Which 5th Wheel Hitch?

[dennydecuir]

After ten years in a 30'TT, I'm planning to graduate to a 5th Wheel. I drive an F350 long bed diesel. I assume everyone has a favorite hitch, probably the one in the bed of his truck, but what should I consider when shopping for a hitch? Which should I NOT buy? I'm planning to pull about 37'. Thanks in advance.

[GMH]

Glad you guys cleared that all up for the OP! :B I had no issues with the Reese 15K in my old truck other than a bit of chucking. The sliding bar was positively latched and I never feared losing the trailer. My new B&W is really nice. I'm not sure I believe the bit about it being "engineered" to separate in a rollover but I would be glad it happened rather than take me over with it. Proper installation and hookup is imperative with All hitches.

[Dave_H_M]

Well lets keep beating this horse. :B I cannot figure out what the pic of the smashed pick up bed and a Reese hitch in it proves.

If the guy had a B&W and drove off with the hitch open, would a B&W sense that and automatically close before the trailer came unhitched and dropped. :h

Pics like that and all the wailing on this board made me paranoid and I installed a Butches Services Attachment on my hitch. When I commented on that someone came back and asked, what if you forgot to latch the safety hitch also. it is to early or i would switch from coffee to beer. :R

I promise to behave now.

[bshgto1]

And there you go we are talking about a barely adequate design and materials as apposed to over the top design and materials set up for 3 million miles of towing and a driver that is attentive to the connection as apposed to the camper owners that for the most part haven`t got a clue of the dangers. Not sure about you but don`t believe I`ve ever heard of a truck hitch failure but on a regular basis you here about your wonder hitch failing or the owner dropping the camper on his bed because " I thought it was connected" " what does high hitch mean?" it`s all over this forum and the others as well. Myrtle Beach 3 weeks ago right in front of my camper the guy dropped his unit leaving on the bed of his new truck, he had to beat his tailgate lose with a campground borrowed sledge hammer to free up the wedged pin box made for quit a morning coffee break show, yep wonder hitch sold to him by the dealer. The deal with the AU is you can`t miss the fact that it`s connected even if your stupid and you don`t have all the known or not known issues with Grandpas hitch.

[fj12ryder]

bshgto1 wrote:
The hitch battle is just like a best oil thread. Goes no where accomplishes nothing proves there is way to many opinionated people out there. All the hitches that have moving parts are a failure waiting to happen ( yes I know you have been using wonder hitch x for 30 years and no problems), the only advancement in hitches is the Andersen Ultimate or the Pullrites super light. Just to easy and no moving parts to fail. Dealers won`t push them on a new camper sale cause there is very little profit in it for them over the expensive lead weights they have on display. Manufactures will say they will void your warranty but offer no engineering facts behind the statement. I can see the smoke coming out of her ears trying to explain that one. They are truly the wave of the future but it will take time.

When do you suppose the trucking industry will realize all their trucks that haul semi trailers "are a failure waiting to happen"? It does make a person wonder why there aren't trailers littering the road from all those hitches that have failed. I don't know that I've ever read of a properly attached semi trailer coming off a truck. I wonder why that is. I mean they all do have "moving parts". Must be just millions and millions of miles of pure luck.

[bshgto1]

The hitch battle is just like a best oil thread. Goes no where accomplishes nothing proves there is way to many opinionated people out there. All the hitches that have moving parts are a failure waiting to happen ( yes I know you have been using wonder hitch x for 30 years and no problems), the only advancement in hitches is the Andersen Ultimate or the Pullrites super light. Just to easy and no moving parts to fail. Dealers won`t push them on a new camper sale cause there is very little profit in it for them over the expensive lead weights they have on display. Manufactures will say they will void your warranty but offer no engineering facts behind the statement. I can see the smoke coming out of her ears trying to explain that one. They are truly the wave of the future but it will take time.

[texasjayco]

agesilaus wrote:
I would avoid Reese.

At ALL COST!!! I had an 18K Reese Elite that I bought from Ford when I got the new truck in 2010. It was great for a while, but got so sloppy that the king pin would actually raise up out of the hitch!! Worst hitch ever made!!

I got a B&W recently and LOVE IT!! I tow with much more confidence now!!

