Towing a 32 foot with a Anderson convert a ball adaptor

Despite all the posturing and conjecture regarding gooseneck adapters (like that which the OP has put out there), you rarely ever ever ever hear of someone who has frame damaged and can knowingly attribute it to the gooseneck adapter.

Nonetheless...
OP, your rig is a 15 year unit that honestly probably has a low cash value and no warranty. If you want to use a gooseneck adapter, I say go for it.

There is simply no comparison in the structure and frame of a gooseneck trailer vs. that of a fifthwheel rv trailer. While I have occasionally seen the converters used and people seem to get along okay, personally I would not pull my trailer with one.

valhalla360 wrote:

gkainz wrote:
I am an engineer, but software, not mechanical ... but raised as a farm kid and power line construction family, I learned from the school of hard knocks and common sense about things mechanical, what breaks and what doesn't.

In my opinion only, the Andersen Ultimate imposes little to no additional stresses on the 5th wheel frame and kingpin assembly than the standard 5th wheel hitch.

Unfortunately physics doesn't agree with your opinion. There is no doubt it increases the forces on the trailer frame. To give you and idea of what it is doing, take a broom stick:
- Hold it in the middle and have someone pull from just below your hand.
- Then have them pull from the bottom.

Which one is easier to hold your hand steady without any twisting?

It all comes down to if the manufacturer accounted for these forces in the design.

Your analogy is not correct regarding the Andersen hitch, which is what I said. Yours is correct when referencing a standard Gooseneck adapter. The Andersen raises the ball to the height of the kingpin, give or take maybe an inch.

I need to clarify, as the original post DID reference an actual gooseneck conversion. I was referencing the Andersen Ultimate, which raises the ball to the level of the kingpin and imparts no additional lever motion to the pin box.

However, I do agree that the Andersen Conversion would increase the lever motion and angular forces to the pinbox, just like any other true gooseneck converter.

valhalla360 wrote:

gkainz wrote:
I am an engineer, but software, not mechanical ... but raised as a farm kid and power line construction family, I learned from the school of hard knocks and common sense about things mechanical, what breaks and what doesn't.

In my opinion only, the Andersen Ultimate imposes little to no additional stresses on the 5th wheel frame and kingpin assembly than the standard 5th wheel hitch.

Unfortunately physics doesn't agree with your opinion. There is no doubt it increases the forces on the trailer frame. To give you and idea of what it is doing, take a broom stick:
- Hold it in the middle and have someone pull from just below your hand.
- Then have them pull from the bottom.

Which one is easier to hold your hand steady without any twisting?

It all comes down to if the manufacturer accounted for these forces in the design.

He was not referring to goose neck extensions. The Ulimate pulls on the King pin at the same horizontal plain as a conventional hitch. If the Anderson adapter is installed behind the kingpin then pin box is shortened slightly, and if in front of the kingpin it is extented slightly.

IdaD wrote:
I use the Andersen Ultimate and it's great, and it probably is a better idea than using a gooseneck adapter. That said my dad has an adapter on his 20+ year old Nash since he bought it new and it's never given him any trouble, and I'd guess that's a far more common story than situations where they have caused problems.

2004 was at the heart of pin box mount failure time frame as trailers were getting larger. Hitchhiker and their Youngs frames were one of those that most likely would handle the extra stress from these goose neck extensions. Most others could not.

Some things the OP could do is watch carefully as the trailer is lowered onto the hitch for movement of the pen box mount, watch area where the overhang joins the main part of the trailer for movement etc.

gkainz wrote:
I am an engineer, but software, not mechanical ... but raised as a farm kid and power line construction family, I learned from the school of hard knocks and common sense about things mechanical, what breaks and what doesn't.

In my opinion only, the Andersen Ultimate imposes little to no additional stresses on the 5th wheel frame and kingpin assembly than the standard 5th wheel hitch.

Unfortunately physics doesn't agree with your opinion. There is no doubt it increases the forces on the trailer frame. To give you and idea of what it is doing, take a broom stick:
- Hold it in the middle and have someone pull from just below your hand.
- Then have them pull from the bottom.

Which one is easier to hold your hand steady without any twisting?

It all comes down to if the manufacturer accounted for these forces in the design.

I use the Andersen Ultimate and it's great, and it probably is a better idea than using a gooseneck adapter. That said my dad has an adapter on his 20+ year old Nash since he bought it new and it's never given him any trouble, and I'd guess that's a far more common story than situations where they have caused problems.

I am an engineer, but software, not mechanical ... but raised as a farm kid and power line construction family, I learned from the school of hard knocks and common sense about things mechanical, what breaks and what doesn't.

In my opinion only, the Andersen Ultimate imposes little to no additional stresses on the 5th wheel frame and kingpin assembly than the standard 5th wheel hitch.

But, the manufacturers set the warranty specs, limits and exclusions, so that's the parameters one needs to play within in the event of a frame problem.

However, along the lines of the recent Direct TV commercial
"So, how does that help me?"
"You know what? It really doesn't, I don't know why I told you that."

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/Ie9l/directv-little-league

Check with the manufacturer...if they designed it to accommodate the extra stress, no issues.

If not, you could be living on borrowed time before the frame fails.

All depends on what they designed for but the larger the trailer, the less likely it is designed for it.

Note: fatigue failure is the most likely way it will fail...this means repetitive stresses over time will gradually weaken the frame connections...so it may seem fine for a long time and then suddenly fail for no apparent reason.

paulito0331 wrote:
it was just recently put on its a 2004 crosswinds, PF32RK

Personally, I'd pull it off PDQ and get a "proper" hitch; i.e., one that moves the attachment point up to the king pin. I always recommend a B&W Companion, but the Andersen AUH has a decent rep, as do many other hitches. Avoid the cheapest hitches, that use a sliding bar, to hold the pin in place, and look for ones that have full-wrap jaws to hold the king pin, or the AUH, which is a "reverse" ball hitch that moves the hitch point up to the pin box.

Lyle