing behind it.
It has become foolish to continue to debate this matter. Andersen is the proprietor of the design, and the engineering is in their favor. If anyone wishes to further doubt the structural attributes of their product, then bring the engineering to the table and prove it. Talking about locking the hitch or safety chains or how it may deflect your bed is fair game in the name of product improvement. But discussing structural matters is truly a moot point without facts and figures.Cummins12V98 wrote:
laknox wrote:
Me Again wrote:
(snipped to keep the mods happy :-) )
If your hitch is full forward as mine was in my 11 Dually then sitting still the pin is directly above the post that the hitch attaches to. Now you push and pull the RV and the load transfers to the base. If you have the spacers then the road gets transferred to the bed rails and then to the frame.
Now if you have the hitch mounted towards the back then there is weight directly being placed from the base to the bed just sitting there.
The additional "weight" transferred to the bed is the rotational force applied when starting/stopping. The main hold-down pin and under-frame mount still carries the majority of the weight. Think about why most of us won't use a GN adapter because of the extra stresses on the FW frame. Now, raise the hitch point up into the same plane as our FW hitches and that rotational force has to go somewhere, and that's to the bed. The pin still carries the weight, as I keep saying, the bed picks up the stresses from the rotational forces.
FWIW, I just emailed B&W and we'll see what =they= say about it. :-)
Lyle- LOL Over the years all of those companies have indeed had upgrades. they do that to have a better product. I don't think Andersen is upgrading their product as they know the NTHSA is going to take those deadly Ultimate hitches off the road. Google Andersen hitch failures. Not much there other than forums with this sort of stuff. Try to fine unsatisfied users of the hitch, not many there. Customers are the best advertisers.
Now look up Reese problems/failures.
Here is one. http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27647785.cfm
Pullrite: http://tinyurl.com/hdk8h2x
I think seeing one small issues with the Andersen bending slightly under a panic brake situation does not tell me the company has a failed product. I'd be suspect the person did not have the brake controller set properly or had bad brakes on the rig. The trailer had to be putting a heck of a lot of forward weight pressure on that hitch to do that which would indicate something was wrong with his trailer brake system. My trailer doesn't push me through an intersection when I brake hard. In a perfect world the braking should be fairly neutral with the TV stopping itself and the trailer stopping itself. Now in a front end collision I can understand hitch failure. And if he did indeed have a partial or total brake failure of the trailer I'd say the hitch held up fine. - "If folks think the hitch is going to fold up on them when they hit the brakes they may consider putting brakes on the trailer. Those trailer brakes really take a lot of that pushing load off the hitch/truck. I don't have a 5th wheel, but my tow behind 31' Keystone has brakes on all 4 wheels. Really helps from my truck hitch getting torn off in a panic stop."
Honestly if I was worried about my hitch giving way during a hard stop if I lost trailer brakes, which does happen, I'd be looking for a new hitch. The Anderson lightweight obviously has a bit of an issue with that.
"Hopefully BW, Reese, Curt, Hensley, Pullrite and all the others never upgrade their stuff. as that would imply they had failures."
Maybe they just got it right the first time. :) You know the old saying: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." :)
