Anderson Hitch Turning Point

[kirkelli]

Originally Posted by madmaxmutt

Rather than try to get frame manufacturers to agree, Andersen just provides a warranty of their own.

Research: https://andersenhitches.com/Catalog/...-warranty.aspx

Lippert responded back and said the Anderson Hitch is not on their approved Goose Neck Hitch adapter list and said using such will void the frame Warranty though the manufactor and through any extended Warranty Broker. I read the Anderson warranty and the way i see it, it is more of a sales gimmick then anything else. I for one would not want to deal with the headaches on trying to concur on the Anderson Warranty.. Lippert explained that the Anderson Hitich along with many goose neck adapters cause significant stress on various points of the frame and over time can cause frame damage and be unsafe. The first fishy thing i smell with the Anderson warranty, they apply it to the first owner only.. If Anderson was confident they would have made it a lifetime warranty.. After all, statisctics say that majority of RV owners trade in or sell their RV's every 3 years.. I would be very very cautious on buying a used RV.......... Now after doing this research, i am glad i never switched over to the Anderson.. I'll stick with my approved Hitch and have no worries for myself or the next persons that owns this RV.. Cheers.

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by kirkelli

Lippert responded back and said the Anderson Hitch is not on their approved Goose Neck Hitch adapter list and said using such will void the frame Warranty though the manufactor and through any extended Warranty Broker. I read the Anderson warranty and the way i see it, it is more of a sales gimmick then anything else. I for one would not want to deal with the headaches on trying to concur on the Anderson Warranty.. Lippert explained that the Anderson Hitich along with many goose neck adapters cause significant stress on various points of the frame and over time can cause frame damage and be unsafe. The first fishy thing i smell with the Anderson warranty, they apply it to the first owner only.. If Anderson was confident they would have made it a lifetime warranty.. After all, statisctics say that majority of RV owners trade in or sell their RV's every 3 years.. I would be very very cautious on buying a used RV.......... Now after doing this research, i am glad i never switched over to the Anderson.. I'll stick with my approved Hitch and have no worries for myself or the next persons that owns this RV.. Cheers.

tldr

[TxLoser]

Almost as exciting as diesel vs gas.

[b888b888b]

Originally Posted by jcsmith

I have 28.5 rsts and the same truck. I knew i had limits in my turning radius but did not pay attention. Blew out my window and dented the roof. $2,100 repair. Slider hitch works only if you remember to release it. I wonder if there is a hitch that can set limits on the turn radius for short beds. Sorry for your accident.

Im so sorry it happened to you too. We pay more attention now when we turn. We got the window replaced but for the dent, I think I will use bondo. The body shop I went to quoted 400 dollars.

[b888b888b]

Originally Posted by kirkelli

Lippert responded back and said the Anderson Hitch is not on their approved Goose Neck Hitch adapter list and said using such will void the frame Warranty though the manufactor and through any extended Warranty Broker. I read the Anderson warranty and the way i see it, it is more of a sales gimmick then anything else. I for one would not want to deal with the headaches on trying to concur on the Anderson Warranty.. Lippert explained that the Anderson Hitich along with many goose neck adapters cause significant stress on various points of the frame and over time can cause frame damage and be unsafe. The first fishy thing i smell with the Anderson warranty, they apply it to the first owner only.. If Anderson was confident they would have made it a lifetime warranty.. After all, statisctics say that majority of RV owners trade in or sell their RV's every 3 years.. I would be very very cautious on buying a used RV.......... Now after doing this research, i am glad i never switched over to the Anderson.. I'll stick with my approved Hitch and have no worries for myself or the next persons that owns this RV.. Cheers.

Frame damage on the truck or the rv? And it avoids the warranty?? I bought it from camping world and they all said it’s a good hitch and it doesn’t void the warranty 🤯

[b888b888b]

Originally Posted by Hollyhockdays

We have the andersen 3220. Is there any possibility that you did not torque down the (is it?) 4 bolts to 40 lbs of torque on the red piece (the kingpin coupler) that's attached to the 5th wheel? If that wasn't torqued down, it could swing around closer, as it would then have 6 inches of play. It could even do that on a hard break. It's possible u could have hauled with no issues, but the back up could have triggered it pivoting around. Just a thought. Sorry it happened though!

Im not too sure as the dealer installed the hitch. I don’t know much about hitches since I’m new to this, but I will try to find out.

[b888b888b]

Sounds interesting, I will save money and do more research before getting rid of my Anderson hitch.

[b888b888b]

Originally Posted by Lake Huron

Something is jogging my memory but I think i remember something about the hitches installed in the ram trucks are a little closer to the cab than the GM trucks. I seem to hear more from the ram people having hit their cans than the GM ones.
On LEVEL ground you may be able to make it 90* without hitting the cab, and have plenty of clearance. Now, take away that LEVEL ground, and you'll run into all sorts of problems, real fast. Let's say you're turning nto a parking lot from the road. Roads are high in the center and slope to the edges. The entrance to the parking lot will slope toward the edge of the road. As the truck leaves the road and enters the parking lot it's now on an uphill climb, so to speak, and the trailer is still on a downward slope of the road. That just closed the gap between the truck and the front of the trailer by more than what youd think. Now let's compound the problem by making the turn a tight one.
I ran into an issue with my current rig. I thought I had, but didnt, have enough clearance between the bed rails and the trailer. I backed the trailer into a grassy campsite. Clearance was close but I got it without anything making contact. Getting it out 3 days later was the challenge. The trailer didnt track out the same way it went in. As I was pulling it out it almost made contact, I stopped, and I had a long way to go to get it out of the site. Fortunately, I still kept 2x6 boards in my storage and had to use them along with my 12" square wood pads I put under the leveling legs. I used them to build up the surface the tires would ride on and had to play leap frog with the boards. I got it out, but was close. I couldn't believe how just a couple inches could make or severely break something. Needless to say, later i made adjustments to get more clearance.
IMO standard bed trucks, it's a must to have a slider hitch. Say it another $500 for the hitch. $500 is a lot cheaper than a blown out back window and a nice smack in the cab of the truck. Like RoadrunnerII said, it's not a matter of IF, it's a matter of WHEN.

