what kind of fifthwheel hitch?

Searching_Ut wrote:


I couldn't keep my hitch base from slipping occasionally resulting in loud pop. Torqued to 50 ft lbs with trailer weight on hitch. Hitch adapter got damaged twice by dealer using ball on fork lift. Resulted in lock pin binding and adapter having to be replaced second time. Bed of truck starting to deform and lippert 1621hd got trashed from all the weight being carried on two set screws. Ordered and installed B&W hitch, also ordered 5th airborne pin box which I'm still waiting on.

Personally, my advise would be to avoid the Andersen hitch unless you have a really light trailer. Neat idea but not really ready for prime time yet. I totally lost confidence in it, and wold have swapped it out even without the damage it's caused and causing. Can't really comment on the B&W yet as I haven't towed with it yet. Should have approximately 3k of experience though by end of Oct.

I've not heard of the "loud pop" that results from occasional slipping. Kinda makes me wonder if there's something else going on. Over the course of an entire trip (and before the revised instructions came out), I noticed that my base had spun maybe 1" or so, but that's not a problem I've had again. I did also have it slip back and forth once, but I corrected that problem as soon as I realized that I had forgotten to tighten the set screws on the coupler.

Sad that it didn't work out for you, as it seems to work just fine for 99% of other users. I can certainly see how a dealer could damage it. It shouldn't happen, but I've seen them act so carelessly I'm surprised that they don't do more damage.