Anderson Ultimate Fifth Wheel Hitch

[SNOKING]

Send the pictures to Andersen and have them tell you it needs to be replaced. Take the message back to the dealer. Risk is dealers will start refusing to service rigs with the adapter installed. Which might be the right answer. Remove it when you drop the trailer off and take it home with you!!! Chris

 

[Roadventure]

Send the pictures to Andersen and have them tell you it needs to be replaced. Take the message back to the dealer. Risk is dealers will start refusing to service rigs with the adapter installed. Which might be the right answer. Remove it when you drop the trailer off and take it home with you!!! Chris

The service shop is paying for a new shroud/funnel already. They admitted it was their fault. The part I didn't catch before was the piston/locking pin issue - that was a very risky ride home and I didn't know it.

Let everybody else learn from my mistake, which wasn't really my mistake... I'll be fulltime after this month, so I technically wouldn't have another home to leave it at . The thing that stinks is I knew they were an Andersen dealer and was pretty adamant that they needed to make sure they knew how to move it. Either way, they made it right and the overall functionality is there. I was able to remove the small nick/burr and the piston functions fully. I also flipped the coupler around to shorten the radius. The flaring on the pinbox was catching the edge of my bed rails on a couple turns (this is the recommendation of Andersen to turn it 180). I will also bump the reciever ball up 1cm since that is an option as well.

 

[Doublegranch]

In a previous post I noticed something about the bottom of the Anderson hitch frame turning during a turn. I asked the NM Rally attendee about it and the frame does make a slight turn at the bottom of the frame when making a tight turn. He said again it is slight and not enough to even scratch his sprayed bed liner. He is hauling a new 42 ft Bighorn with the Anderson Aluminum hitch.

Someone else mentioned he places two 2X8 pieces of lumber between the inside bed wheel well and the frame to ensure the frame is square in the bed. Not sure but would think this would also help keep the frame from turning if that was a concern. I spoke to the factory and they said the frame is doing what it was designed to do.....Just an FYI

 

[Bones]

Shouldn't all of the weight be on the goose ball in the bed. I would think the frame only sees some forces to keep the main adapter in place.

 

[SNOKING]

Shouldn't all of the weight be on the goose ball in the bed. I would think the frame only sees some forces to keep the main adapter in place.

If an Andersen or the B&W Companion are torque down to the bed with the aid of the goose ball, then the ball can not be holding ANYTHING up. You can not pull down and push up at the same time, you get one or the other. ALL the weight is carried on the bed floor. It is torqued down to prevent it from turning on the floor and if it is turning then it is not torque down correctly, and should be re-torqued after the pin weight is added.

B&W added strips to fit the valleys in the bed floor because people were getting dents in the raised ridges of the bed floor. Realize that both the Andersen and Companion are compromise hitches that bypass the direct mounting to the trucks frame rails. With the compromise being less weight and easier to move around.

Way back in the beginning of 5th wheel hitches for RVs, the hitches were just bolted to the bed floor. Trailers have gotten much larger and heavier over the years and truck bed have gotten thinner and thinner metal.

The puck systems are giant leaps forward, my RAM puck system is very robust and I am sure the others are also. RAM has a plate welded on each side of the frame rail for each of the four puck locations. All new 2500 and 3500's come OEM with these plates. The option for the pucks in a bargain for $400, as it provides the 4 pucks, bed electrical and the gooseneck hitch. My RAM did not have the feature. I added just the electrical kit and four pucks for the same 400 bucks. Took 4 hours to install working by myself. The bed has to be raised one side at a time to drop the pucks in place. Then two large high grade bolts capture each puck between the plates.

Andersen does make a rail mounted version that pins to rails, and on a RAM the Demco 6099 picture frame that locks into the pucks will hold that version of the Andersen. However the Demco 6099 weight over 80 pound, so you are defeating the whole weight savings thingy.

Chris

 

[Doublegranch]

Realistic if you look at a goose ball set up for a horse trailer and lots of commercial applications it does not have any rail system and has worked for a very long time...The same principal for the Anderson hitch appears on this concept but with the extended frame as well. I am not an engineer but will take the word of Anderson and how the hitch is designed. They have never had a hitch failure that wasn't driver error and they have a very large insurance policy on each hitch sold and never in the history of the company have they had to use it.

The Ultimate 2 hitch is torqued to the goose ball system and not the exterior portion of the bed frame. They do have both systems, rail system and non so those concerned may select as they desire. If someone who has owned an Anderson Hitch and had problems, it would be interesting to hear from those with experience. So far I have not read any posts of any problems with this hitch set up.

