Andersen Ultimate Issues

WTP-GC wrote:
That pinbbox is just freaky. That is likely the culprit for all the other issues you mentioned. The fact that it essentially self-destructed would have me extremely upset with the manufacturer. I know that it would appear that the 2 set screws hold all the weigh, but the lateral forces against the kingpin are pretty significant as well. There's a lot of people towing with the Andersen, yet this is the first reported issue along these lines I'm aware of. Not trying to be critical, just saying that the pinbox is obviously majorly deficient.

Though it doesn't matter to you any longer, you could use a crows foot adapter to tighten the bolt after setting the trailer on it ;-)

I'm not so sure about others not having issues. The maintenance section at my dealers said they don't even like to deal with the Andersen hitches because of all the problems they have with them. In addition, I walked around the storage lot where I used to store my 5er and looked at several of the other rigs that had Andersen adapters on them (They are actually fairly common in this area). I saw a toyhauler with a mor ryde on it that the Andersen adapter was deforming in the same manner as mine deformed. The mor-ryde not being welded on the sides allowed you to see the bending much more easily than on a standard pin box That said this pin box wasn't deformed quite as bad yet. On the other hand, I've talked with several other Andersen owners, and other than base shifting type issues and a couple complaints regarding the set screw gouges on the pin box, I haven't heard any complaints.

Regarding the pin box design, it's pretty standard for how pin boxes are made. This particular box has a 3/16 inch thick plate of mild steel welded onto a frame bottom of approximately 12 inches wide by 10 inches long. Focus 3k or so static load onto less than a square inch of that plate and then repeatedly hit it with shock loads and eventually it will deform. Spread the same impact over the bulk of the plate surface and it would probably hold up to the 18k trailer it's rated for.

I'll ignore the crows foot comment, as you haven't seen my tool box. It's way to heavy, and I can't find anything in it anyway. My truck tool box has hydraulic crimpers, multimeters, an oscilloscope, battery capacity tester, inspection camera, wrenches, sockets, jacks, chains for the truck and trailer, tow straps, hardware etc. etc. etc. I need to downsize, or buy a bigger truck already. Adding more....