OKay... I/m looking for anyone who had or is currently using an Andersen Ultimate hitch. The Good and Bad. I just purchased a 2020 GMC 2500 ATC need to get a hitch to fit my vehicle. the only two options currently available are the Andersen Ultimate or B&W companion slider due the change in the bed size from the 2019 models my truck has the 5th wheel prep package withe OEM puck and goose neck system so i can use either configuration. Undecided.... which discretion to go. Ultimate much lighter but is it strong enough? or B&W 20K hitch but much heavier. I plan to remove the hitch when not towing to have a clean bed no rails.... that's why i have the puck system. The 5th wheel a Montana weight 13-14K... probably 16K loaded.... Thanks.For all of you weight police out there...... I would like to make a correction.... my 5th wheel weight unload is 13,100k so i'm looking at 14-14,500 k loaded pin weight 2,400..... again i'm looking for input on which hitch to purchase.... The truck and 5th wheel not an issue . The new 5th wheel is the same weight as my bolder one and towed it with a 2007 chevy diesel over 10,000 miles... and not the first issue towing.The new truck actually capable of towing 2 k more than the old truck. But thanks for your concerns.

You bought the wrong truck. A 2500 does not have sufficient payload to pull a 16k pound fifth wheel in the common cab configurations most people spec. The choice of hitch is irrelevant. If you wanted to pull a 5er that big, you should have, at minimum, bought a 1 ton truck, and preferably one with dual wheels.

As bad as I hate to agree with anyone about weight specs, I will have to agree with twodownzero. (The weight police on here can be awful and if you don't have a 1 ton diesel dually, you can't tow anything but a popup.) We have a 13.5K empty fifth wheel and pulled it with a F250 diesel and it would do it, but not great. I would be beat to death by the time we got the RV and truck to our camping location. The ride was R O U G H!! We traded up to an F350 6.7L diesel dually and the ride is so much better, it pulls wonderfully and I'm not as worried about being able to get the trailer up some of our mountains around home.We also have the Anderson and we will never go back to a conventional hitch.I can climb into the truck and pull out the hitch and put it on a shelf, then when we are ready to tow again, I take it off the shelf and put it back into the truck. Our prior hitch weighed about 150 lbs and it took me and DH to get the thing in/out and about an hour. Now, 5 minutes. With the Anderson, you have no chucking, very little noise and I feel much safer. We did add the safety chains, but only because Virginia says we have to have them.

A friend of mine just bought an Anderson hitch this spring. Says that he would never go back to a "typical " hitch

That's a load for that truck for sure. You shouldn't need the heavy slider version, just get the B&W for OEM pucks. It adjusts ahead/back, and not very heavy.Jerry

We towed about 12,000 miles with the Andersen Ultimate (steel/rails). It was a good hitch. I'll have to agree with the others, though, that you don't have enough truck for a 16K fifth wheel with 3,500 lbs. of pin weight. Ask me how I know...Rob

5th wheel hitches | Good Sam Community

cummins2014
Explorer
Nov 25, 2019
IdaD wrote:
I think he's saying 4" - from 16" to 20". I think it're more like 2", though. Mine runs flipped the other way so the kingpin is a couple inches in front of the ball. I doubt it makes enough of a difference in the torque applied to the trailer frame to matter either way, except maybe in some really rare cases.

The distance is 4" not 2" from where the kingpin attaches to the adapter to where the ball enters the adapter socket. The adapter actually has an 8" difference as far as where the fifth wheel is from the cab. Depending on which direction the adapter is installed .
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Nov 12, 2019
Ah, gotcha.
Second_Chance
Explorer II
Nov 12, 2019
4x4ord wrote:
fj12ryder wrote:
Second Chance wrote:
Cummins12V98 wrote:
I can see voiding warranty on the pinbox but frame???

It's the frame that flexes and breaks with the torsional forces - not the pin box. I've seen it.

Rob
Why would the Anderson cause more torsional forces than a standard hitch. It should be the same, or even less due to the ball allowing more side-to-side rotational movement.

If a trailer frame is damaged on account of towing with an Anderson Hitch it was designed too week. However, the Anderson Hitch can increase the torsion on the trailer frame at the point where the pin box is welded into place. If the adapter for the Anderson ball is attached to the trailer pin such that it extends the distance from the pin box mounting to the kingpin coupling from say 16" to 20" the torsion at the point the pin box welds to the frame would be increased by 25%.

I was thinking of the GooseBox (I thought it was referenced earlier). The forces on the Andersen are the same as a conventional hitch.

Rob
IdaD
Explorer
Nov 12, 2019
I think he's saying 4" - from 16" to 20". I think it're more like 2", though. Mine runs flipped the other way so the kingpin is a couple inches in front of the ball. I doubt it makes enough of a difference in the torque applied to the trailer frame to matter either way, except maybe in some really rare cases.
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Nov 12, 2019
Yeah, I'm going to have to disagree about the torque added by the Andersen. The distance from the king pin to the ball is a couple inches at most, nowhere near the 16"-20" you're stating.

If the Andersen added that much distance I would agree with you, but it doesn't.
4x4ord
Explorer III
Nov 12, 2019
fj12ryder wrote:
Second Chance wrote:
Cummins12V98 wrote:
I can see voiding warranty on the pinbox but frame???

It's the frame that flexes and breaks with the torsional forces - not the pin box. I've seen it.

Rob
Why would the Anderson cause more torsional forces than a standard hitch. It should be the same, or even less due to the ball allowing more side-to-side rotational movement.

If a trailer frame is damaged on account of towing with an Anderson Hitch it was designed too week. However, the Anderson Hitch can increase the torsion on the trailer frame at the point where the pin box is welded into place. If the adapter for the Anderson ball is attached to the trailer pin such that it extends the distance from the pin box mounting to the kingpin coupling from say 16" to 20" the torsion at the point the pin box welds to the frame would be increased by 25%.
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Nov 11, 2019
Second Chance wrote:
Cummins12V98 wrote:
I can see voiding warranty on the pinbox but frame???

It's the frame that flexes and breaks with the torsional forces - not the pin box. I've seen it.

Rob
Why would the Anderson cause more torsional forces than a standard hitch. It should be the same, or even less due to the ball allowing more side-to-side rotational movement.
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Nov 11, 2019
Second Chance wrote:
Cummins12V98 wrote:
I can see voiding warranty on the pinbox but frame???

It's the frame that flexes and breaks with the torsional forces - not the pin box. I've seen it.

Rob

ANDERSEN simply does nothing to the frame that any other traditional hitch does.

MY comment was specific to the pinbox. Specifically the adapter for the ANDERSEN has a smaller footprint against the pinbox plate and has caused damage.
Second_Chance
Explorer II
Nov 11, 2019
Cummins12V98 wrote:
I can see voiding warranty on the pinbox but frame???

It's the frame that flexes and breaks with the torsional forces - not the pin box. I've seen it.

Rob
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Nov 11, 2019
I can see voiding warranty on the pinbox but frame???

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