Andersen Ultimate Aluminum 2016 Model Update

[hbillsmith]

Request: This thread is about the Andersen, please do not hijack the thread to enlighten everyone about other hitches like the B&W. They are great and each has its place in RV-land.

I previously owned the original 2015 Ultimate Aluminum and liked it a lot. Back then I did a Youtube video with comments about my installation. I've made some changes in equipment and I now am back to the Andersen Ultimate only this one is the most recent 2016 model that had a few nice changes.

I'm one of those Andersen fans that installed the kingpin adapter backward to change the pivot point to better match my mor/Ryde pinbox. Texas weather these last few weeks has kept me off the road, so I decided to do an updated Youtube video. As with the first one, this video was unsolicited and uncompensated, I just did it for fun and in case it may answer anyone questions. Also, I admit to posting this exact same message on the Forest River Owners forum.

Here's the link:
Andersen Ultimate 2016 Version

[BarneyS]

Too much time being spent keeping this thread clean and within the forum rules. Thread closed.
Barney

[DirtyOil]

rhagfo wrote:
Well some of my concerns were confirmed just the other day. Camper came into the park with an Andersen Ultimate Aluminum, first issue the cable for the release lock, was pushed and bent at the adapter end, and you couldn't pull the release, until I straightened the cable. I am not sure how it got bent. Second is I noticed this was the persons first tow with the setup and the spray in bed liner was already scared by the base, looked like slight movement fore and aft.
That and one single bolt secures the Andersen to the ball adapter!
B&W uses a hold down bolt, and two "U" bolts to secure to the ball adapter.

My spray liner does not show any scares, flattening or any "ridges" from the Anderson frame. If properly installed that won't happen. Been using the Anderson for 3 years now.

[WTP-GC]

rhagfo wrote:



Then the way and where the Andersen base attaches to the GN ball, the hitch has about 12" of leverage on the connection. Making the Andersen weak to being pushed forward or pulled back, and bending during "Hard Braking" Link to backup. If you look at the pictures you will notice and forward force to the connection is applied at the top of the connection, thus giving the 12" of leverage.

I often wonder if the OP for that thread you linked to knew that one day, his experience would be the singular incident that all Andersen UH detractors refer back to. His short story of a bent hitch has somehow managed to dwarf the success rates of the many thousands of UH's that have been sold. Note that even that guy still uses an Aluminum version of the UH.

[hbillsmith]

rhagfo wrote:
...I saw results with a smaller 5er moving the base enough to scar a spray in bed liner.
Smith Answer: As with any hitch, good practice to recheck bolts after hitching to looseness

Then the way and where the Andersen base attaches to the GN ball, the hitch has about 12" of leverage on the connection. Making the Andersen weak to being pushed forward or pulled back, and bending during "Hard Braking" Link to backup. If you look at the pictures you will notice and forward force to the connection is applied at the top of the connection, thus giving the 12" of leverage. The B&W the force is applied at the base of the connection.
Smith Answer:Not sure where you see 12", the one I own is 2 inches from the floor. The top ball is level with the kingpin. Of 18,000 hitches sold, less than 5 ever experienced a bend, all were cosmetic that did not inhibit the towing and all were replaced for free under Andersen's lifetime warranty (I did followups to know what I am saying is correct). Even the link you listed ends with a happy owner comment.

That said, I have the other hitch that Cummins12V98 slams, I have a Reese 16K twin jaw. It attaches to the TV FRAME in four places. The jaws pivot behind the pin, so the harder you pull the tighter they shut. So much so, I have pulled my 11,000# for over 20 miles with the jaws UNLOCKED without issue.
Smith Answer:I can identify with that. I hurried out of a campsite once and forgot to turn and push the Andersen lock handle. A few hours later went to unhook and made the discovery. Turns out that a couple thousand pounds of hitch weight is enough to keep the trailer from bouncing off the ball. I now use check lists and the lock handle is on their once in the camp break list and again on the 'before you drive off' list.

Smith Answers: Thank you for your observations, I love a good discussion 😉

[hbillsmith]

cummins2014 wrote:
I have read where you can trim some off the back of the pin box without hurting anything to clear the bed rails.

