Anderson Ultimate and 100" wide 5th Wheel

[skidooman93]

Anyone here using and Anderson Ultimate to tow a full size (not a light) openrange (mine is a 2014 367BH) 5th wheel with a 2014-2017 Ram 2500-3500 short bed 4X4 and factory gooseneck/5th wheel prep. I was all ready to purchase and Anderson but I am concerned with clearance issues when turning. And clearance issues with bed side rails if the adapter is turned so the ball mount is behind the king pin, The openranges are 100" wide so that seems to create more clearance issues for some. Any help or experience would be greatly appreciated. I am not interested in a traditional 5th wheel hitch IE B&W only other alternative would be a reese goosebox.

[Cummins12V98]

"Its almost comical how the Anderson bashers come out of the wood work as soon as Anderson is mentioned. "

It's called information. I thought that's why we are all here. But hey if someone does not like facts or opinions I guess we should silence that person!

[skidooman93]

rhagfo wrote:

JIMNLIN wrote:

op wrote:
At what point did I ask, give me your opinion on the durability of the Anderson Ultimate hitch? I dont remember writing that. I guess it is possible my language could have been translated into that, but as far as I know I have been typing English to the best of my abilities. I dont care what you think of the Anderson hitch, it doesnt matter.

Well said.....and you bring up a good point.
You made it clear off the top what information your looking for.

Just a point on clearance if its a concern........I don't have the Anderson but if the trailer has the new style rounded/notched front corners then contacting the trucks cab won't happen if thats a concern.


Check out some of the more friendly rv websites with your questions.

That is a very brave statement to make, we see post here several times with those with Short Bed TV and non slider hitches hitting the cab. These happen at far less then 90 degrees, Hate the fact that more designs are getting more and more curved and loosing closet space.
Wish some manufactures would design and build wider noses for more capacity, for those of us that don't have an issue with a Long Bed TV.

Ok so now I have the guys that have deciphered what I wrote into me asking "what will happen if I don't have enough clearance with my 5th wheel and my cab" I don't remember asking that either.

What I do remember asking is if there are any people here that have first hand experience towing a 100" wide 5th wheel with a late model Ram truck and and Anderson Ultimate Hitch or a goose box. That is it. That is all. If you can provide first hand experience with that what I asked for, first hand Experience towing with that combination or something relatively close to it then by all means I would love to hear what you have.
I do appreciate those that have added there experience with similar equipment. And those that have suggested I asked this question some place else were there are far less people that feel the need to voice their opinion on something not related. I AM FULLY AWARE WHAT CAN HAPPEN IF I DONT HAVE ENOUGH CLEARANCE.

[csamayfield55x]

Fact of the matter is I can make my cut out front gooseneck 5er hith the cab of my longbed flatbed truck if I try hard enough!!! People need to have at least a little sense when backing a trailer up!!

My FIL put 3 dents in his cab with his manual slider because he wouldn't slide it back. When it broke we put an Andersen in. I cranked that thing to where I thought I was going to rip the tires off the rim and still had a couple of inches but he just managed to bust his back window out!! He has a pay attention problem

Chris

[rhagfo]

JIMNLIN wrote:

op wrote:
At what point did I ask, give me your opinion on the durability of the Anderson Ultimate hitch? I dont remember writing that. I guess it is possible my language could have been translated into that, but as far as I know I have been typing English to the best of my abilities. I dont care what you think of the Anderson hitch, it doesnt matter.

Well said.....and you bring up a good point.
You made it clear off the top what information your looking for.

Just a point on clearance if its a concern........I don't have the Anderson but if the trailer has the new style rounded/notched front corners then contacting the trucks cab won't happen if thats a concern.

Check out some of the more friendly rv websites with your questions.

That is a very brave statement to make, we see post here several times with those with Short Bed TV and non slider hitches hitting the cab. These happen at far less then 90 degrees, Hate the fact that more designs are getting more and more curved and loosing closet space.
Wish some manufactures would design and build wider noses for more capacity, for those of us that don't have an issue with a Long Bed TV.

[Me_Again]

From TDR

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/threads/254427-Forget-what-I-said-about-Andersen-hitch?highlight...

[JIMNLIN]

op wrote:
At what point did I ask, give me your opinion on the durability of the Anderson Ultimate hitch? I dont remember writing that. I guess it is possible my language could have been translated into that, but as far as I know I have been typing English to the best of my abilities. I dont care what you think of the Anderson hitch, it doesnt matter.

