Short Bed Towing with Anderson 5th Wheel Hitch

[KYCAMPER]

I am going to be upgrading from my current TT to a 5th wheel so I have been researching 5th wheel hitches. In a past thread on this forum, members indicated the Anderson 5th wheel connection has been a good hitch. I especially like the fact that it weighs only about 35 lbs. The Anderson website claims its hitch is designed to tow on short bed trucks. Anyone here using this hitch for short bed 5th wheel towing? Good? Bad?.....Ugly??

[goldenroads]

I have the aluminum version of the hitch, but will admit to having an 8' box, so I'm not exactly who you're looking for. That said, I have connected it enough times to say for sure that the videos are completely accurate. you need only to swing the connection box around and it functions basically the same way a slider hitch would in that you will get an extra 6" of room to turn.

Andersen's product is amazing, and I would definitely recommend the $100 or so upgrade to the aluminum. My 5 year old can install it -and since it is aluminum, it will never rust, and it is stronger than the steel one. I LOVE MY ANDERSEN ULTIMATE.

[KYCAMPER]

Thanks for the reply goldenroads. Swinging the connection box around seems like it would throw some weight to the rear wheels of the TV. Would it be feasible to tow with the connection box in the forward position but rotate it around to the rear position when needed for a sharp turn into a camping spot?

[goldenroads]

The way the pyramid brace is set up, you are ahead of the axle to start with. Moving it back 6" would put it basically right over the axle -shouldn't be an issue. And no, unlike a slider hitch, if you wanted to swing it around, you would have to completely disconnect and set up your 5th wheel to stand on its own, then take off that gooseneck adaptor, remove the hex bolts, 1.5" bolts, then re-install the box, re-torque it, etc. NOT a "quick thing" to do. Once it is on the kingpin, you will want to leave it there.

that is about the only part of the Andersen system that takes any real time at all (and I'm still only talking about maybe 10 minutes) but their instructions suggest you mount it permanently reversed for short-box trucks.

[hboy]

Also, regardless of the way the king pin adapter is oriented, the tongue weight from the FW hitch is forcing down on the same point of the pyramid. I haven't see scaled weights published to see if there is in fact any shift of weight distribution between the front and back axles due to the way the king pin adapter is oriented. But is seems reasonable that there would be no significant change.

From the reading I have done (forums), the Andersen 5th wheel hitch has no real benefit to short bed trucks other than the ability to swap the king pin forward or rear. One direction would benefit the cab clearance, but could risk the king pin box hitting the tailgate/bedrails. And vise-versa.

I think in a perfect world (flat ground) you would not run into many problem scenarios. I've read problems when folks turn in to a steep drive, or something. Damage to the cab (from FW front cap) or bedrails (from extended king pin box) is most common with steep incline type maneuvers. These results may not have been avoidable using a slider for short bed set ups. Probably just the physics of short bed/FW towing.?

I paid more for the aluminum hitch because it it's lighter weight. The install is as advertised.