Andersen hitch??

[superhooperduty]

Buying a 5th wheel Columbus 305re, have any of you bought the Andersen ultimate hitch and used it with the B&W flip over ball? I like the light weight of the aluminum but am a little nervous about the strength! So wondering if anyone has any experience with this set up? Thanks

[Me_Again]

The ONLY clear advantage of the Andersen hitch is it's light weight! Those that say is smooths out towing should mount their GoPro on the side of the bed and watch the for and aft movement that occurs. Flex in the bed is acting like a for and aft shock absorber. Chris

[N-Trouble]

CJW8 wrote:
I fail to see how this will replace an automatic slider. It only gains you 9" while my slider gains me 14". I need about 12 of those inches to keep from making contact.

If your referrng to the Andersen nobody is claiming its a "reolacement" for a slider. Andersen even clearly states this in their documentation. The Andersen is what I would call an "in-betweener". Clearance you gain is somewhere between a non-slider and slider. For many it fits the bill. For some it wont...

[BarneyS]

[WTP-GC]

Cummins12V98 wrote:


No one re designs a product with a "couple of reports"...

That's completely false!
If that were true, we'd live in a boring world. The wheels of innovation never stop spinning in the ongoing sense of making your product better, more marketable, look better, more easily produced, more easily shipped, more user-friendly, etc. Look around...almost every product you have or own or use has been tweaked or improved for any number of reasons. Is the iPhone 7 remarkably better than the iPhone 6...or did the 6 have so many problems that they had to make the 7? Of course not. In the innovation rule book, there's nothing that says you have to have product failure in order to redesign.

The only way to come to your conclusion is for Andersen to put out a statement that agrees with it. If the original product was so bad, they'd be replacing all of them for free out of fear of lawsuits. They are not doing this.

[Cummins12V98]

N-Trouble wrote:
Experience trumps opinions...

I think my "opinion" was proven spot on when I voiced my concern a long time ago about fore and aft stresses on the bed and hitch. Also not thinking the crush test was relevant to what would happen to the hitch in the real world. Seems I was correct they had failures enough of them with hauling heavy within their ratings and having tubes bend.

Nice they have BEEFED the hitch up. Still does not address the bed deflection with the base sitting on the top of the beds corrugation. No different them my 18K B&W that caused bed deflection on my 11 Dually. They did send me a new base with supports to transfer the fore and aft forces to the bottom corrugations and then to the beds cross members. Andersen has not done that.

Quality hitch just not something that should be used in their upper weight ratings IMHO.

Remember this forum is for information, some satisfied Andersen owners don't like some of my comments. They are for those considering a new hitch.

I thought MeAgain was wrong about the B&W 18K base, long ago he mentioned bed deflection. Guess what he was correct! As I said many times that B&W design was engineered when truck beds had some strength. Once they saw the problem they designed a new base and upped the 18K Companion to 20K. Even at that rating anyone with eyes wide open can see the Ultimate that is "rated" much higher is no way built any stronger.

[Cummins12V98]

N-Trouble wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:

06Fargo wrote:
Popcorn on...

I like the video where they squarsh a hitch frame in a press to measure it's capacity before deforming then use it to haul a Big Heavy toyhauler to the dunes.

Unfortunately that silly "Crush" test did not show how easily their hitch would deform just from hard braking!

Back to the drawing board and now they have a "revised" hitch.

NOT saying Andersen does not make a quality product, they do! I just would no way use one in the upper weights they claim. For one bed deflection with these newer thin beds is possible.

To put things in perspective only the early Aluminum versions had a couple of reports of this.

No one re designs a product with a "couple of reports", that's what has been reported around this Forum. I think the world is much bigger than RV.net.

[SkiSmuggs]

Border Boy wrote:

The short list looks like this.

Anderson, Steel on rails.
PullRite SuperGlide 16K on rails.
B&W Patriot 16K on rails.

I don't think I'll have to have a slider with the new cutaway end caps...but will find out tomorrow when I get the truck and can measure.

I really like the Anderson design and weight. What size bed do those of you using it have? How far can you jackknife if you need to?

I have the rail mount Andersen. Turning clearance depends on your truck, your trailer, your pin box, how you install the Andersen hitch and how you install the adapter.
I have a SB (6'9") F350 so installed with the ball to the rear to move away from the cab. My Cougar High Country has the cut away front corners for improved turning clearance, but the OEM pin box was replaced by a MorRyde. Prior to the Andersen, I had clearance problems with the cab at about 75 degrees and with the rear of the pin box hitting the bed sides about the same time, yet towed thousands of miles that way being careful about backing into campsites. With the Andersen ball to the rear and mindful of the pin box/bed side problem, I installed the adapter on the pin box with the receiver hole behind the pin. I can now turn 90 degrees without hitting the cab or bed sides. Your experience my vary.
If I were to get a wide body fiver, my clearance would be less and I would have to take care with the turns, but I would have the option to reverse the adapter and move the fiver 8" further away from the cab.

