5th wheel hitches

[Texdan25]

Originally Posted by Lake Huron

I'm 6'4" and have a dually. I just barely got long enough arms to reach the handle and swing it. If I have to reach in the box a ways I'll stand on the top of the rear tire and lean in.

I have the Patriot slider and do the same even though I am 6'. But with 18" tires my 2500HD sits pretty high.

[tazz46]

I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of a manual slider, so I replaced my kingpin with a
Reese Sidewinder. It puts the pivot point at the pinbox and gives you 22 inches of extra clearance.

[nutdriver]

Originally Posted by tazz46

I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of a manual slider, so I replaced my kingpin with a
Reese Sidewinder. It puts the pivot point at the pinbox and gives you 22 inches of extra clearance.

The Sidewinder does seem to be a good option. My understanding is that a Sidewinder type pinbox cannot be used with the Anderson Ultimate. Is that correct?

Is this limitation the same for the Gooseneck style B&W Companion?

[kirkelli]

I've been using the Demco Auto Slide and thought i loved it,. Now i have different views.. We just start some lake shore dry camping where you can pull up close and parallel to the lake. The problem with this, the ground slopes and is un level. When you encounter this situation the first time, you don't really know of the problem until you try to re-hitch to leave. I spent about a good two hours digging tire groves for my truck to level the truck to the hitch. If you aren't perfectly level with the Demco, you will not get it hitched up. It is a major pain.. Another guy in the campground came over to offer some assistance. He said he switched to an Anderson hitch because of this problem saying you only have to watch your bed rails if the angle is too steep. Not a fan of the Anderson because of the warranty issues with trailer frames and geometry of the rear offset, i started eyeballing the Reese GooseBox setup. Based on all the positive reviews, the fact that it does not void the trailer warranty, it frees up a lot of real-estate in your truck bed and people are reporting 90 Degree turning angle with SB Ram's, I am on the fence now and about ready to get this set up. If you are in the market for a Demco 22K AutoSlide for Ram puck system, let me know

[norty1]

My rig is 11 years old. What warranty do I care about?

[kirkelli]

Well, it's already a known fact that the Anderson does damage to Lippert frames.. Not to mention the higher failure rates being noted. You have a point in that you no longer are concerned with your trailer warranty. However, i would still be concerned with the potential damage and more so of the safety of my family, pets and general public.

[jetlag]

Originally Posted by norty1

My rig is 11 years old. What warranty do I care about?

And your rig is still whole, so much for that bad bad Andersen hitch, lol. I was reading where they have sold over 19K, so they can’t be all that bad or they would be out of business. I just found out about a Pullrite Superlight hitch. Very nice, steel and weighs 52 pounds. The company calls it the latest and greatest, and guess what, same design as the Andersen. They must be doing something right.

[kirkelli]

Originally Posted by jetlag

And your rig is still whole, so much for that bad bad Andersen hitch, lol. I was reading where they have sold over 19K, so they can’t be all that bad or they would be out of business. I just found out about a Pullrite Superlight hitch. Very nice, steel and weighs 52 pounds. The company calls it the latest and greatest, and guess what, same design as the Andersen. They must be doing something right.

if you do your research on the AUH you find they do and have failed... I've posted some of those stories here. Also, Lippert just announced they will not honor any warranty repair work for frame failures if towed with an Anderson or any Gooseneck adapters . They only approve the Reeves Goose Box because of the design. Many people don't understand physics and how leverage causes significant stress and just blow it off. Not me.. One example if you've ever used a Demco hitch and tried to rotate the hitch head when trailer is not mounted. I tried it with a 16 inch pry bar and it wont budge. It takes a 5 foot digging bar and it rotates it very very easy. The same physics of leverage is beating trailer frames while driving on crapy roads and freeways with the goose neck adapter hitches. .

[norty1]

Originally Posted by jetlag

And your rig is still whole, so much for that bad bad Andersen hitch, lol. I was reading where they have sold over 19K, so they can’t be all that bad or they would be out of business. I just found out about a Pullrite Superlight hitch. Very nice, steel and weighs 52 pounds. The company calls it the latest and greatest, and guess what, same design as the Andersen. They must be doing something right.

Well it has only been in use on my rig for a year.

[GregandKelly]

Originally Posted by kirkelli

Well, it's already a known fact that the Anderson does damage to Lippert frames.. Not to mention the higher failure rates being noted. You have a point in that you no longer are concerned with your trailer warranty. However, i would still be concerned with the potential damage and more so of the safety of my family, pets and general public.

