Andersen Hitch

That is why most trailers come with ST tires rather than LT. You wouldn't want to do that all the time, but ST tires are made to take that kind of punishment.

I really hate to hijack this thread, but that statement deserves to be backed up the reasoning behind it. The sidewalls on an ST tire are about as sturdy as tissue paper compared to an LT tire. An LT tire will stand up to much more abuse than an ST tire.

Sorry about the hijack, but could not let that statement pass without a defiant denial. :)
 
Have you looked at the PullRite 2600k single point attachment? This is my second trailer with it and I love it. Only weighs in at 64 lbs and gives me my bed back when I need it.

This is what I have also, I had it now for about two years and I have never had a problem with it, I just and even now on a cross country trip from WA to NC and not one problem. When I bought it I had a SB but now I just bought a ram that have a LB.
 
I have purchased an Andersen ultimate hitch an totally love it. I pull a Solitude 384. The hitch has performed flawlessly, and I wrote Andersen and received permission to drill out two holes in the support plate so I can install the requisit safety chain attachments. As happy as I am with the Andersen Hitch I would not recommend it for your truck because your bed is too short. I have an F350 with a 6 ft 9 in bed and if I take a turn greater than 70 degrees I would take out my back window. If this sounds like experience talking it is. One back window in Minnisota, $1200.
 
I have 30k miles on my Andersen pulling a 14k trailer (RAM long bed). No issues.

I helped a buddy install the Andersen in his RAM short bed pulling a 341RDS. He has not had any issues with turning radius and is quite adventurous in campsite selection. :)
 
I've used my Andersen hitch since purchasing the Solitude in 2017 and the owner before used it before me and there's been no problems. My Andersen hitch is the steel one! It's a bit heavier but I can lift it into the truck bed myself. One thing I did was reversed the installation of the red camper half of the Andersen hitch. Most users I've noticed in campgrounds have the red part forward of the kingpin, but mine is behind the kingpin. The reason was to minimize the length of the fifth-wheel hitch. Now when I make a tight turn the fifth-wheel hitch doesn't scape the side rails of my 6 1/2-foot pickup bed. I've never had to turn so tight that I came close to the 90 degrees, but I do watch so the front of the fifth-wheel doesn't hit the truck cab. I've never had a problem with tight turns with this setup and I have made some tight turns. With this reverse setup it's important to make sure those allen wrench set screws are tight. I also created a thick metal band that I installed around the rubber pad on the Rota-Flex hitch to take up the extreme tilt when you use the Andersen hitch. Andersen hitch sells the same thing and it's called the Rota-Flex Lockout Kit. My homemade one is not shown in the picture since I did that long after that picture was taken. All in all, I'm happy with the setup and it has worked great for me.
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I see this post is a bit old, but relevant to my situation. In an effort to reduce/eliminate occasional chucking between the truck and trailer, I found the lockout kit recommended by Anderson for those pulling 5th wheels with the AUH and Trailair Rota-Flex pinbox is not adequate. There is still a good 1/8"-3/16" of gap that allows pin movement. I'm using the Blue-ox version of the lockout kit, but it is functionally identical to the one sold by Andersen. I would have been interested to see the homemade version [MENTION=23716]Migizi[/MENTION] created.

I don't have an audible chucking sound, but a forward-backward jerking of the truck sometimes after going over a rough patch of road at highway speeds with the rig. Interesting to me that this pivoting pinbox is designed to reduce chucking when using a standard hitch, but appears to create it when using the solid ball/socket connection of the Anderson Ultimate Hitch.

What I've tried to do, to further reduce this movement, is install aluminum angle extrusions front and rear, to take up that gap. Have not tried this yet to see if it will lock up the pin securely. Long term, I'd like to pick up a used standard pinbox, and swap this rota-flex out. I really like the AUH for its light weight, and resulting easy installation/removal.

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Anyone here towing with this hitch and pinbox configuration? How is your experience with it?
 
Hmm...I think I'm looking at this wrong. Some cushion should only help dampen movement between the truck and trailer. I rarely get this forward-backward jerking, and thought it might be reduced with a firmer connection between the vehicles, but that might be incorrect.

Checking the Andersen frame to rail to truck bed connections, all are tight currently. I actually use a rubber mallet to tap the pins in place on some of the attachment points. I have the steel frame that does not need the pad under it. Still there could be some movement here. There is a little perceptible movement between the ball and the steel tripod socket. I will check this often.

Really I should not need to shim the pinbox as much as I have to lockout movement of the rota-flex. The lockout kits state they are designed to prevent severe angles of the Andersen socket relative to the ball. They are not really lockout kits as much as movement limiting kits.
 
I didn't see this thread till tonight but will add I've had 2 AUH hitch's fail . The rv they failed on had a max GVWR 14500. No wreck, no panic stop, they both just bent forward towards passenger side. I won't even ride in a truck useing one now & I was once the chief cheerleader
 
In response to your comment a couple of comments above: "I would have been interested to see the homemade version [MENTION=23716]Migizi[/MENTION] created." It looks almost exactly like the Blue-Ox lockout kit. I created it simply because the angle of the red socket was so extreme without it, I questioned whether it was getting a good grip on the ball. I still occasionally get some small amount of chucking, but I lift on the throttle and that seems to decrease the chucking.
As for the comment above about the two failed AUHs bending, I'm confused. So, the pull vehicle had a max GVWR of 14,500, but were you over-weight on the fifth wheel? Like too heavy on the pin weight, so the AUH bent? My AUH is an original steel hitch and it's always performed well. My wife and I are going to be parting ways with our fifth wheel next spring, so I hope we don't see that bending activity over the next year... :(
 
From my understanding the issue with the Andersen hitches bending has been the aluminum one, not the steel. AFAIK, there have been no issues with the steel ones.
 
55k mi on my aluminum AUH(14k GVWR trailer, scale at 13k). Performs flawlessly.
 

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