[WTP-GC]

minnow wrote:


I have read just 2 complaints from Andersen users on the many RV and Ram truck forums I follow about the hitch deflecting. Both of these limited incidents have been broadcast ad naseum by the nay sayers. First thing to know is that the hitch did not fail. No one had their fifth wheel come unattached from the hitch.

Secondly, Andersen redesigned and reinforced the hitch earlier this year and in both incidents that I read, Andersen replaced the deformed hitch with new version at no cost to the owners. I have not read of any issues with the new "version 2".

Considering the hitch has been sold since 2014, there are now a lot of the Andersen's out there in the real world in use, every day. There is a fellow on one of the Ram forums that is a professional RV delivery driver and uses the Andersen with the gooseneck ball. He reports not a single issue. He delivers all sizes and weights of fifth wheels. If anyone was going to have a problem, I think one would present itself under the conditions he tows with.

Adding to this comment, I've actually only read about one incident where it deformed under a heavy braking scenario. Not to say that another incident doesn't exist, but I'm just not specifically aware of it. Andersen told me via email that they've sold over 18,000 hitches since its introduction, so even if there were several incidents of deforming hitches, that's superior performance. As you mention, in no case has the hitch actually failed (in terms of falling apart or not being able to tow the 5er). And in the case I know about, we don't exactly know the whole story, such as whether or not the GN hitch or Andersen was installed correctly.

They advertise the crush test because its an accurate depiction of the forces present in a lateral movement. For those who understand the physics behind triangular/angled supports, this is very apparent. A direct downward force exerts pressures very similar to lateral forces.

To the OP, I have an Andersen and love it. Combined with my Mor-Ryde pin box, it works perfectly. I find that I need to more/less be inline from a perpendicular perspective, which is not hard at all. The pin box will move laterally to make up minor differences.

If you scour the internet, you'll not find any Andersen UH owner that is dissatisfied with the product. However, you will find a lot of naysayers and critics who have never used it. I agree that experience governs in this category.

[minnow]

CJW8 wrote:
I fail to see how this will replace an automatic slider. It only gains you 9" while my slider gains me 14". I need about 12 of those inches to keep from making contact.

The Andersen is probably not the best choice for the older fifth wheels such as yours where the front cap is not sculpted, like they are in today's modern fifth wheels. For those that need the extra cab/cap clearance, a slider is needed for sure.

I have the Andersen steel version mounted on a gooseneck ball towing a 2015 Reflection. No issues at all. I've noted a tremendous decrease in chucking when towing compared to my previous 2014 Reese Elite puck mounted hitch. The fiver just rides a lot smoother.

I have read just 2 complaints from Andersen users on the many RV and Ram truck forums I follow about the hitch deflecting. Both of these limited incidents have been broadcast ad naseum by the nay sayers. First thing to know is that the hitch did not fail. No one had their fifth wheel come unattached from the hitch.

Secondly, Andersen redesigned and reinforced the hitch earlier this year and in both incidents that I read, Andersen replaced the deformed hitch with new version at no cost to the owners. I have not read of any issues with the new "version 2".

Considering the hitch has been sold since 2014, there are now a lot of the Andersen's out there in the real world in use, every day. There is a fellow on one of the Ram forums that is a professional RV delivery driver and uses the Andersen with the gooseneck ball. He reports not a single issue. He delivers all sizes and weights of fifth wheels. If anyone was going to have a problem, I think one would present itself under the conditions he tows with.

To me the biggest pluses are ease of removal and the lower weight. Although I have the steel version which weighs twice as much as the aluminum one, it is still 1/2 the weight of my previous hitch. I don't have to break down the hitch into parts to be able to lift it out of the truck. I didn't have to bolt a winch to my garage ceiling either. Drop the ball into the bed hole, drop the hitch onto the ball, insert the locking pin, drop the fifth wheel on the ball, tighten three bolts and ready to go. I'd bet the entire process doesn't take but 5 minutes from start to finish.

[CJW8]

I fail to see how this will replace an automatic slider. It only gains you 9" while my slider gains me 14". I need about 12 of those inches to keep from making contact.

[N-Trouble]

Searching_Ut wrote:
For those of you using the Andersen, how much distortion has it caused so far to the base of your pin box? I'm not talking surface marks on the plate, but bending and bowing, especially around the two set screws on the ball side of the adapter.

Nothing that I have noticed on mine. Post a pic...

[ccsvolsfan]

I love my Andersen ultimate hitch. I pull a 42' Sandpiper 360PDEK. I put a dense rubber mat under mine. No bed damage and I have put some pretty heavy pressure on whole rig boondocking in hard to get to area. A regular hitch probably couldn't have handled the twisting and extreme range of motion.

[Searching_Ut]

For those of you using the Andersen, how much distortion has it caused so far to the base of your pin box? I'm not talking surface marks on the plate, but bending and bowing, especially around the two set screws on the ball side of the adapter.

[N-Trouble]

Experience trumps opinions...