which gooseneck ball?

[riltri]

Picked up our new F250 today. It does not have the puck system....nothing in the bed. I want to use the Anderson Ultimate hitch and need to have a gooseneck ball below the bed system installed. Would love to hear your suggestions....B&W, Reese, Curt, Draw-tite, other?

[jerem0621]

So, this is just me personally, but there is another Made in the USA gooseneck hitch option that doesn't include levers and springs under the bed. It's called a DropNLock. I like the design.

Here is the link to their product page

DropNLock

The Anderson hitch would be compatable with this hitch as well as the Demco Recon

Demco Recon

The PullRite Superlite is a direct competitor of the Anderson and IMHO a MUCH better design.

Here is the link to this product

PullRite Superlite

Have a good day!

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[Cummins12V98]

Huntindog wrote:
A work associate just had an AH failure. Damage is over 20K so far. He said that Anderson is paying for everything.... But who wants to go thru that?

Please get more info and pics.

[Huntindog]

A work associate just had an AH failure. Damage is over 20K so far. He said that Anderson is paying for everything.... But who wants to go thru that?

[ksss]

I have seen many Al. frames on class 8 trucks, when that was thing, crack. It is not that same as alloy wheels. The airplane analogy is ridiculous, but since it was brought up, Al does fatigue and crack in airlines as well.

The bumper hitch with the segmented shaft to move the ball up and down, I think is especially a bad idea with a heavy trailer. As I stated, they may work fine, I just don't trust them with a heavy trailer. You may agree or disagree with that and that is fine.

[riltri]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm having the B&W Turnover Ball installed. Pick it up tomorrow morning. I used one with the Companion hitch in my old LB truck. I have complete faith in the B&W. Have not purchased a hitch yet but will probably go with a PullRite 2600.

[Grit_dog]

This is a fun discussion. Mechanics of materials. Combined with some statics and dynamics.
PS just because you can crush a beer can on your forehead, does not make aluminum “weak.”

PPS, I don’t know dick about 5ver hitches, but I know a little about the first things I mentioned.

[Groover]

Thermoguy wrote:

Flashman wrote:

ksss wrote:
I use a flip over ball and a Curt attachment (steel) that attaches to the ball with rails and allows you to mount the 24K fifth wheel hitch on top of that (which for me is the Curt 24K hitch). The set up is a bit heavy to install in but I really like it. It may be made in China, I never looked, its HD and works well so that is enough for me.

The Andersen hitches are from here in Idaho Falls, quite an operation. I personally have never bought anything from them. I just don't trust aluminum for things like that, not the fifth wheel hitches or the adjustable bumper pull hitches. It is a personal decision for me, not saying they are not any good, I just don't have faith in trusting Al for hitch material.

I guess you are also afraid of flying? Every modern airliner is made of aluminum.

Airplanes are made of aluminum?... Have you ever seen an airplane after an impact? It's not good, the aluminum doesn't stand up to much of an impact.

Try it out - go jump up and down on the hood of your truck. How well is that aluminum holding up? How about a travel trailer with metal studs, how do they do after an accident? Any better than wood?

Just saying, your argument didn't help you.

I think the problem with the AH is the lack of material, not what material. You are depending on a tripod to hold the weight of the trailer, that is great if the pressure is always straight down, but it isn't, its forward and back, now that tripod is being pushed and pulled from the side not the top. It obviously works or they would all fail, but when they do fail, it isn't good. Just not enough to think that light weight hitch you can easily put in and out of your bed is worth it. I would rather struggle with my heavy hitch over worry every time I drove down the road with a trailer attached. Good luck to everyone that has one, I hope you never experience a failure.

Do you have aluminum wheels on your truck? They carry the weight on the hitch plus the weight of the truck.

[IdaD]

Thermoguy wrote:

Flashman wrote:

ksss wrote:
I use a flip over ball and a Curt attachment (steel) that attaches to the ball with rails and allows you to mount the 24K fifth wheel hitch on top of that (which for me is the Curt 24K hitch). The set up is a bit heavy to install in but I really like it. It may be made in China, I never looked, its HD and works well so that is enough for me.

The Andersen hitches are from here in Idaho Falls, quite an operation. I personally have never bought anything from them. I just don't trust aluminum for things like that, not the fifth wheel hitches or the adjustable bumper pull hitches. It is a personal decision for me, not saying they are not any good, I just don't have faith in trusting Al for hitch material.

I guess you are also afraid of flying? Every modern airliner is made of aluminum.

Airplanes are made of aluminum?... Have you ever seen an airplane after an impact? It's not good, the aluminum doesn't stand up to much of an impact.

Try it out - go jump up and down on the hood of your truck. How well is that aluminum holding up? How about a travel trailer with metal studs, how do they do after an accident? Any better than wood?

Just saying, your argument didn't help you.

I think the problem with the AH is the lack of material, not what material. You are depending on a tripod to hold the weight of the trailer, that is great if the pressure is always straight down, but it isn't, its forward and back, now that tripod is being pushed and pulled from the side not the top. It obviously works or they would all fail, but when they do fail, it isn't good. Just not enough to think that light weight hitch you can easily put in and out of your bed is worth it. I would rather struggle with my heavy hitch over worry every time I drove down the road with a trailer attached. Good luck to everyone that has one, I hope you never experience a failure.