Well said.....and you bring up a good point.
You made it clear off the top what information your looking for.

Just a point on clearance if its a concern........I don't have the Anderson but if the trailer has the new style rounded/notched front corners then contacting the trucks cab won't happen if thats a concern.

Check out some of the more friendly rv websites with your questions.

[rhagfo]

The issue isn't the Andersen, it is SB TV with a wide body 5er. Let us know when you break your rear window, or dent the cab.

Just never amazes me how people will do what ever to pull a wide trailer with a SB TV.

[Rich1961]

Skidooman93,

The bed of the GM trucks is narrower from bed rail to bed rail than the others.

Rich

[skidooman93]

. At what point did I ask, give me your opinion on the durability of the Anderson Ultimate hitch? I dont remember writing that. I guess it is possible my language could have been translated into that, but as far as I know I have been typing English to the best of my abilities. I dont care what you think of the Anderson hitch, it doesnt matter.

IdaD wrote:
Lots of guys in my area tow wide toy haulers with no issues with the AU setup, both rail mount and gooseneck style. My fifth wheel isn't quite that wide but I don't think a couple extra inches on each side would make much difference compared to a more sculpted but wider cab style on the trailer.

FWIW I love the hitch. Smooth, simple and rock solid. Mine is a rail mount style. I have no idea why there are so many Andersen bashers (almost none of whom have first hand experience). I suppose it has a lot to do with insecurity about something new that may work better in many ways than the status quo they're invested in. I'm aware of one report of a bent aluminum style hitch and another report of an Andersen hitch involved in a pinbox failure - obviously due to the Andersen adapter, since this is the first pinbox in recorded history to have ever failed.

IdaD, I appreciate you sharing your experience. I didn't think 2 extra inches on the width of the 5th wheel would make that much of a difference. But reading a thread in the open range owners forum. A guy with a 2015 Chevy 2500 ran into the exact problem I am concerned about. With the adapter orientated with the ball behind the king pin his pin box would hit the sides of his box, and with the adapter ball in front of king pin he could only make 50-60 degree turns. If the box on the chevy is deeper than the Ram that could account for the clearance problem with the box sides.

I am looking for first hand experience from Ram owners that have a truck in the range specified whether they have had clearance issues.

And all the guys that dont think the Anderson is worth the material it is welded of. You are entitled to your opinion but I didn't ask for it.

[ralphnjoann]

minnow wrote:
Good one !!

Yep!

[minnow]

Good one !!

[IdaD]

Lots of guys in my area tow wide toy haulers with no issues with the AU setup, both rail mount and gooseneck style. My fifth wheel isn't quite that wide but I don't think a couple extra inches on each side would make much difference compared to a more sculpted but wider cab style on the trailer.

FWIW I love the hitch. Smooth, simple and rock solid. Mine is a rail mount style. I have no idea why there are so many Andersen bashers (almost none of whom have first hand experience). I suppose it has a lot to do with insecurity about something new that may work better in many ways than the status quo they're invested in. I'm aware of one report of a bent aluminum style hitch and another report of an Andersen hitch involved in a pinbox failure - obviously due to the Andersen adapter, since this is the first pinbox in recorded history to have ever failed.

[skidooman93]

Its almost comical how the Anderson bashers come out of the wood work as soon as Anderson is mentioned.

I didn't ask for hitch advice on which one to buy, I have my mind made up. I didn't ask what truck to buy, I already own my truck. I left the truck range open because everything that I listed about for trucks. (2014-2017 Ram 2500-3500 short bed 4X4 with a factory gooseneck/5th wheel prep). As far as clearance issues it doesn't matter all of the trucks are the same. Trim package doesn't matter.

What I would like to know is if any one ownes a truck that falls within those ranges, tows a 100" wide 5th wheel. The big variable is the 100" wide 5th wheel. Those are not nearly as common. I have read lots and lots of posts by people using and anderson ultimate with a truck that falls with in those ranges and have been very happy with turning radius.

Thanks for your help.

[BB_TX]

In addition to the pin box problem noted in the link above, someone else recently mentioned bed damage due to using the Andersen. The Andersen is relatively new. Hopefully this will not become a trend for other users as they add time and miles on their Andersens.

[Old-Biscuit]

Read this post about Andersen Ultimate and DAMAGE ----- LINK


AS for truck....
Narrow the list then ask questions. Too wide range...choices/trim levels.