Me Again wrote:
There are thousand and thousand of Lippert 1621 pin boxes being used with conventional 5th wheel hitches for years without issues. Use it as not intended at your own peril. Pretty basic concept folks. Chris
But in contrast...
There are thousand and thousand of Lippert pin boxes being used with Andersen Ultimate hitches without issues.
This is not an endorsement of a product, but moreover a logical route of believing that the OP had some sort of extenuating circumstance.
Anyone can buy a new weld-on kingpin assembly. It looks like this:
If this event was happening to me, since the pinbox is already junk, I would want to do some destructive testing to find out what's going on inside the head of the pinbox. Cut it open and find out. First thing I would do is look to see if the kingpin looks at least similar to the picture. I think by reading the OP's description, one would think that the entire pin weight is spread across the flat 1/4" plate, but in actuality, the weight is placed upon the large upper round area of the kingpin assembly. If the 2 set screws truly transfer all the weight, then it transfers directly to the kingpin. Therefore, all things being equal, the pressures exerted on the pinbox should be fairly similar between the Andersen UH adapter and a conventional 5er hitch. However, if the steel plate is weak, if the kingpin isn't properly welded, if the kingpin isn't as shown in the picture, if if if...
Again, I'd want to cut it open and find out.
