I've been to the end of the internet and back, and I'm still torn on which hitch to get. I'll start off by saying my TV is a 2015 Ram 2500 CC SB with 35" inch tires. It's does not have a lift kit, but I did put a leveling kit and air bags on it. Looking at buying a new Sabre 27BHD and I'm trying you outfit my truck with the appropriate hitch. I've been looking a lot at the Andersen Ultimate Hitch because I do have the B&W turnover ball and I feel like the Andersen would be easy. I also have a buddy with a slightly used B&W Patriot Slider for sale for relatively cheap. I'd be able to use the B&W with a Demco adapter that plugs into the turnover ball. I know the Andersen is light and people that use it seem to love it. However, my truck is a short bed and I'm not looking to ding the cab or break a back window. Any input is welcome, thanks.

I think you will have a bigger issue due to your truck height. I'm not sure either choice you list is gonna work. You need to measure and plan your bed rail clearance.

I personally prefer 5th wheel over gooseneck so I would go with the B&W hands down. Like above though need to watch your height and make sure the hitch can drop low enough. I have a 15 ram 3500 SB and use a Reese titan dropped in lowest position-14" plus the 2" frame adapter so approx 16" above bed and my trailer is 6" above the bed rail height. My truck squats pretty good though since I don't have bags. I also have 35" tires. I believe I read before that the 2500 sits higher then a 3500

mattmountz94 wrote:I personally prefer 5th wheel over gooseneck so I would go with the B&W hands down. Like above though need to watch your height and make sure the hitch can drop low enough. I have a 15 ram 3500 SB and use a Reese titan dropped in lowest position-14" plus the 2" frame adapter so approx 16" above bed and my trailer is 6" above the bed rail height. My truck squats pretty good though since I don't have bags. I also have 35" tires. I believe I read before that the 2500 sits higher then a 3500The Andersen Ultimate hitch system IS NOT a gooseneck hitch. The hitch merely mounts to the truck using a gooseneck ball in the bed - much as the B&W Companion hitches do. OP - as has been stated, you may have bigger problems with bed-to-overhang clearance and need to pay careful attention to that. Towing unlevel (the trailer) and not having enough bedrail clearance are both real issues. As for cap-to-cab clearance, a lot has to do with the positioning of the pin-box on shape of the front cap on the fifth wheel. We towed our first 15,000 miles full-timing with an Andersen Ultimate in a 6.5' bed without any problems... you just have to set it up correctly.Rob

hbillsmith wrote:I think you will have a bigger issue due to your truck height. I'm not sure either choice you list is gonna work. You need to measure and plan your bed rail clearance.His tires are only 1.5" taller than stock, only half of which raises the truck, and and the leveling kit is up front so really he's not much higher than a stock truck overall. Still might need to lift the trailer some as many do with the newer HD trucks. Hitch wise I'd go Andersen. I like mine better than any fifth wheel hitch I've used. It has the advantages of a gooseneck setup (smooth, articulates well, idiot proof hitching) without the leverage disadvantage of a gooseneck adapter.

I've been to the end of the internet and back, and I'm still torn on which hitch to get.The Anderson typically has a larger footprint in the bed of your truck than typical fifth wheel hitches if that will be an issue for carrying other things in your bed. Most folks that use the Anderson seem to like it.

Andersen Ultimate VS B&W Patriot Slider | Good Sam Community

Wild_Card
Explorer
Sep 21, 2017
Nevadastars wrote:
2001400ex wrote:
goducks10 wrote:
I used to love my Andersen rail mount until I nicked the bed rail. My issue is the very long 1716 MorRyde pin box. Only way to alleviate the issue is to turn the aluminum coupler so the ball socket is rear of the pin. Then I need to turn the Andersen around so that the ball is rear of the axle center so my bumper clears my 5th wheel front. If I mount the ball towards the cab then I only have about 1" of clearance between the bumper and 5th wheel when turning. That makes me nervous.
The other issue I had when we came home a week ago and tried to unhitch I couldn't get the coupler off the ball. Never had that issue before. My truck and 5er are in a slight V configuration when back into the driveway. You could see the angle and it was definitely greater than when I had things mounted the other way. I couldn't even release the sliding pin that holds the coupler to the ball. Ended up releasing all four rail pins and lifting the Andersen out of the truck. Interesting in that I started using the Andersen late last summer. Put a few trips on it then used it all of this summer plus. Only way I found this out was when I recently took the 5er into an Auto/RV paint shop to get an estimate to paint my front cap. I needed to drive to the end of the street and make a uturn in a large parking lot. As I was turning I looked in my side view mirror and saw the pin box make slight contact with the bed rail.
Guess I was pretty luck as to not have made contact with all the towing I did prior. Mt bad for not measuring the distance of things after installing.
So now I'm back to my B&W. Arrg. Kinda sucks as I really like the Andersen but I see no way to make it work. Just a heads up to those interested.

