Andersen Ultimate 5th Wheel Connection -- Wreck ????

TenOC wrote:

JIMNLIN wrote:

Never heard of anyone wanting a trailer (any trailer) to come loose in a wreck. Having logged over 1.2 million miles pulling trailers (non rv) I sure wouldn't want one coming loose....any time.

Per the link above and repeated here Wreck with 5er. Hitch failed Photo near the botton.

"If the truck had rolled over too, Mark and Doran could have easily been very badly injured or even killed. However, because the truck stayed upright, they walked away unscathed. Thank heavens!!"

That's a bit of speculation. They could have been killed or badly injured if the upright truck had careened into oncoming traffic.

ralphnjoann wrote:

WTP-GC wrote:
one should expect failure of this product...just like one should expect failure of any man-made device. There will always be the chance that a weld was done improperly or a material defect exists beyond the manufactuer's control. But The overall number of failed UH's is minuscule. I can count only one time where pictures have been posted of this, plus 3 or 4 other written claims. All things considered, that's not even enough to raise an eyebrow at.

This entire forum seems to be a dedicated place for RV owners to come vent or rant about one problem or another with their rig. Blowouts, water damage, delam, reefer issues, water heater issues, etc. etc. etc. The Andersen UH doesn't even rank on the list of common complaints from actual users.

I agree 100%. The B&W Companion, for example, is a highly regarded hitch on these forums and I wouldn't hesitate to buy one if it met my needs. But here is a LINK to a report showing a catastrophic failure of the hitch when the trailer overturned. Would this single example be a reason not to buy the hitch? Not for me - stuff happens.

I don't know that you could call this a "catastrophic failure". If your trailer comes apart in a crash is that a "catastrophic failure", or the results of the crash? If the frame of your truck deforms after hitting a tree at 70 mph is that a "catastrophic failure" or the results of hitting a tree at 70 mph?

Personally I think the B&W hitch deformed when subjected to extreme forces in a rollover crash. I don't know that subjecting something to forces way beyond its design parameters should lead to surprise when there are problems. If you drive a 20 ton load over a bride rated for 5 tons you shouldn't be surprised when it collapses.

Yeah, I love my B&W hitch. :)

JIMNLIN wrote:

Never heard of anyone wanting a trailer (any trailer) to come loose in a wreck. Having logged over 1.2 million miles pulling trailers (non rv) I sure wouldn't want one coming loose....any time.

Per the link above and repeated here Wreck with 5er. Hitch failed Photo near the botton.

"If the truck had rolled over too, Mark and Doran could have easily been very badly injured or even killed. However, because the truck stayed upright, they walked away unscathed. Thank heavens!!"

WTP-GC wrote:
one should expect failure of this product...just like one should expect failure of any man-made device. There will always be the chance that a weld was done improperly or a material defect exists beyond the manufactuer's control. But The overall number of failed UH's is minuscule. I can count only one time where pictures have been posted of this, plus 3 or 4 other written claims. All things considered, that's not even enough to raise an eyebrow at.

This entire forum seems to be a dedicated place for RV owners to come vent or rant about one problem or another with their rig. Blowouts, water damage, delam, reefer issues, water heater issues, etc. etc. etc. The Andersen UH doesn't even rank on the list of common complaints from actual users.

I agree 100%. The B&W Companion, for example, is a highly regarded hitch on these forums and I wouldn't hesitate to buy one if it met my needs. But here is a LINK to a report showing a catastrophic failure of the hitch when the trailer overturned. Would this single example be a reason not to buy the hitch? Not for me - stuff happens.

I have read a lot of posting that bad mouth this hitch as been too weak since it is make of aluminum and the design is different from all other hitches

Never heard of anyone wanting a trailer (any trailer) to come loose in a wreck. Having logged over 1.2 million miles pulling trailers (non rv) I sure wouldn't want one coming loose....any time.
Thats all your going to get is bad mouth with no actual facts about a product that someone doesn't like especially this product on this website . Same old saw it posted somewhere and even out and out fabrication stories about the product.
However even one event doesn't tell us anything about a products overall performance.

IMO the dead horse is gettin' it again.

one should expect failure of this product...just like one should expect failure of any man-made device. There will always be the chance that a weld was done improperly or a material defect exists beyond the manufactuer's control. But The overall number of failed UH's is minuscule. I can count only one time where pictures have been posted of this, plus 3 or 4 other written claims. All things considered, that's not even enough to raise an eyebrow at.

This entire forum seems to be a dedicated place for RV owners to come vent or rant about one problem or another with their rig. Blowouts, water damage, delam, reefer issues, water heater issues, etc. etc. etc. The Andersen UH doesn't even rank on the list of common complaints from actual users.

On the Grand Design FB page, a member reported and posted pictures of his damaged Aluminum ultimate. The welds had cracked. Also the top of the adaptor was starting to separate. He was towing a larger/heavier fifth wheel. He stated Andersen did replace the hitch. I saw the posted pictures.

There were reports of some of the aluminum versions failing while towing FWs near their limit and with emergency stops. There was one member who posted pics of his that deformed, but stayed whole. Andersen stepped up and replaced it with a re-engineered hitch. They were also swapping out others that requested to do so, IIRC. Personally, I still love my B&W Companion. :-)

Lyle