Andersen Ultimate Hitch (AUH) Wear Concerns

[mdwilliams44]

Hi,
I removed my AUH today and noticed some unexpected wear on both the Curt gooseneck ball and the Andersen coupler tube. Of the two, the coupler tube is a far bigger concern.

Below is a picture of the coupler tube: Attachment 32148

The coupler bolts have worn about 2/3 of the way through the coupler tube. The indentations from the coupler bolts into the coupler tube are about 0.15" deep and the material for the tube is only 0.22" thick. I am wondering if other users of the AUH have seen this type of wear as well.

The lesser concern, and maybe more of a curiosity, is the wear on the Curt gooseneck ball. Below is a picture of the ball. Attachment 32149 I am really surprised to see so much wear on the ball due to the way the hitch connects to the ball. The only point that the hitch connects to the ball is through the pin in the coupler tube, which is only at one point on the ball. I would have expected there to just be wear at a few spots on the ball, not all across the surface as shown in the picture. It looks like the coupler pin is wearing the entire surface, which could only happen if the coupler pin is moving up and down and across the ball. I can't see how this can happen, but it definitely is wearing somehow. I am curious if this same wear is seen by other AUH users as well.

I have contacted Andersen about the coupler tube to get their feedback and ordered a new coupler tube as well. I planned to go on my first trip of 2021 on Sunday but those plans may be on hold until I get the new coupler. Any feedback from AUH users on their experiences will be greatly appreciated!

Bob

In looking over your pictures, I see two things.

First is the lousy chrome job on the ball shaft. As someone else has already said, it appears to be rust through from poor chroming. There is no way that Andersen tube rotated, its square inside square!

The picture of your inner tube does surprise me, as Andersen states (again as someone else posted) that all bolts (except the set screws on the coupler), should be set at 60 LBS torque.

Someone else also mentioned, and it is worth noting again, that if you tightened the shaft screws first, then torqued the top bolt, that could cause the wear image on the inner tube. Any possibility that has happened?

Like others, I have about 10K on my AUH, and no wear that I can discern.

Let us know how it goes.

[bwbags]

I also used a bed mat and never experienced anything negative with my AUH.

I watched the video in post #30 .... this is good information!!

[BobKilmer]

Thank you everyone for the feedback and suggestions. I have been careful to follow the directions of leaving the side bolts loose and then torqueing the top bolt to 65 ft-lbs since the label on my hitch says use 60-70 ft-lbs. I was then originally torqueing the side bolts to 40, but when I saw that Andersen had updated the side bolts to 60 I have been doing that ever since.

Looking at the rust on the gooseneck ball I tend to agree with the idea that this may be just a bad chrome finish. That would explain why it is rusted even where there is no contact with other surfaces. For the coupler, I was convinced that the damage was because I went to 60 ft-lbs, but since the new recommendation from Andersen is to use 60 ft-lbs I am curious what feedback I get from them on the damage.

Before leaving today on a short trip I replaced both the coupler and the ball with new parts:



Sorry again for the rotated images, for some reason I can't get them to just rotate 90 degrees. I will check the hitch when I arrive at my destination and return to see if there is any damage to the coupler tube or gooseneck.

Thank you again to everyone for their feedback and help. This forum is always a great place for information and everyone here is so helpful! Andersen asked me for pictures on Friday so I sent those over the weekend. I will let everyone know what I hear back from Andersen.

[JM0397]

Bob,
From a newbie, one thing I noticed the other day when I had my first pull with the new truck, rig, and hitch is this:
Here's my setup:
-B&W Gooseneck ball mounted into my Chevy OEM 5th wheel puck prep system
- AUH 3217 model, the new one that's higher than the 3220 model. This is the recommended AUH for use with the HD trucks starting with '20 models.

When I parked the rig, I noticed the hitch itself was able to rotate a bit around the gooeneck ball. In other words, there is just a hair of play between the hitch and the ball, even with everything torqued in properly. I called Anderson to ask and the tech said sounds like the mounting neck was bottoming out just a little too low. To help ensure everything is fixed in place, I am adding the Anderson anti-slip mat which will give us another 1/4 to get things cinched down nice and snug, and I'm also going to return my B&W ball and use the Anderson mount that you show in the pictures above. According to Anderson, this "should" prevent the hitch from rotating in the bed.

Perhaps your wear issues are from the same issue I experienced - some play between the hitch and your old gooseneck ball....

Good luck with the new setup!

[Johnww]

Rather than the Andersen mat I suggest you go to a Tractor Supply and buy a horse stall mat. You can get them in either 3/8" or 1/2" thickness. You will have t o cut out a "T" shaped hole to accommodate the mountingb neck and the safety chain loops on the B&W turnover ball hitch.

[JM0397]

Rather than the Andersen mat I suggest you go to a Tractor Supply and buy a horse stall mat. You can get them in either 3/8" or 1/2" thickness. You will have t o cut out a "T" shaped hole to accommodate the mountingb neck and the safety chain loops on the B&W turnover ball hitch.

Gahh! And I used to have horses, should have remembered those! Too late, already ordered one. On the plus side, it's under $100 so not a huge expense. If I need more, I'll switch to the 1/2" horse mat.

[bwbags]

Gahh! And I used to have horses, should have remembered those! Too late, already ordered one. On the plus side, it's under $100 so not a huge expense. If I need more, I'll switch to the 1/2" horse mat.

What did you find under $100?!!!

[JM0397]

Well, plus shipping it'll get more expensive but $89 on Anderson's site:
https://shop.andersenhitches.com/col...eel-connection

[1carguy]

Should not the coupler ball be greased? See no evidence of that. I grease my goose necks - coupler and ball before used. Use a split tennis ball during storage.

Andersen says DO NOT GREASE THE BALL. Seems weird to me that you wouldn't grease it. I've been using the AUH with a B&W turnover ball in the truck and have absolutely not seem any signs of wear. Maybe over torqueing it was the cause.

[BobKilmer]

Andersen answered my questions on the wear on the gooseneck ball and the coupler.

For the gooseneck ball, they also believe the coupler pin and tube couldn't have caused that wear. I believe this as well, which leads me to believe either the gooseneck ball was used in a different application before I received it or it is just a bad chrome job (my most likely explanation).

For the damage to the coupler tube, they recommended I go to 50 ft-lbs of torque on the coupler bolts to minimize the damage to the coupler tube.

I installed the new coupler tube and Andersen bed shaft for a 170 mile round trip to the Ocala National Forest. I used 40 ft-lbs torque on the coupler bolts since I left prior to receiving the feedback from Andersen. Below is a picture of the new and old coupler tube after my trip:

The wear is minimal on the new coupler. It is interesting that the wear on the new coupler is 3/8" higher than on the old coupler due to the difference in the way the bed shaft engages to the coupler tube.

For my future trips I will go to the 50 ft-lbs that Andersen recommends and monitor the coupler on a regular basis.