My funnel on the pin box is setup to the rear of the pickup. I'm going to turn it around and try it in a parking lot to see if it will but the bed rails. My concern is that I have a short bed and I have come close to the cab a few times. If I turn the funnel to the front, that will give me about 8 inches more clearance.

Just curious as to why you have the funnel in the rear? Maybe I'm missing something here, but I don't see where the funnel is placed would affect bed rail clearance.

Funnel to rear make pin box overall length shorter so the pin box can rotate inside the bed. I had to run mine in tje rear position as it would hit my bed rails.
Nevadastars
Explorer
Sep 21, 2017
njonl wrote:
Nevadastars wrote:
I have the Andersen Ultimate rail hitch with a leveled/air bagged 07 Ram 2500 short bed 4x4 and have a ton of clearance between the cab and the Forest River Wildcat 262RGX. I am sure the ball on the standard Ultimate is in a similar position to my rail hitch. Personally, I won't use any other hitch. It is so easy to use and remove it's laughable.

I believe the newer Ram 2500/3500's are around an inch or two taller than my 07. They seemed like it when I was looking at them anyway. Here is the only pic I have where you can see the clearance between the cab and nose of the fiver. It is when I brought it home and tried to stuff it in our old motor home cover and didn't quite fit so had to dig out the floor....

What height setting do you have the ball on the hitch set at? I'm assuming mine will have to be on the lowest setting to keep the trailer somewhat level. Nice looking setup! I looked at a 2015 Wildcat Maxx 312BHX last week.

Mine is also at the lowest setting.
njonl
Explorer
Sep 21, 2017
Nevadastars wrote:
I have the Andersen Ultimate rail hitch with a leveled/air bagged 07 Ram 2500 short bed 4x4 and have a ton of clearance between the cab and the Forest River Wildcat 262RGX. I am sure the ball on the standard Ultimate is in a similar position to my rail hitch. Personally, I won't use any other hitch. It is so easy to use and remove it's laughable.

I believe the newer Ram 2500/3500's are around an inch or two taller than my 07. They seemed like it when I was looking at them anyway. Here is the only pic I have where you can see the clearance between the cab and nose of the fiver. It is when I brought it home and tried to stuff it in our old motor home cover and didn't quite fit so had to dig out the floor....

What height setting do you have the ball on the hitch set at? I'm assuming mine will have to be on the lowest setting to keep the trailer somewhat level. Nice looking setup! I looked at a 2015 Wildcat Maxx 312BHX last week.
Nevadastars
Explorer
Sep 21, 2017
2001400ex wrote:

It was installed to the rear by the dealer. It's one adjustment you can make. The bed rail clearance wouldn't change. But the back end of the king pin might hit the tailgate or the bed rails by being closer to the tailgate. I have to make the change the drive it to see. Chevy 6 foot 6 inch bed doesn't leave much room.