I have a Demco, but I am still curious as to what the Anderson does to damage the frame... I can see that a gooseneck adapter would put unwanted leverage and stress on the frame... but how does the Anderson, with just a small adapter mounted to the pin, cause undue stress on the pinbox/frame?

[jetlag]

Originally Posted by kirkelli

if you do your research on the AUH you find they do and have failed... I've posted some of those stories here. Also, Lippert just announced they will not honor any warranty repair work for frame failures if towed with an Anderson or any Gooseneck adapters . They only approve the Reeves Goose Box because of the design. Many people don't understand physics and how leverage causes significant stress and just blow it off. Not me.. One example if you've ever used a Demco hitch and tried to rotate the hitch head when trailer is not mounted. I tried it with a 16 inch pry bar and it wont budge. It takes a 5 foot digging bar and it rotates it very very easy. The same physics of leverage is beating trailer frames while driving on crapy roads and freeways with the goose neck adapter hitches. .

And Lippert and Reeves are financially connected

[Loomis077]

I’m using a B&W Patriot 18k standard hitch on a 2018 Sierra 2500 crew cab 6.5’ box. Hitch seems to be really well made and a lot of adjustments which was extremely important to me. I also really like how the B&W breaks down into 2 pieces so it’s easier to put in and out of the truck.

[GregandKelly]

Originally Posted by kirkelli

I've been using the Demco Auto Slide and thought i loved it,. Now i have different views.. We just start some lake shore dry camping where you can pull up close and parallel to the lake. The problem with this, the ground slopes and is un level. When you encounter this situation the first time, you don't really know of the problem until you try to re-hitch to leave. I spent about a good two hours digging tire groves for my truck to level the truck to the hitch. If you aren't perfectly level with the Demco, you will not get it hitched up. It is a major pain.. Another guy in the campground came over to offer some assistance. He said he switched to an Anderson hitch because of this problem saying you only have to watch your bed rails if the angle is too steep. Not a fan of the Anderson because of the warranty issues with trailer frames and geometry of the rear offset, i started eyeballing the Reese GooseBox setup. Based on all the positive reviews, the fact that it does not void the trailer warranty, it frees up a lot of real-estate in your truck bed and people are reporting 90 Degree turning angle with SB Ram's, I am on the fence now and about ready to get this set up. If you are in the market for a Demco 22K AutoSlide for Ram puck system, let me know

I have been leveling our trailer with boards/leveling blocks as close as possible while setting up because of the re-hitching issue with the Demco. It helps with the autolevel anyways, preventing a situation of out of stroke or lifting tires off the ground. I had to deal with a hooking up issue while the trailer was sitting on an angle 1 time... and that was 1 time too many!

[Chiggins]

I have a Pullrite Superguide hitch for going on 6 or 7 years I think now. Same hitch 2 different 5th wheels. I have never had issues hooking up unlevel. Its a pain but the head can come off if needed but never have had to do it. They pretty much invented the autoslider from my understanding. It has given for unlevel hooking up. PLUS SOLID company. Customer service is one of the best I have ever came across. I can't understand how anyone doesn't does spend the little extra for autoslider compared to manual.

[norty1]

Up until 2011 The Jayco frames were made by Dexter for Jayco. Mine seems much solid than the newer ones. Never had any "sagging" sides or other flex type problems that I read about with the Lippert frames.

I guess they have to blame someone?

[kirkelli]

Originally Posted by jetlag

And Lippert and Reeves are financially connected

we call people on other sites spreading rumors. Trolls

[kirkelli]

Yea, i would buy that, considering trailer manufactures are using evert trick in the book to cut weight down.. One way to confirm your theory, check the your trailer weight against some of the newer same models. Would be interesting to see when (what year) they started cutting weight, which would indicate lower quality steel frame material

[SeventyGTX]

Originally Posted by Evoman55

We have and love the Anderson Ultimate 5th wheel hitch. I highly recommend it. Watch the YouTube videos about it. And it only weighs 35lbs.

Same here. In fact I hang it on the wall when I'm not using it. Absolutely love it.

[Big1]

Originally Posted by SeventyGTX

Same here. In fact I hang it on the wall when I'm not using it. Absolutely love it.

Nice setup, I came close on getting one but decided to go with the PullRite Superlite #2600 both you can take it out and put it in by yourself.

[poohbear]

Originally Posted by Sk734

Please note mine is a B&W Patriot hitch. Sorry for the error. My previous one was a Companion.

I too use the Patriot but I use the Curt X-Rail that slips into my Curt gooseneck hitch so I take the rails out also when not towing. I've used a gooseneck adapter, a Reese 16K, destroyed 2 Andersen's, then finally got a B&W.
Friends don't let Friends use any other brand other than B&W