Anderson ultimate 5th wheel hitch
Anybody ever use this hitch. andersenhitches.com Aluminum hitch frame. Fits over existing ball. Under 40 pounds. Looks like a great hitch to save on weight.
Forum Discussion
laknox wrote:Mjfandal wrote:
Anybody ever use this hitch. andersenhitches.com
Aluminum hitch frame. Fits over existing ball. Under 40 pounds. Looks like a great hitch to save on weight.
The search feature is your friend. Many, many pages of the pros/cons of the AUH vs "traditional" hitches.
As with all hitches, there have been failures of the AUH, but they =have= responded quickly to them. Personally, I found the "crush test" they pushed very hard a few years ago to be totally unrealistic as the vertical loads on any hitch are minuscule compared to the fore/aft loads. The failures on the AHU all, AFAIK, were from extreme braking situations that caused the front of the hitch to deform to the point that the hitch became virtually unusable. Just my observations on them. Again, personally, I'd not own one and will be happy to stick with my old-school B&W Companion until the end of my RVing days.
Lyle
To be fair on this, and tell ALL the facts about the ONE, and ONLY problem on the Aluminum version that we have read about on here, none on the steel version . The tubes bent, nothing came undone, no damage to truck or trailer, and Andersen responded quickly with a replacement, and apparently a redesign.
I have not heard of ANY problems with the Aluminum version since, although there is one individual here on this forum that consistently bashes the Andersen, and keeps falling back on this one failure, referring to it as the folding hitch. The biggest critics if any are the ones that have never owned one.
I have towed many thousands of miles with two different conventional hitches, and both performed very well. Went to the Andersen rail mount about a year ago, wouldn't trade it for hundred conventional hitches, thats including the B&W. The Andersen is just too easy to hitch, remove from truck etc etc.
The ONE ,and ONLY drawback I keep hearing from the non users, is having to raise the fifth wheel a bit higher to get it on the ball. If that is a drawback as some think it is. I don't, its not that big of deal.