Change it, I think you will be fine. I had plenty of clearance to the gate. Although I ended up getting a dedicated 5th wheel gate after killing my original gate by unhooking and forgetting to lower it......:S
2001400ex
Explorer
Sep 21, 2017
Nevadastars wrote:
2001400ex wrote:
goducks10 wrote:
I used to love my Andersen rail mount until I nicked the bed rail. My issue is the very long 1716 MorRyde pin box. Only way to alleviate the issue is to turn the aluminum coupler so the ball socket is rear of the pin. Then I need to turn the Andersen around so that the ball is rear of the axle center so my bumper clears my 5th wheel front. If I mount the ball towards the cab then I only have about 1" of clearance between the bumper and 5th wheel when turning. That makes me nervous.
The other issue I had when we came home a week ago and tried to unhitch I couldn't get the coupler off the ball. Never had that issue before. My truck and 5er are in a slight V configuration when back into the driveway. You could see the angle and it was definitely greater than when I had things mounted the other way. I couldn't even release the sliding pin that holds the coupler to the ball. Ended up releasing all four rail pins and lifting the Andersen out of the truck. Interesting in that I started using the Andersen late last summer. Put a few trips on it then used it all of this summer plus. Only way I found this out was when I recently took the 5er into an Auto/RV paint shop to get an estimate to paint my front cap. I needed to drive to the end of the street and make a uturn in a large parking lot. As I was turning I looked in my side view mirror and saw the pin box make slight contact with the bed rail.
Guess I was pretty luck as to not have made contact with all the towing I did prior. Mt bad for not measuring the distance of things after installing.
So now I'm back to my B&W. Arrg. Kinda sucks as I really like the Andersen but I see no way to make it work. Just a heads up to those interested.

My funnel on the pin box is setup to the rear of the pickup. I'm going to turn it around and try it in a parking lot to see if it will but the bed rails. My concern is that I have a short bed and I have come close to the cab a few times. If I turn the funnel to the front, that will give me about 8 inches more clearance.

Just curious as to why you have the funnel in the rear? Maybe I'm missing something here, but I don't see where the funnel is placed would affect bed rail clearance.

It was installed to the rear by the dealer. It's one adjustment you can make. The bed rail clearance wouldn't change. But the back end of the king pin might hit the tailgate or the bed rails by being closer to the tailgate. I have to make the change the drive it to see. Chevy 6 foot 6 inch bed doesn't leave much room.
Nevadastars
Explorer
Sep 21, 2017
2001400ex wrote:
goducks10 wrote:
I used to love my Andersen rail mount until I nicked the bed rail. My issue is the very long 1716 MorRyde pin box. Only way to alleviate the issue is to turn the aluminum coupler so the ball socket is rear of the pin. Then I need to turn the Andersen around so that the ball is rear of the axle center so my bumper clears my 5th wheel front. If I mount the ball towards the cab then I only have about 1" of clearance between the bumper and 5th wheel when turning. That makes me nervous.
The other issue I had when we came home a week ago and tried to unhitch I couldn't get the coupler off the ball. Never had that issue before. My truck and 5er are in a slight V configuration when back into the driveway. You could see the angle and it was definitely greater than when I had things mounted the other way. I couldn't even release the sliding pin that holds the coupler to the ball. Ended up releasing all four rail pins and lifting the Andersen out of the truck. Interesting in that I started using the Andersen late last summer. Put a few trips on it then used it all of this summer plus. Only way I found this out was when I recently took the 5er into an Auto/RV paint shop to get an estimate to paint my front cap. I needed to drive to the end of the street and make a uturn in a large parking lot. As I was turning I looked in my side view mirror and saw the pin box make slight contact with the bed rail.
Guess I was pretty luck as to not have made contact with all the towing I did prior. Mt bad for not measuring the distance of things after installing.
So now I'm back to my B&W. Arrg. Kinda sucks as I really like the Andersen but I see no way to make it work. Just a heads up to those interested.

My funnel on the pin box is setup to the rear of the pickup. I'm going to turn it around and try it in a parking lot to see if it will but the bed rails. My concern is that I have a short bed and I have come close to the cab a few times. If I turn the funnel to the front, that will give me about 8 inches more clearance.

