Rollin_Free
Well-known member
They easily slide out when I need them without loosening the hitch so I guess there is about 1/16 to 1/8 clearance on each side so the board isn't really tight.
Anderson Ultimate Fifth Wheel Hitch
- Thread starter JWalker
- Start date
They easily slide out when I need them without loosening the hitch so I guess there is about 1/16 to 1/8 clearance on each side so the board isn't really tight.
Bones
Well-known member
The Anderson hitch is really cool. I already have the 5th wheel so I won't be buying one right now but I do like the idea and definitely would consider it. It appears what they have done is modify the idea of a goose ball set up and just brought it up to the height of a fifth wheel and then modified the king pin. Eventually maybe they can expand even further and just include the whole pin box set up that works with an Anderson hitch and no adapters. Maybe they can chat with MorRyde to make a new plate on the bottom that accepts the goose for the Anderson. But side track as that was. Why don't they include a set up that uses the ram pucks and include the provisions for chains.
Have they done any accident scenarios and the forces involved? I do like the hitch. What I don't like is you can't really help anyone else if they break down because of your hitch and if you break down you may have issues unless you can have an adapter that converts your new design pin box to goose king pin.
Have they done any accident scenarios and the forces involved? I do like the hitch. What I don't like is you can't really help anyone else if they break down because of your hitch and if you break down you may have issues unless you can have an adapter that converts your new design pin box to goose king pin.
Doublegranch
Mountain Region Director-Retired
Hey Bones:
I agree with you but if my main purpose was to help others....I could easily take the adapter off my king pin and place it on others...but i know where you are coming from...
I think the issue is with the proprietary parts the MFG of others want Anderson to use! Remember they are a family business for 61 years and want to keep it in the family...
If I remember the names....John the dad has passed it down to Ryan the son to run the business....All made in the USA and in ID...wow can't beat that!
If it was a replacement for the King Pin...that would be a great thing!
I agree with you but if my main purpose was to help others....I could easily take the adapter off my king pin and place it on others...but i know where you are coming from...
I think the issue is with the proprietary parts the MFG of others want Anderson to use! Remember they are a family business for 61 years and want to keep it in the family...
If I remember the names....John the dad has passed it down to Ryan the son to run the business....All made in the USA and in ID...wow can't beat that!
If it was a replacement for the King Pin...that would be a great thing!
Doublegranch
Mountain Region Director-Retired
I beg to differ...the aluminum frame has a vertical crush of 64,000 lbs...that is 5 fifth wheel rv's on top of each other....
How much do you need? That is more than any fifth wheel hitch in the industry...
How much do you need? That is more than any fifth wheel hitch in the industry...
Doublegranch
Mountain Region Director-Retired
I am certainly not the expert on this...and perhaps others can comment....but I would assume the same is for a fifth wheel hitch?
Remember the recent accident on the forum where the Big Country had a passing car blow a tire....they took out the left rear wheel
of the dually and the Big Country became disconnected and went down the highway and hit a concrete barricade.. flipped on its side and
and the dualy was totaled??? Accidents are just that...how do we prepare 100%????
Remember the recent accident on the forum where the Big Country had a passing car blow a tire....they took out the left rear wheel
of the dually and the Big Country became disconnected and went down the highway and hit a concrete barricade.. flipped on its side and
and the dualy was totaled??? Accidents are just that...how do we prepare 100%????
mlpeloquin
Well-known member
A pyramid is one of the strongest structures. I would be more worried about the Lippert frame. I would call Lippert and ask prior to getting a goose neck hitch. Some say the construct of a goose neck hitch adds a much larger moment arm and the stresses will be transferred to the, in your case, Lippert frame. I would not be worried about the Anderson hitch at all.
