Howdy, thinking about moving to a 5th wheel :)

[Natebert]

Originally Posted by Nevadastars

Ok here we go. With hitches you will always get the fans of B&W, which is fine if you want to wrestle a big heavy hitch in and out of the truck. Personally, my first was a Curt slider, major PITA. Then I went to an Andersen steel rail hitch, which sold me on their design. So easy to use and weighs 40 lbs, so easily removed from the truck by myself.

Then I bought a used 1st Gen Andersen Ultimate mated to a B&W turnover ball, which also worked great. As far as their customer service, they are first rate IMHO. For example, I called them last week to find out which ball kit they recommend for my newly purchased Ram 2500 with the 5th wheel prep option.

As we got to talking, he asked which Ultimate I had, I told him the first generation. He said to cut one of the downtubes, send him a picture of it, and they will send out a brand new Ultimate in the latest generation, no charge. Wow, are you kidding? I was having no issues with the original. The new one is on it's way as I type this.

I will not trash any other hitch as they all work. But for me the ease of getting it in and out of the truck makes the Andersen a no-brainer. Maybe if we had a 15k+ RV with a 2500lb+ pin weight, I would go with a B&W, but with our 10k, 1600lb pin weight fiver, the Andersen Ultimate is perfect for us. Loading and unloading is a snap with the remote for the landing gear. I can see the ball from inside the truck, line it up and drop it down. No need to get out of the truck except to lock the cable and hook up the plug. Same thing with unloading. It hangs it on the wall of my shop when not in use. I love it.

I've seen 3 different Andersen hitch failures on my father's rig, who like you, enjoys the light weight 'Ultimate' hitch (made from aluminum). He can easily remove it from the bed of his truck if necessary.

Of the 3 failures, I was with him on 2 of the 3. One was during heavy breaking in town, dodging traffic. The other failure was again during heavy breaking on a mountain highway, avoiding big game.

He is well within the weight rating of the hitch (he tows a Raptor Toy hauler ~13-14k).

Fortunately he lives in Boise, and each time Anderson has replaced his hitch as there is an Anderson rep in the area, so the exchange was without too much hassle, but the design & construction left enough doubt in my mind weather or not it can hold up to a heavy trailer, which is why we went with a B&W on our heavier 20k unit.

Since I tow my entire home behind me, I could not put it at risk with a hitch failure, not even even once. Coupled with the fact that I full time, I have no need to remove my B&W hitch from my bed.

It was a pretty clear decision for us.

[Varago]

I went with the Anderson for the same reason Nevadastars talked about, weight. We also signed for a new GD 230RL 5th wheel.

Thanks to every one that took the time to answer

[Nevadastars]

Originally Posted by Varago

I went with the Anderson for the same reason Nevadastars talked about, weight. We also signed for a new GD 230RL 5th wheel.

Thanks to every one that took the time to answer

Good choice, especially with the ultra light 5'er you bought. You won't be disappointed in its ease of use. If your 5th wheel has a remote for the landing gear, it's icing on the cake. Like I said, I can connect and disconnect mine from inside the truck with the remote as you can see it out your back window. Something I could not do with the PITA Husky slider I used to have.

Congrats on your new fiver!

[manowell]

Originally Posted by Nevadastars

Ok here we go. With hitches you will always get the fans of B&W, which is fine if you want to wrestle a big heavy hitch in and out of the truck.

I have the B&W Companion hitch, sits on the Ford OEM pucks (the OP lists a Ford, but not sure about the pucks), base and head go in in two pieces, can do it all by myself with no wrestling. :-)

[mtofell]

Regarding the weight, just lift it out of your truck with the landing gear and set it down on some saw horses or whatever else you can concoct to counterweight it. fwiw, I've left them hanging from the kingpin for years with no problems but was just bored one day and figured I'd come up with something to take the weight off.

The weight is more of a negative with respect to truck payload than anything.

[manowell]

Originally Posted by mtofell

Regarding the weight, just lift it out of your truck with the landing gear and set it down on some saw horses or whatever else you can concoct to counterweight it. fwiw, I've left them hanging from the kingpin for years with no problems but was just bored one day and figured I'd come up with something to take the weight off.

The weight is more of a negative with respect to truck payload than anything.

I've seen that done and KNOW it works, but have never been able to convince myself that I wouldn't tear something up. :-)

[Cumminsfan]

I have both. I really want the Andersen to work but it just never seems to be as easy to use as my B$W Patriot. Two things I don't like about the Andersen are that when in an off angle situation the pin may or may not release. 2nd is you have to lift the pin a lot higher to release. That takes more time and wear and tear on you landing gear.
With the B&W I only have to lift the pin about 1.5". I can also back in in one shot without needing a back up camera or someone looking at the side to see if it's right.
The Andersen wins hands down for portability thats all IMO. Towing is 100% identical. Same once in awhile chucking with both.