Go jump on the hood of any newer vehicle and you'll get the same result, aluminum or otherwise. The steel body panels on my Ram are pretty flimsy feeling too.

I have no personal experience with the aluminum Andersen but it isn't a tripod design. My FIL has one and it hasn't given him any trouble, in his aluminum truck bed no less. I have a rail mount steel version and it's an outstanding hitch. I like it far better than any typical fifth wheel hitch. Not just because it's light and easy to install/uninstall, either - it just works better.

[Thermoguy]

Flashman wrote:

ksss wrote:
I use a flip over ball and a Curt attachment (steel) that attaches to the ball with rails and allows you to mount the 24K fifth wheel hitch on top of that (which for me is the Curt 24K hitch). The set up is a bit heavy to install in but I really like it. It may be made in China, I never looked, its HD and works well so that is enough for me.

The Andersen hitches are from here in Idaho Falls, quite an operation. I personally have never bought anything from them. I just don't trust aluminum for things like that, not the fifth wheel hitches or the adjustable bumper pull hitches. It is a personal decision for me, not saying they are not any good, I just don't have faith in trusting Al for hitch material.

I guess you are also afraid of flying? Every modern airliner is made of aluminum.

Airplanes are made of aluminum?... Have you ever seen an airplane after an impact? It's not good, the aluminum doesn't stand up to much of an impact.

Try it out - go jump up and down on the hood of your truck. How well is that aluminum holding up? How about a travel trailer with metal studs, how do they do after an accident? Any better than wood?

Just saying, your argument didn't help you.

I think the problem with the AH is the lack of material, not what material. You are depending on a tripod to hold the weight of the trailer, that is great if the pressure is always straight down, but it isn't, its forward and back, now that tripod is being pushed and pulled from the side not the top. It obviously works or they would all fail, but when they do fail, it isn't good. Just not enough to think that light weight hitch you can easily put in and out of your bed is worth it. I would rather struggle with my heavy hitch over worry every time I drove down the road with a trailer attached. Good luck to everyone that has one, I hope you never experience a failure.

[Cummins12V98]

MFL wrote:
^^If that AU was using the puck system, attached to four corner pucks, this outcome may have differed. The steel rail mount, by design, 4-corner attachment, so much more sturdy!

If they ever planned to have a puck mount, I think they would have by now.

Jerry

Personally I would never consider an Aluminum ANDERSEN for the weight limits they "CLAIM".

The steel version I would not have an issue with same goes for the similar PullRite hitch.

They HAVE bed deflection with the hitch pictured above but have not done anything about it. B&W had the same issue with the NON puck Companion years ago but did re engineer the base so it would directly place it's forces to the bottom corrugation of the bed and then to the bed cross rails and then to the frame.

[MFL]

^^If that AU was using the puck system, attached to four corner pucks, this outcome may have differed. The steel rail mount, by design, 4-corner attachment, so much more sturdy!

If they ever planned to have a puck mount, I think they would have by now.

Jerry

[Cummins12V98]

Flashman wrote:

ksss wrote:
I use a flip over ball and a Curt attachment (steel) that attaches to the ball with rails and allows you to mount the 24K fifth wheel hitch on top of that (which for me is the Curt 24K hitch). The set up is a bit heavy to install in but I really like it. It may be made in China, I never looked, its HD and works well so that is enough for me.

The Andersen hitches are from here in Idaho Falls, quite an operation. I personally have never bought anything from them. I just don't trust aluminum for things like that, not the fifth wheel hitches or the adjustable bumper pull hitches. It is a personal decision for me, not saying they are not any good, I just don't have faith in trusting Al for hitch material.

I guess you are also afraid of flying? Every modern airliner is made of aluminum.

Have you ever watched their Circus Type "CRUSH TEST VIDEO". It's a joke as what really matters is how they handle the fore and aft forces.

[Flashman]

ksss wrote:
I use a flip over ball and a Curt attachment (steel) that attaches to the ball with rails and allows you to mount the 24K fifth wheel hitch on top of that (which for me is the Curt 24K hitch). The set up is a bit heavy to install in but I really like it. It may be made in China, I never looked, its HD and works well so that is enough for me.

The Andersen hitches are from here in Idaho Falls, quite an operation. I personally have never bought anything from them. I just don't trust aluminum for things like that, not the fifth wheel hitches or the adjustable bumper pull hitches. It is a personal decision for me, not saying they are not any good, I just don't have faith in trusting Al for hitch material.

I guess you are also afraid of flying? Every modern airliner is made of aluminum.

[Flashman]

I self installed the Draw tight ball. Just pops right out when you want a smooth truck bed. Works great with my aluminum Andersen hitch. 25,000 miles on my toy hauler. Take hitch in and out multiple times. Would not tow with a convention 5th wheel hitch. Andersen is much easier to attach trailer to truck than the other guys. You can do it at odd angles and on uneven ground.