And it fits perfectly in the Ford 5th wheel prep pucks.

Mark

[cummins2014]

RAS43 wrote:

Dave H M wrote:
I had to read through this thread just knowing that the dirty word Reese would come up and generate a big smack down. :B

I am going to continue to run my Reese. I think it is practical and serves the purpose well.

X2 on my 22 year old 20k Reese. Still works well! Been on 3 trucks!

I still have my Reese 18K slider hitch, and will continue to use it if the need occurs. Certain trips I need the ease of removal of the Andersen away from home. Some trips where my hitch doesn't need to be removed I just may go with the Reese.

[cummins2014]

Not sure why someone would think they can't drop a fifth wheel with a B&W, thats nonsense, and a recipe for disaster . some may be more prone then others, but the FACT remains with any conventional hitch .

[cummins2014]

Its been done, its pretty simple actually to drop a fifth wheel with any hitch, other then an Andersen. The fact you haven't seen it happen with a B&W doesn't mean it hasn't happened, and it has been reported on this forum .

All the things we keep reading about problems with the B&W would keep me away from one, their great customer service we keep reading about is not much consolation sitting somewhere trying to get the hitch to release or parts going bad, waiting for them to be shipped.

The one fact about being able to lock the B&W in the open position, makes for a poor design right there along with the other mechanical issues. My previous hitch the Reese signature, same hitch basically as the Reese Elite, could not be kept or locked in the open position, as soon as you back into it, it closed. IMO right there made it a better built ,and designed hitch then the B&W.

One fact remains, all this nonsense ,and mechanical parts are eliminated with the Andersen with its simple design. Being an owner of both types of fifth wheel hitches, I CAN make the argument the Andersen is a better hitch overall then the conventional hitch.

[jerem0621]

I’ve never personally seen that with any hitch.

I have seen it with all brands on this forum including B&W.

It should never happen with any fifth wheel hitch and is always user error.

Make sure your jaws are closed around the pin and above the bottom flange of the pin. Make sure your release handle is locked. If anything is funny...stop and rehitch. Do a pull test, it’s stupid simple insurance. This is not hard, It’s really not rocket surgery.

I have seen a bunch of cab corners dented due to hitting the cab on short bed trucks but that’s a different topic.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[bpounds]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Please do tell what is so poorly designed about this hitch?

I've covered my opinions before, and you won't get it anyway. Besides, not disrespecting other hitch brands was exactly my point. They all do the job safely.

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Never see this with a B&W.

Simply a game of numbers.

[Cummins12V98]

That's pretty darn funny. "It is possibly the poorest, from an engineering design standpoint" what's your opinion on ANDERSEN?

Please do tell what is so poorly designed about this hitch?




Never see this with a B&W.

[3_dog_nights]

my 2 cents, I picked the Trailer Saver TS-3. I saw most of the big 5'vers had an air ride on the pin box. My thought was, if I change out the camper the pin box goes with it. If I change out the truck the hitch moves to the new one. As far as the weight to remove and replace, I just left it attached to the camper, raised the jacks and drove out from under it. One comment stayed with me from when I started my research on 5'vers, trucks and hitches....buy the safest hitch you can afford. Good Luck, safe travels!

[RAS43]

Dave H M wrote:
I had to read through this thread just knowing that the dirty word Reese would come up and generate a big smack down. :B

I am going to continue to run my Reese. I think it is practical and serves the purpose well.

X2 on my 22 year old 20k Reese. Still works well! Been on 3 trucks!

[memtb]

bpounds wrote:

Dave H M wrote:
I had to read through this thread just knowing that the dirty word Reese would come up and generate a big smack down. :B

I am going to continue to run my Reese. I think it is practical and serves the purpose well.

Same here. Zero reason to change my hitch. And I have no love for B&W either. It is possibly the poorest, from an engineering design standpoint, of all the brands out there. I see very few of them around campgrounds out here in the west.

All these hitch wars are just silly. Some personalities seem to think they have found gods gift to fifth wheels and that anything different has to be dissed. And some times I think a lot of folks deep down just don't trust fifth wheel hitches (that pin looks sketchy, doesn't it?). Truth is that accidents of any kind, and especially hitch related accidents, are very rare and the fifth wheel hitch is a very reliable design in all of its flavors.

??????