Thanks for your suggestion! It seems like camping world scammed me lol. I will definitely Research on other hitches.

[b888b888b]

Thanks for all your suggestions!
Here is my setup.

[kirkelli]

Originally Posted by TxLoser

Almost as exciting as diesel vs gas.

Not really, Diesel wins hands down and neither would void your RV Trailer Frame warranty. The only time i would have picked gas over Diesel for towing heavy loads would have been pre 2000. Diesel has gotten better in all way's since. So has gas engines but not necessary for towing heavy loads JMO

[Ringneks]

Originally Posted by b888b888b

Thanks for all your suggestions!
Here is my setup.

On my last truck, which was a short bed the red coupler that attaches to the kingpin was in the reverse position that yours is in, which would give you better cab clearance, if you reverse it just check your tailgate and bed clearance.

[CAG]

Originally Posted by b888b888b

Thanks for all your suggestions!
Here is my setup.

Your setup looks pretty much like the way I had mine, including the ball cup being in that position. I, like you, never had a problem with making 90s but then I tried very hard not to get into those, and if I had to make a tight turn (backing into storage slot with two big class A's on either side) I, like you was watching the space between cap and truck. I strongly suspect that the "dip" made the difference and caused your contact.



Personally, I loved the Andersen, and like you would be looking for the cause but I think you found it and if me, would just move on. Bad experience. I have had one or two of those


The nice thing about the Andersen, is you are unlikely to drop the trailer on the bed because the hitch did not lock - Yep, did that prior to having the Andersen and I swear I did a tug test.

[kirkelli]

Most hitches im aware of have a safety feature whereby the safety pin won't drop if you dont have the hitch securely locked in.. I've had a few times where it was a 'bitch' to get the mechanism to latch in order to drop the latch safety pin.. If you can't get your safety pin to drop, don't move forward until you do.. Nine out of ten times this is caused by dropping all of the weight of the trailer down before getting a secure latch or latching up with the trailer to low where you are actually lifting the trailer as you back.

[CAG]

Originally Posted by kirkelli

Most hitches im aware of have a safety feature whereby the safety pin won't drop if you dont have the hitch securely locked in.. I've had a few times where it was a 'bitch' to get the mechanism to latch in order to drop the latch safety pin.. If you can't get your safety pin to drop, don't move forward until you do.. Nine out of ten times this is caused by dropping all of the weight of the trailer down before getting a secure latch or latching up with the trailer to low where you are actually lifting the trailer as you back.

Thanks. That was an example of stupid moves. I was not asking for instructions but I appreciate the thoughts.

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by b888b888b

Thanks for your suggestion! It seems like camping world scammed me lol. I will definitely Research on other hitches.

Not sure what they "scammed" you on, but IMO your coupler is on backwards for a short bed. When it is reversed, you do have to watch the inside edge of the bed.

No matter what hitch you have, there are things to be careful of.

[CAG]

Originally Posted by madmaxmutt

Not sure what they "scammed" you on, but IMO your coupler is on backwards for a short bed. When it is reversed, you do have to watch the inside edge of the bed.

No matter what hitch you have, there are things to be careful of.

The hitch is reversed and I found that with both reversed the rig was way too far to the rear. You then are endanger of smacking the closed tailgate with the entire metal coupling. He has it hooked correctly, one or the other but not both, same goes for a forward hookup, and as he said he was able to make 90s with no issue as was I.



His problem came with a "dip". The back of the truck is down as it the front of the 5th wheel. That bring them in closer proximity and a turn becomes hazardous.

[b888b888b]

Originally Posted by madmaxmutt

Not sure what they "scammed" you on, but IMO your coupler is on backwards for a short bed. When it is reversed, you do have to watch the inside edge of the bed.

No matter what hitch you have, there are things to be careful of.

Kirkelli had said that it voids the trailer frame warranty. My dealer said it doesn’t void the warranty. I also did more research on the hitch and Lippert said the hitch did not pass their test. That’s why I feel scammed.

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by b888b888b

Kirkelli had said that it voids the trailer frame warranty. My dealer said it doesn’t void the warranty. I also did more research on the hitch and Lippert said the hitch did not pass their test. That’s why I feel scammed.

Never heard of a single fre warranty claim. Even if something did occur, Magnusson Moss would only allow a manufacturer to void a warranty based on a failure caused by it. The burden would be on them to prove.

Tons of people use the AUH. Don't let Internet fear mongering affect your camping fun. Ask anyone telling you a story to send you evidence of an event that actually occurred.

Even though 2020 may seem that way, the sky ain't falling...

[CAG]

The "void the warranty" thing is and "asked and answered" question from a few years back. It does not void warranties.

[Big1]

Originally Posted by b888b888b

My hitch ball is installed backward. Maybe it was because of the slope? I still don't understand since I had turned many times without a problem.

^^This^^ I have a short bed and I have a PullRite Superlite 1P hitch which is similar to the AUH I try my hitch out and I can get about 88% turn radius, this is on a level ground.

I'm sure if it was a little slope it will be about 75% turn radius, I never do 90% back radius and if I was in that position I would go out and come back at it with a little more or less angle.

I am so sorry for your misfortune, I always look back and have my wife look when I have to back in a tight spot.