Update:
Well I looked at the installation manual and this is not a goose neck. They have a 5M warranty if you are denied in writing that your warranty was denied do to the use of the Anderson hitch connection. The way it is written though it may become a back and forth each saying it was the hitch and it wasn't the hitch. It uses your current king pin. So if you have a standard king pin, MorRyde or Trailair, or Flexair, it does not matter. Not a bad setup. The tubular construct of the supports are very strong.
http://www.andersenhitches.com/Catalog/rail-mount--ultimate-5th-wheel-connection.aspx
Update:
Well I looked at the installation manual and this is not a goose neck. They have a 5M warranty if you are denied in writing that your warranty was denied do to the use of the Anderson hitch connection. The way it is written though it may become a back and forth each saying it was the hitch and it wasn't the hitch. It uses your current king pin. So if you have a standard king pin, MorRyde or Trailair, or Flexair, it does not matter. Not a bad setup. The tubular construct of the supports are very strong.
http://www.andersenhitches.com/Catalog/rail-mount--ultimate-5th-wheel-connection.aspx
2psnapod2
Texas-South Chapter Leaders-Retired
My point exactly. The more steel the better. Nothing might help in the end but more steel can't hurt. For me I know how easy a piece of angle iron can be twisted. Can it carry the RV down the highway, absolutely. But the better question is, can it stop it?!
Chippendale
Well-known member
Another benefit of the Andersen is that worrying about dropping the trailer on the bed rails of the truck is a thing of the past. When hitching, the trailer is sitting on it's front legs and you lower it down on to the ball, there is no way for it to slip off once it is lowered and the locking bar is closed. Then you go on and raise your legs the rest of the way. Likewise, it can never be removed from the ball until the legs are firmly on the ground.
Doublegranch
Mountain Region Director-Retired
The Anderson vs the Reese Goosebox..this is a decision for the purchaser...it has nothing to do with the "steel" as the aluminum has a crush weight more times vs the Steel!!!
Stopping power has nothing to do with the fifth wheel or gooseneck version hitch... the Anderson nor the Reese is a gooseneck hitch....yes it is a it is based on the gooseneck hitch
design it is not a gooseneck adapter.....it is a fully approved fifth wheel hitch without calling it a fifth wheel hitch...
I certainly do not know all the in's and outs but I have demonstrated the diligence I have gone through in researching these units...I do not have a tail wagging the dog in this fight.
I am searching for the best method for me...using a ranch vehicle and enjoying my new Sundance for many years to come...
Stopping power has nothing to do with the fifth wheel or gooseneck version hitch... the Anderson nor the Reese is a gooseneck hitch....yes it is a it is based on the gooseneck hitch
design it is not a gooseneck adapter.....it is a fully approved fifth wheel hitch without calling it a fifth wheel hitch...
I certainly do not know all the in's and outs but I have demonstrated the diligence I have gone through in researching these units...I do not have a tail wagging the dog in this fight.
I am searching for the best method for me...using a ranch vehicle and enjoying my new Sundance for many years to come...
We all get so passionate about what we like. Everything has a negative and everything has a positive. It all depends on the right balance for everyone and the market rules all even if it may be a very good product.
Kbvols
Well-known member
I very much appreciate the discussion on the Anderson. Gary appreciate all the research and information you provided. This is certainly an option for me. I may have missed it but is it difficult to hook up i.e lining the coupler up with the ball? That is one of the things I like about my current hitch pretty easy to hook up. Anyway appreciate the info.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Rollin_Free
Well-known member
Lots and lots of great discussion. I also went through the same pros and cons before purchasing the Anderson Ultimate hitch. The accident one concerned me the quite a bit but realized they don't do crash testing on plywood, metal, and fiberglass rolling structures for a very good reason. I'm pretty sure if they tried to make it safer for a crash none of us could pull it. The hitch pictured is a magnificent piece of workmanship but I know I can't lift any part of it and I'm pretty sure it won't do any better in an accident. I've seen what a blow out damages and we're still debating the best tire to fix the issue.
I'm not an engineer by any stretch of the imagination but I'm a very technical type "A" type person. As far as I'm concerned this is definitely a better mouse trap that's easy for me to see pro's far outweighing the cons. It has massive weight carrying specs. that blow the doors off other hitches and since the results are documented you can't really argue against the actual engineering design limitation factors.
Regarding ease of hookup question. After awhile, like anything else you get use to doing, it gets easier the more you do it. I remember that I had similar issues not being able to see the 5th wheel hitch.
