Decisions, Decisions...5th wheel hitch

[krusegroup]

We are moving up to a 5th wheel after owning 3 travel trailers over the last 14 years or so. The Jayco Eagle HT 28.5BHXB is ordered. I'll be towing with a 2014 Ram CC 4x4 with the 6.7 Cummins. My truck has the 6.4 ft bed. I'll be installing a B&W turnover hitch, which gives the option of using their products, the Andersen Ultimate, and others. I know I'll have plenty of truck for this unit, and it just fit what we were looking for. I've read several posts regarding the need for a slider with the short bed, others who say they had tailgate interference with a slider, and others who say you won't need a slider! Just looking for anyone with real world experience with a truck like mine, and a similar rig. Also wanted to say what a blessing it has been to enjoy RVing with my wife and daughter over the years. Here''s to many more!

[IdaD]

I'd put an Andersen up against any hitch on the market in terms of build quality. It's a very stout and very well constructed piece of steel, and it tows rock solid. It's ideal for rough terrain because it has a good range of motion and can be easily hitched on uneven ground.

I don't understand why some need to constantly put it down and say it's weak based on how it looks (give me a break). If you don't want to use it fine, but there's no reason to bash a good product.

[Cummins12V98]

Just physically LOOK at the B&W hitches then LOOK at the Andersen. Forget the "RATINGS" what hitch is going to hold up to a violent situation.

Can't lock RV to the Andersen. The Andersen that sits in the bed of the truck WILL deflect the bed if towing heavy. I personally would not use the Andersen for anything over the 12K range. There also have been reports of kingpin plate damage because of the small footprint the Andersen adapter places on it.

As far as ratings go how many believe Craftsman when they say their ShopVac "develops" 6HP?

B&W is VERY Conservative with their ratings, just ask them.

[krusegroup]

Lyle, I certainly haven't eliminated the B&W Companion/Companion Slider. I am however intrigued by the number of folks running the Andersen with good results. I know there are a lot of detractors, but it would seem way too many are getting a desirable result to simply write it off. Thanks, CK

[creeper]

I towed with a short bed, crew cab f-350 and the B&W. Great hitch no problems with the cab

[laknox]

krusegroup wrote:
We are moving up to a 5th wheel after owning 3 travel trailers over the last 14 years or so. The Jayco Eagle HT 28.5BHXB is ordered. I'll be towing with a 2014 Ram CC 4x4 with the 6.7 Cummins. My truck has the 6.4 ft bed. I'll be installing a B&W turnover hitch, which gives the option of using their products, the Andersen Ultimate, and others. I know I'll have plenty of truck for this unit, and it just fit what we were looking for. I've read several posts regarding the need for a slider with the short bed, others who say they had tailgate interference with a slider, and others who say you won't need a slider! Just looking for anyone with real world experience with a truck like mine, and a similar rig. Also wanted to say what a blessing it has been to enjoy RVing with my wife and daughter over the years. Here''s to many more!

You'll have the TO Ball base, why even look beyond a Companion; slider or not?

Lyle

[4bearhug]

I had an 06 Ram 2500 CTD with the same bed as yours hauling a 37' 2010 Cardinal 5er. I had a 20K Reese slider hitch that I never used in over two years of towing. Just bought a 2015 Silverado 3500 CCSB last year and went with a B & W turnover ball and Companion hitch without a slider. Our 5er nose is rounded enough that we have clearance if you are careful in your manuvering. Not saying we couldn't end up hitting the cab, but haven't had any issues yet because it's something that we alway keep our eye on when making tight turns.

[michigancougar]

last truck had a husky slider and in a tight turn had the pavement give way under the truck causing contact between the 5er and the truck after $1000 repair when I got the new 2014 Ram I went ahead and purchased the pullrite Superglide and couldn't be happier - no more deciding if I should slide it or not - it just slides automatically on each turn. as far as height we did have to do a 6" lift on the camper because of the tall truck and the 2004 cougar. welding shop cut the axle mounts off - added 6" box tube and bracing across - also doing the same for the stabilizing jacks and going to a 4 step entry and all it great again

[mtofell1]

I have the same truck but with the Hemi and yes the bed is tall. However, I was pleased that my new Keystone Hideout has ample clearance between bed rails and 5th - roughly 7-8".

Hitch wise I can't speak highly enough of my B/W slider. I have the single attachment point in the middle of the bed and the slider is perfect.

