shepstone wrote:
One of my concerns with the Anderson over a conventional fifth wheel hitch is in an accident situation where the light weight hitch takes all the forward action and some part breaks off or folds forward sending the rv into the truck cab. There just seems to be a lot of leverage on the Anderson. Feel free to correct me on this though. However I can see where the lighter weight is tempting to a buyer
I'm thinking the chances of the trailer coming into the cab is about the same with any hitch. It will fail at the weakest point. That may be the bolts holding the rails down, the pins at the pivot point, etc, That said, it's going to take quite a bit to tear any of them out, the Andersen included.
The Andersen isn't for everybody, but it looks to have a lot going for it. There are no bolted or pivoting connections in the base. Welded connections don't have to be as "beefy" as a bolted connection for the same strength. (Consider the size of a bolted flange vs a butt weld in any piping connection.) The Andersen is "beefy" at the articulating joint (ball socket adapter) so the trailer pin isn't any more likely to separate from the ball than it would from a conventional 5th wheel hitch with jaws. Even if all the set screws ripped free the ball and kingpin would still be connected.
I don't have one but am among those tempted buyers you speak of.