Yes, I saw that mod and considered it. My problem is I don't have the tools (and probably ability) to do the mod. I may do it someday but for now the Reverse+Curt is workin' for me.

[rhagfo]

cummins2014 wrote:



I am curious, you state you are not a fan of the Andersen. Have you owned ,and towed with one, and decided it was not the hitch for you ?

Being a non owner of the Andersen, I have read all the supposed negatives, everything from you have to lift the fifth wheel higher and it will wear out the landing gear, to its overrated on capacity, but overall what is there that really distracts from the Andersen to not purchase one.

IMO being lightweight , and strong , easy to remove, pretty much outweighs any negatives. I could give a list of negatives on my conventional sliding hitch, but bottom line it hooks up my fifth wheel, and pulls it down the road without issue. I'm thinking the Andersen does the same.

Well now both second hand and first hand knowledge.

I don't like hitches that depend on the floor of the bed for support, both the Andersen and B&W Companion depend on the bed for support.
I saw results with a smaller 5er moving the base enough to scar a spray in bed liner.

Then the way and where the Andersen base attaches to the GN ball, the hitch has about 12" of leverage on the connection. Making the Andersen weak to being pushed forward or pulled back, and bending during "Hard Braking" Link to backup. If you look at the pictures you will notice and forward force to the connection is applied at the top of the connection, thus giving the 12" of leverage. The B&W the force is applied at the base of the connection.

That said, I have the other hitch that Cummins12V98 slams, I have a Reese 16K twin jaw. It attaches to the TV FRAME in four places. The jaws pivot behind the pin, so the harder you pull the tighter they shut. So much so, I have pulled my 11,000# for over 20 miles with the jaws UNLOCKED without issue.

[csamayfield55x]

hbillsmith wrote:

csamayfield55 wrote:
1.5 pages before the B&W crowd start taking over!!! Good job for holding off this long

We did the adapter flip with the Mor ride om ny FIL's 5er. He was coming in contact with the bed rails on his 12 Ram SB. The 4" difference was just enough to clear the pinbox corners when hard turning. BTW, with this configuration we got close to 88 degrees of turn before I got nervous.

I am going to get the new adapter for him prett quick so he can get that funnel installed.

Chris

Chris you can get the Funnel adapter anytime by contacting Andersen customer service (customerservice@anderseninc.com). The instructions describe removing the 2 bolts that secure the adapter to the kingpin and also removing the lock cable where it screws into the adapter. The Funnel then slips over the adapter. Lastly you then you reinsert and tighten the 2 bolts and reinsert and tighten the lock cable. Its pretty easy and will work for anyone that has the Ultimate. They were charging current Ultimate owners just $32 for the Funnel add on. Also, be sure and give them the serial number off the Ultimate frame. That will tell them if they need to include a ball replacement also. When they came out with the funnel, they extended the ball's neck to provide additional clearance to the funnel skirt. Note the truck bed to ball top distance did not change, just the neck design.

Thanks, will give them a call this afternoon.

Chris

[hbillsmith]

csamayfield55 wrote:
1.5 pages before the B&W crowd start taking over!!! Good job for holding off this long

We did the adapter flip with the Mor ride om ny FIL's 5er. He was coming in contact with the bed rails on his 12 Ram SB. The 4" difference was just enough to clear the pinbox corners when hard turning. BTW, with this configuration we got close to 88 degrees of turn before I got nervous.

I am going to get the new adapter for him prett quick so he can get that funnel installed.

Chris

Chris you can get the Funnel adapter anytime by contacting Andersen customer service (customerservice@anderseninc.com). The instructions describe removing the 2 bolts that secure the adapter to the kingpin and also removing the lock cable where it screws into the adapter. The Funnel then slips over the adapter. Lastly you then you reinsert and tighten the 2 bolts and reinsert and tighten the lock cable. Its pretty easy and will work for anyone that has the Ultimate. They were charging current Ultimate owners just $32 for the Funnel add on. Also, be sure and give them the serial number off the Ultimate frame. That will tell them if they need to include a ball replacement also. When they came out with the funnel, they extended the ball's neck to provide additional clearance to the funnel skirt. Note the truck bed to ball top distance did not change, just the neck design.