I'm probably one of the poor folks with clearance issues when sliding back. I posted a couple weeks ago after gashing up the top of my tailgate. I've since made a chain with some hooks to hold my gate 6" open and all is great (except for the dinged up tailgate :))

Turning radius and cab clearance depends a lot on which 5th you go with. While you "might" not ever need the slider it would suck to realize you do need it when you need it 🙂

To me the extra $500 or so is me paying for the luxury of not having to haul and park and extra 2' behind me.

Good luck with it.... 5th wheels are awesome. You'll love the way they to and the floor plans are great. Nobody ever said this game was cheap 🙂

[IdaD]

On the height issue, I had to do an axle flip on mine. It's not a new unit and it just dragged too low at the back when I set the hitch for adequate bed rail clearance. One other nice thing about the Andersen is it's super easy to adjust the ball height in one of three positions. Definite two thumbs up from me.

[krusegroup]

Rob, I was very concerned about the bed height too, and had my dealer talk to the Jayco rep. I had read several stories of folks having issues with the 2015 Eagle HT, as well as others due to the tall trucks. I'm thinking we may be ok.
I had already specified 16" rims and tires, both for the 2" gain in height and to get E rated tires.
For 2016 Jayco has placed a 2" square stock spacer in between the axle and spring pack.
They also have an extra hole on the spring shackle 2" lower than the standard position. If specified on order they will set the springs in the lower hole to gain another 2". All told it should be about 6" higher than a comparable 2015 with 15" tires.

Thanks for your input on the Anderson. It's looking better all the time! Also, the Grand Design Reflection was in the final running, We couldn't quite make the floor plan on the 30BH work for us, and didn't want to go longer/bigger than about 35' OAL.

[Second_Chance]

We have a 2013 GMC CC 2WD (Duramax/Allison) and tow a Grand Design Reflection fifth wheel (36') using the Andersen Ultimate rail mount. We had to mount the Andersen in the rear position to get a shorter radius on the pin box (because of how the adapter mounts on the pin box) in order to clear the side rails on tight turns. I've never come close to hitting the cab with the trailer and the Andersen tows very nicely. The hitch is also VERY easy to get in and out of the truck if you need the bed for something else. The only thing I've done since setting up the rig initially is to swap out the stock, solid pin box with a Demco Glide Ride dampened pin box. This got rid of the bucking sensation when the truck and the trailer tug in opposite directions on these wonderful roads of ours.

All that said, my only concern for you would be the height of your truck bed. The newer trucks are getting higher and higher - and your 4WD will likely be even higher than my 2WD. Unfortunately, this is a function of the truck height regardless of which hitch you select. It's a balancing act to get the trailer level and still have enough clearance between the trailer overhang and the truck bedrails. One thing you don't want to do is pull nose-high and shift weight to the rear trailer axle.

Rob

[mileshuff]

I went with the Pullrite Superglide auto slider and don't ever worry about hitting the cab. Love it!

[krusegroup]

Thanks for all the responses. It seems that when towing with a short bed, there is no "free lunch"! Just looking to maximize turning radius, and have an efficient, safe setup.

[Searching_Ut]

With my bighorn the length of the pin arm is such that the back of it would hit the tailgate on my ram with a slider and of course you couldn't open the tailgate all the way without it hitting the 5er in a turn. Using my Andersen ultimate I can turn fairly sharp but not a full 90 degrees. Having towed assorted bumper pulls over the years I'm used to having to keep an eye on trailer to truck clearance so I don't find it to be a problem. Seems there are potential issues whichever way you go.

As for type of hitch, the more I use the Andersen the more I like it. I just had to tow a fiver that was probably a little to big for my truck 650 miles through high winds and a lot of ice and snow. Everything felt nice smooth and solid for the whole trip. No chucking, felt solid and smooth in the wind, and the lack of slop was helpful on the ice and snow where smooth is the goal of the day. It of course does great with my smaller 15.5k bighorn as well. That's all stuff you expect from a hitch though. The real greatness is how easy it is to get in and out of the truck.

[IdaD]

I've got a short bed Ram and I use the rails version of the Anderson Ultimate. I love it. Completely smooth tow, easy to hitch and the hitch itself is very well built and sturdy but also very easy to get in and out of the bed. I don't have experience with the gooseneck version in terms of how it works, but I'm sure it's built extremely well based on my experience.

Edit - I get plenty of cab clearance with my hitch set in the rear position, and my fifth wheel has a squared off front.