[ALLOY]

We use an Trailer Saver TS3 with a height control valve that maintains the clearance over truck rails regardless of pin weight.

Comfort Ride would be my next best choice.
Comfort Ride Hitch

[consolenut]

I have a TSLB2H the monster trailer saver hitch. Im looking at the ET hitch from the guy in FL. Looks tempting but even more pricey then the trailer saver

[kz owner]

Originally Posted by Searching_Ut

In my garage, I have and Andersen Ultimate, and a Reese fifth Airborne B&W puck mount hitch combination. They're both in the garage as I replaced them with a Reese Goosebox and ball. The truck already had the factory fifth wheel gooseneck prep.



The Andersen was problematic to hitch and unhitch in uneven terrain, and the pin adapter destroyed my pin box to where I had to replace it. Their customer service also became non existent once I had issues. The hitch puts the weight of the trailer aft of the rear axle, and provides no suspension or dampening of any sort so it's not the best on rough roads. On the plus side it doesn't have any slop.



The B&W hitch is really sweet, highly adjustable, very solid and secure and has no slop. It's also a very easy hitch to connect and disconnect. I really like it, but it's heavy. Unfortunately, the Fifth Airborne pin box I replaced the damaged one with resulted in my fifth wheel nose being too high, and I couldn't adjust it down lower than a little over 10 inches of rail clearance. This caused the rear axle of the trailer to carry much more than it's fair share of the trailer weight. While the ride and quality of this combination are fantastic, it didn't work out for me because of the height issue and I either needed a hitch that could adjust even lower, or a different pin box.


The Goosebox provides the air dampening of the fifth airborne pin box, and has a socket design that doesn't suffer the same issues the Andersen did when connecting and disconnecting on un-level surfaces. Once at the campground, or back home, you have the bed of your truck back without having to remove and store a hitch, which is really nice. The only downside is that it's a greased ball system which is not really that problematic. Hooking up with either the Andersen, or Goosebox is a little more difficult in that you have to back right under the socket, same as with a bumper pull which I find easy to do, but some don't.


There are a lot of good reason to go with a ReeseGoosebox and install just a ball and chain anchors in the bed of the truck.

What a waste of money

[Oldelevatorman]

I have the B&W companion as well and it is a winner. Very heavy but since we travel full time I don't have much reason to ever remove it. Would like to get an Aire-Ride pin box at some point and was looking at the Anderson as well for my 18k Landmark!

[Searching_Ut]

Originally Posted by kz owner

What a waste of money

It is a waste and bothers me. It was initially a result of the bad decision to purchase the Andersen Ultimate when I bought the fifth wheel. The pin adapter ruined the 1621HD pin box that my Bighorn came with. After letting the dealer fail to be able to get Andersen to take care of the issue for several weeks, I wasted 6 additional weeks getting the run around from them, and lippert of course rightly blamed it on the pin adapter. Having run out of time before a big planned trip that was important to us, I ordered the Fifth Airborne, and of course a new hitch to go with it.

Unfortunately, the fifth Airborne pin box left me nose high, and being only two days from our trip and having seen many rigs towed even farther out of level I convinced myself the trailer equalizer would probably keep things acceptable. I didn’t actually hit the scales until almost a year later and learned just how much weight the nose high condition transferred to the rear axle which was approximately 1500lbs. The trailer already being 13’4” tall, the only good option was a new pin box or a hitch that could be adjusted lower than the B@W or Andersen.

The GooseBox cost wise was about the same cost as a different suspension pin box or decent hitch, and with it I could then sell both currently owned items. I installed the GooseBox back in August, and have pretty much been on the road since, involving a little over 2500 miles of towing. Finally got things right. I’ll put the pin box and B&W up for sale when I get back and re-coup some of the loss. Wouldn’t feel right about myself selling the Andersen to someone, and may pursue further action there.

[JamesS]

Originally Posted by Varago

I would like some advice on hitches for 5th wheels. I need a GOOD hitch, not looking for the best. Expected use is about 5000 miles a year for 5-6 years on 9500 lbs gross trailer (GD 230 RL).

Thanks Dave

I'll make you a deal on a brand new Anderson hitch with less than 1000 miles on it - it will handle that without any issues and your wife can remove and install it in 5 minutes so you have a clear flat truck bed. I was practically given a B&W slider companion so it was crazy not to use that for my 16K LBS 43' North Point but the hitch is heavier than my truck!

In your case with a Long bed and a trailer under 10k lbs - it's a no brainer... people on here will talk about nightmare Anderson stories but I've seen so many truck with crushed beds because they dropped a 5er on them that wasn't locked in right... but someone hooks a culvert and bends the arm of an Anderson >> Whoop-whoop... failure!! hahaha... they are super solid and very convenient to removed/install

After owning both - I'd recommend Anderson.. Especially in your case.

[mobilemike]

Originally Posted by Searching_Ut

It is a waste and bothers me.

I for one appreciate your waste of money because it convinced me to go with the goosebox