[cummins2014]

csamayfield55 wrote:
1.5 pages before the B&W crowd start taking over!!! Good job for holding off this long

We did the adapter flip with the Mor ride om ny FIL's 5er. He was coming in contact with the bed rails on his 12 Ram SB. The 4" difference was just enough to clear the pinbox corners when hard turning. BTW, with this configuration we got close to 88 degrees of turn before I got nervous.

I am going to get the new adapter for him prett quick so he can get that funnel installed.

Chris

I have read where you can trim some off the back of the pin box without hurting anything to clear the bed rails.

[csamayfield55x]

1.5 pages before the B&W crowd start taking over!!! Good job for holding off this long

We did the adapter flip with the Mor ride om ny FIL's 5er. He was coming in contact with the bed rails on his 12 Ram SB. The 4" difference was just enough to clear the pinbox corners when hard turning. BTW, with this configuration we got close to 88 degrees of turn before I got nervous.

I am going to get the new adapter for him prett quick so he can get that funnel installed.

Chris

[cummins2014]

rhagfo wrote:


X2 to IdaD's statement above, while I am not a fan of the Andersen, it doesn't add any extra stress to the frame as the adapter is right at the pin. If someone got frame damage, it was due to a bad frame to begin with.

.


I am curious, you state you are not a fan of the Andersen. Have you owned ,and towed with one, and decided it was not the hitch for you ?

Being a non owner of the Andersen, I have read all the supposed negatives, everything from you have to lift the fifth wheel higher and it will wear out the landing gear, to its overrated on capacity, but overall what is there that really distracts from the Andersen to not purchase one.

IMO being lightweight , and strong , easy to remove, pretty much outweighs any negatives. I could give a list of negatives on my conventional sliding hitch, but bottom line it hooks up my fifth wheel, and pulls it down the road without issue. I'm thinking the Andersen does the same.

[rhagfo]

IdaD wrote:

boshog wrote:
Nice video, thank you but too late for me. I chose the B&W Companion for the RAM puck system. I have no need to remove the hitch from the truck bed so the weight of the B&W isn't an issue. If I do remove it, I use the tractor because even separating the head from the platform doesn't make the platform light enough for me to move.

Since this appears to be a reasonable thread, I would like to squelch something that I read about the Anderson when I was researching fifth wheel hitches last year. One has already been addressed. The other was the possible damage to the trailer by the Anderson. I didn't understand why but did read Anderson would pay for the repair. Never did find anyone that actually had frame damage from using the Anderson. Is it an issue or just Internet rumor?

I think it's something Andersen says they'll cover to address concerns anybody may have because it's a gooseneck setup and the standard gooseneck adapters can cause issues in some cases. I don't see how the Andersen setup could cause any stresses or issues that wouldn't also be present in a standard fifth wheel hitch setup.

X2 to IdaD's statement above, while I am not a fan of the Andersen, it doesn't add any extra stress to the frame as the adapter is right at the pin. If someone got frame damage, it was due to a bad frame to begin with.

[RustyJC]

rhagfo wrote:
That and one single bolt secures the Andersen to the ball adapter!
B&W uses a hold down bolt, and two "U" bolts to secure to the ball adapter.

True for the 18K rated B&W Companion. The 20K rated B&W Companion RVK3500 that I upgraded to uses a much more substantial hold-down arrangement - a different adapter post and base.



Rusty

[hbillsmith]

Mr. rhagfo

The AU uses 3 bolts to secure the adapter. I see, it was a first tow?, instructions say to retighten after hitching and that is to insure base is secure. Then there is that bent cable? no problem, its removable and can be straightened. Its a pliable cable. What about that scratched bedliner! Please, its a truck. Besides any hitch eventually scratches the bedliner Just like my BIL B&W did on his. BTW, I show my GMC rubber mat in the video. No scratchy, softer ride 😉

One last thing. We absolutely love Oregon state parks!