 

[SNOKING]

Realistic if you look at a goose ball set up for a horse trailer and lots of commercial applications it does not have any rail system and has worked for a very long time...The same principal for the Anderson hitch appears on this concept but with the extended frame as well. I am not an engineer but will take the word of Anderson and how the hitch is designed. They have never had a hitch failure that wasn't driver error and they have a very large insurance policy on each hitch sold and never in the history of the company have they had to use it.

The Ultimate 2 hitch is torqued to the goose ball system and not the exterior portion of the bed frame. They do have both systems, rail system and non so those concerned may select as they desire. If someone who has owned an Anderson Hitch and had problems, it would be interesting to hear from those with experience. So far I have not read any posts of any problems with this hitch set up.

So the one that bent under heavy braking was driver error, however that lead Andersen to modifing the Ultimate design??

I know that people that have them love them!

They are however a compromise on how the load is carried. Again put your Go-Pro on the bed side and video the hitch while driving, you might be surprised by the amount of movement that occurs. Chris

 

[Doublegranch]

The one that bent was a driver not paying attention and could not make an emergency stop, following too close...He made a radical turn and tried to correct it and went into a side embankment. The truck and trailer jackknifed in the ditch. The hitch did not come undone but the frame legs did bend. The hitch was replaced by Anderson free of charge. The driver was going 65 mpg when the accident happened. I think that is a good testimony to the quality of the hitch...

Nothing is perfect and note the regular fifth wheel hitch (not an Anderson) in a previous post that broke and left the truck and ran down the road and flipped.

 

[SNOKING]

The buyer just picked our SOB trailer, and had a brand new Companion install. In this picture it shows the spacers that fit in the bed valleys. I wonder why Andersen had not done something similar? Even the correct install of old rails called for filling the valleys with spacers. Chris

 

[Rollin_Free]

That cone looks like it's a 1/4" thick. For it to be bent like that there had to be major stress put on it. With that kind of damage is there any chance the landing gear or the pin box were damaged when the cone was bent or could the trailer have possibly dropped off the fork lift. YIKES!!

 

[Roadventure]

That cone looks like it's a 1/4" thick. For it to be bent like that there had to be major stress put on it. With that kind of damage is there any chance the landing gear or the pin box were damaged when the cone was bent or could the trailer have possibly dropped off the fork lift. YIKES!!

No other visible damage. I took the entire coupler off to inspect it and the kingpin/pinbox look to be in good condition.

 

[Rollin_Free]

No other visible damage. I took the entire coupler off to inspect it and the kingpin/pinbox look to be in good condition.

Whow, real lucky for sure.

 

[JWalker]

I wonder if the PullRite needs safety chains like the Anderson?

 

[Doublegranch]

It is the exact same type of setup as the Anderson only the ball drops down vs up....It will require the safety chains.

 

[Rollin_Free]

It is the exact same type of setup as the Anderson only the ball drops down vs up....It will require the safety chains.

X2 - But looking at the adapter I'm not sure how they're going to modify it to accommodate the chains?

 

[Doublegranch]

You may have to drill and tap into the side of the pin box..

 

[Rollin_Free]

You may have to drill and tap into the side of the pin box..

I just watched the video and the adapter connects to the king pin with, what appears to be, the same bolts that Anderson uses. Wonder if Anderson chains would work? (HA!!)

Regardless there's a lot of metal between the hitch adapter and the in bed chain clips when you look at the Pullrite hitch. Looks like the chains could get snagged pretty easily.

 

[Rollin_Free]

I'm new to using chains. I had a gooseneck horse trailer several years ago that had the chains connected to the trailer and the hooks would snap into the chain safety loops in the bed.

Yesterday I had a bright idea that I would flip the chains and attach the horseshoe clevises to the safety loops in the bed and clip the chain hooks to the trailer. It was much easier to connect and release the vehicles, which I did several times. There's no restriction or any possibility of snagging the chain hooks on anything. Is this an acceptable option to connect the chains or is there a legal issue to deal with when connected this way?

 

[santafedave]

I just put about 2500 miles on my TH and anderson hitch. I had no problems backing up to my hitch. After a couple of times you get it. I have the system before the funnel which looks awesome by the way! I am going to find out it I can buy just the funnel and see if it adapts to the old one. I love the anderson I don't have to use a engine hoist to get my bed back.

 

[Roadventure]

I just put about 2500 miles on my TH and anderson hitch. I had no problems backing up to my hitch. After a couple of times you get it. I have the system before the funnel which looks awesome by the way! I am going to find out it I can buy just the funnel and see if it adapts to the old one. I love the anderson I don't have to use a engine hoist to get my bed back.

The funnel/shroud adds about 1/2 inch total to the outside dimensions. So longer bolts are needed. The longer bolts come with the chain system if you don't have that component yet.