I'm not an engineer by any stretch of the imagination but I'm a very technical type "A" type person. As far as I'm concerned this is definitely a better mouse trap that's easy for me to see pro's far outweighing the cons. It has massive weight carrying specs. that blow the doors off other hitches and since the results are documented you can't really argue against the actual engineering design limitation factors.
Regarding ease of hookup question. After awhile, like anything else you get use to doing, it gets easier the more you do it. I remember that I had similar issues not being able to see the 5th wheel hitch.
Chippendale
Well-known member
[FONT="]Keith, I am single and many times have to hitch by myself. I have a strip of blue tape centered on the “ball box”, and because I have a roll up bed cover, I cannot see the ball in my rear view mirror. I climb up in the bed and place one of those radio antenna’s with a magnet on one end and a tennis ball on the other (the type used in hitching a pull trailer), centered directly in front of the ball and high enough to be seen in the rear view mirror. I also have one of those i-Ball Cameras you see advertised in Trailer Life which I put on the driver’s side wheel well facing the hitch ball.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The tape and tennis ball gets me centered on the “ball box” and the camera shows me when the hitch ball is properly under the ball box. Often I can lower the box onto the hitch ball the first try. If I am hitching from storage, I usually don’t have to adjust the height of the front of the trailer, but from camping, I usually do have to raise the “ball box” so the hitch ball will go under it.[/FONT]
[FONT="]One other thing, instead of trying to climb up in the bed after hitching to get the tennis ball, I just leave it there and get it out when unhitched. So far, this system has worked well for me for about one and a half years. The nice thing is that chucking is reduced to almost nothing, you will almost forget the trailer is back there, it almost becomes part of the truck.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The tape and tennis ball gets me centered on the “ball box” and the camera shows me when the hitch ball is properly under the ball box. Often I can lower the box onto the hitch ball the first try. If I am hitching from storage, I usually don’t have to adjust the height of the front of the trailer, but from camping, I usually do have to raise the “ball box” so the hitch ball will go under it.[/FONT]
[FONT="]One other thing, instead of trying to climb up in the bed after hitching to get the tennis ball, I just leave it there and get it out when unhitched. So far, this system has worked well for me for about one and a half years. The nice thing is that chucking is reduced to almost nothing, you will almost forget the trailer is back there, it almost becomes part of the truck.[/FONT]
I agree with you but if my main purpose was to help others....I could easily take the adapter off my king pin and place it on others...but i know where you are coming from...
I think the issue is with the proprietary parts the MFG of others want Anderson to use! Remember they are a family business for 61 years and want to keep it in the family...
If I remember the names....John the dad has passed it down to Ryan the son to run the business....All made in the USA and in ID...wow can't beat that!
If it was a replacement for the King Pin...that would be a great thing![/QUOTE]
I love this idea that Anderson has and I am going to stop by the factory on my way up to Yellowstone in June. I am not sure i would want to replace the king pin. I like the adapter that can be removed with a socket wrench. That way if I have a problem then any towing service can tow the 5 wheel without having to rig something up.
I have a rail system in my truck already so I called and asked if they are going to make an aluminum version to work on the rail system. They said that aluminum will not work with the rails due to the shear forces that the rails put on the pins. So the steel system is the only option. Still not a bad option. Moving my Reese hitch in and out of the truck is a back breaker and I am still young. I don't know how I will do it when I get older.
Steve
Rollin_Free
Well-known member
Since your hitch weight is about 180 lbs I agree that it helps in snow slightly. My 220+ lb Curt slider did too and I left it in my truck as well for over a year for the weight benefit but mostly for convinence of storing it out of the way. Problem is/was that I needed to use my truck for other things so I was always having to take it out (with help), do what I was gonna do, then put it back in. There's no way I could put anything else in my less than organized garage.
BTW, Nice truck
- - - Updated - - -
I heard they were modifying the mount but didn't realize they had a final design yet. Kinda resembles the one below only reversed.
https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai...hUCWx4KHZlwB1EQpysIMw&ei=bTz9VobNLoK2eZnhnYgF
