Andersen Hitch

Scott_85 wrote:
I decided to get rid of my Companion slider, because I can't use it with my camper. Thinking real hard about going with the Andersen Hitch. I have heard nothing but good stuff about them, so I looking for any issues that people have had. My truck is a short bed and my camper has an extended pin box to I think I going to put the adapter the other way right? I just want to make sure I am making the right choice.

I just took out my trailer this past weekend for the first trip with my Andersen hitch. I towed about 350 miles (7 hours) total.

The main reason I bought it was the weight -- it is 75 pounds and one person can move it if needed. On top of simply being able to get it in and out of my vehicle, I wanted to save my truck's payload capacity for other things (I have a payload capacity of 2300 lbs and a pin weight of 1300 lbs dry).

So, I got those two things out of it for sure.

I too have short bed (6.5 ft bed, GMC 2500HD). I also liked that the Andersen had a 5.25" offset from the turnover ball. I thought this may help keep my cap away from my cab. (I hadn't taken delivery of the trailer so I was guessing a bit if I would have a cap/cab issue or not.)

However, that did not work out or benefit me. That pushed the backside of the pinbox support far enough back that when I turned really tight that it risked hitting the bed rails. So, I had to flip the coupler/connector around as they describe in their instructions. This negates the offset and aligns things about where the turnover ball is (just in front of the axle). This moved the trailer closer to the truck but gave me a tighter turning radius. I tested how close I could get the cap to the cab and felt that the wheels doing their weird bendy thing made me more nervous than the cap/cab so I stopped trying to get to 90 degrees.

As for backing up, it takes a little getting use to but after doing it 5-6 times I was getting to where I was starting to hit it. I can see the ball from the driver's seat. I was new to the truck as well, so I think it was more of an issue getting use to the truck's response to the change in steering than it was an issue of trying to hit the ball. I don't consider this a big deal. I use chains on it, but that isn't a big deal to me to climb in and hook them up. I've got the safety brake cable to hook up anyway.

Towing.... The connection between the truck and the trailer is solid. There isn't any wiggle. When going across overpasses on the road, I do feel the trailer push and pull on the truck (9000 lb trailer dry). I have never towed with a 5th wheel hitch to compare this with. I'm a total newbie.