Just curious as to why you have the funnel in the rear? Maybe I'm missing something here, but I don't see where the funnel is placed would affect bed rail clearance.
2001400ex
Explorer
Sep 20, 2017
goducks10 wrote:
I used to love my Andersen rail mount until I nicked the bed rail. My issue is the very long 1716 MorRyde pin box. Only way to alleviate the issue is to turn the aluminum coupler so the ball socket is rear of the pin. Then I need to turn the Andersen around so that the ball is rear of the axle center so my bumper clears my 5th wheel front. If I mount the ball towards the cab then I only have about 1" of clearance between the bumper and 5th wheel when turning. That makes me nervous.
The other issue I had when we came home a week ago and tried to unhitch I couldn't get the coupler off the ball. Never had that issue before. My truck and 5er are in a slight V configuration when back into the driveway. You could see the angle and it was definitely greater than when I had things mounted the other way. I couldn't even release the sliding pin that holds the coupler to the ball. Ended up releasing all four rail pins and lifting the Andersen out of the truck. Interesting in that I started using the Andersen late last summer. Put a few trips on it then used it all of this summer plus. Only way I found this out was when I recently took the 5er into an Auto/RV paint shop to get an estimate to paint my front cap. I needed to drive to the end of the street and make a uturn in a large parking lot. As I was turning I looked in my side view mirror and saw the pin box make slight contact with the bed rail.
Guess I was pretty luck as to not have made contact with all the towing I did prior. Mt bad for not measuring the distance of things after installing.
So now I'm back to my B&W. Arrg. Kinda sucks as I really like the Andersen but I see no way to make it work. Just a heads up to those interested.

My funnel on the pin box is setup to the rear of the pickup. I'm going to turn it around and try it in a parking lot to see if it will but the bed rails. My concern is that I have a short bed and I have come close to the cab a few times. If I turn the funnel to the front, that will give me about 8 inches more clearance.
2001400ex
Explorer
Sep 20, 2017
njonl wrote:
I'm assuming different trailers sit at different heights, so I guess I won't really know until I go pick it up. It seems like the newer Ram's already sit pretty high. I'm hoping Forest River took that into consideration when building their newer trailers

I have the setup in my signature. Pickup is stock height, toy hauler is forest River. Axles are already flipped and it rides nose high. Any hitch would be the same as I have to get the 6 inch bed rail clearance. I need to go to a place to have the toy hauler lifted a little.

Other than that, the Anderson is awesome and I wouldn't use any other hitch.
goducks10
Explorer
Sep 19, 2017
I used to love my Andersen rail mount until I nicked the bed rail. My issue is the very long 1716 MorRyde pin box. Only way to alleviate the issue is to turn the aluminum coupler so the ball socket is rear of the pin. Then I need to turn the Andersen around so that the ball is rear of the axle center so my bumper clears my 5th wheel front. If I mount the ball towards the cab then I only have about 1" of clearance between the bumper and 5th wheel when turning. That makes me nervous.
The other issue I had when we came home a week ago and tried to unhitch I couldn't get the coupler off the ball. Never had that issue before. My truck and 5er are in a slight V configuration when back into the driveway. You could see the angle and it was definitely greater than when I had things mounted the other way. I couldn't even release the sliding pin that holds the coupler to the ball. Ended up releasing all four rail pins and lifting the Andersen out of the truck. Interesting in that I started using the Andersen late last summer. Put a few trips on it then used it all of this summer plus. Only way I found this out was when I recently took the 5er into an Auto/RV paint shop to get an estimate to paint my front cap. I needed to drive to the end of the street and make a uturn in a large parking lot. As I was turning I looked in my side view mirror and saw the pin box make slight contact with the bed rail.
Guess I was pretty luck as to not have made contact with all the towing I did prior. Mt bad for not measuring the distance of things after installing.
So now I'm back to my B&W. Arrg. Kinda sucks as I really like the Andersen but I see no way to make it work. Just a heads up to those interested.
jkwilson
Explorer III
Sep 18, 2017
njonl wrote:
I'm assuming different trailers sit at different heights, so I guess I won't really know until I go pick it up. It seems like the newer Ram's already sit pretty high. I'm hoping Forest River took that into consideration when building their newer trailers

When I was shopping, I spoke to FR with some questions I had and they said they "weren't aware of clearance issues with new trucks". Hard to believe.

I love my Andersen Ultimate. Can't think of a single reason to go with anything else. Can turn my GD 303RLS 90 degrees with my SB F250. Plenty of rail clearance, tows nicely and I can lift the hitch easily by myself.