Community Forums

wheelman2 · 09-04-2017, 10:55 AM

Searched, but didn't find (not the greatest at searching). Looking for first hand information regarding the pin adaptor that Andersen uses. I have a 2015 Chevy Silverado 3500 crew cab dually diesel long box. On the maiden voyage pulling my 2018 Grand Design Momentum 376TH (41'), I got into a sharp left turn in a parking lot and a bit of a dip at the same time and the pin box came around and gouged the roll top bed cover frame of the truck. Luckily only cosmetic damage - roll top still functional.

I did a little research on the Andersen Hitch website and they suggest turning the king pin adaptor around 180 degrees and you can gain 9". In other words, the king pin will be 9" closer to the truck cab and thus the entire pin box would totally inside the truck box as it turns.

My first thought is "yeah, I'll do it and the problem will be resolved". Ah, but the second thought is, "but what if moving everything forward 9" puts the coach too close to the cab such that I limit the turning radius due to potential interference with the cab".

Now I could probably go experiment with this whole thing, but I'm wondering if anyone out there has had this experience and turned the king pin adaptor 180 degrees. I would like to learn from other folks experiences. I'm not into pioneering.

Thanks.

Skip426 · 09-04-2017, 11:07 AM

Your first though is correct; even with a long box you could end up with damage to the cab.

Questions.
What part of the pin box came in contact with with the bed cover rail ?
If the contact point was from a back corner of the drop down from the frame , and rounding a corner( in a way that wouldn't effect overall strength) , would add to clearance , that could be the way to go.
How much clearance do you have , top of P/U box to the underside of the 5er ?
Do you need to run the ball up to the next mount hole?

Hurk · 09-04-2017, 08:14 PM

I have a Ram 3500 short box withe the Anderson. I reversed the adapter giving me 8" movement toward the cab. I have no problems doing 80 deg turns. I have the ball on the top position for trailer leveling. Like the hitch!

NW Explorers · 09-04-2017, 09:21 PM

I've been towing with the Andersen for a couple years and love the hitch. I have the king pin adaptor installed so it attaches to the ball aft of the king pin. That keeps the pin box inside the bed when turning, protecting the rails/tracks of my Pace Edwards retractable bed cover.

Happy trails,

rampowerwago · 09-04-2017, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wheelman2

Searched, but didn't find (not the greatest at searching). Looking for first hand information regarding the pin adaptor that Andersen uses. I have a 2015 Chevy Silverado 3500 crew cab dually diesel long box. On the maiden voyage pulling my 2018 Grand Design Momentum 376TH (41'), I got into a sharp left turn in a parking lot and a bit of a dip at the same time and the pin box came around and gouged the roll top bed cover frame of the truck. Luckily only cosmetic damage - roll top still functional.

I did a little research on the Andersen Hitch website and they suggest turning the king pin adaptor around 180 degrees and you can gain 9". In other words, the king pin will be 9" closer to the truck cab and thus the entire pin box would totally inside the truck box as it turns.

My first thought is "yeah, I'll do it and the problem will be resolved". Ah, but the second thought is, "but what if moving everything forward 9" puts the coach too close to the cab such that I limit the turning radius due to potential interference with the cab".

Now I could probably go experiment with this whole thing, but I'm wondering if anyone out there has had this experience and turned the king pin adaptor 180 degrees. I would like to learn from other folks experiences. I'm not into pioneering.

Thanks.

I have a Ram CCLB so our bed length should be the same. If you reverse the adapter on the kingpin, the kingpin itself should end up right over the top of the axle and you should have no more clearance issues than a regular 5th wheel hitch that is installed directly over the axle. I did this on my previous truck and had NO CLEARANCE ISSUES.

I did call the factory about this very issue and they said it did not matter if the adapter was in front or behind the kingpin.....it was designed to work either way. They also stated that putting the adapter behind of the kingpin should eliminate clearance issues with the bed rails.

Cumminsfan · 09-04-2017, 10:02 PM

I have a long pin box (1716) style. I have to have the coupler box so that the ball is behind the pin. A shorter pin box may not need it that way.

wheelman2 · 09-05-2017, 03:48 PM

OK, guys - thanks for the feedback and ideas. Much appreciated.

Searching_Ut · 09-05-2017, 09:52 PM

Reversing the adapter significantly shortens the effective length of the pin box meaning. With mine, swapping the pin adapter around kept the back of the arm from hitting the bed rails on my Ram, while also significantly shortening my turning radius without hitting. I ended up replacing the Andersen with a B&W at the same time I replaced the pin box the andersen hitch pin adapter destroyed. Doing so gave me about 15 degrees tighter turning radius that what I had with the Andersen configured the way I had to configure it.

I highly recommend testing in a parking lot to make sure how tight you can turn when going forward if you're using a short bed truck. Once I turned the pin adapter around with the Andersen, I couldn't quite do a full 180 U turn with steering full lock without getting too close to hitting. With current hitch and configuration I can go almost 270 degrees before things tighten up to where it might hit. Can't do a full 360 as the gap tightens up the longer I stay in the turn. Backing up of course you just have to keep an eye on it as you can indeed turn tight enough to hit fairly quickly.