Anyone have a Curt A16 / Q16 hitch?

DavidJay · 02-19-2018, 02:46 PM

Curt has re-named the Q16 as the A16, apparently without any significant changes. Anyone running either of these two hitches? I want to upgrade to a 2-jaw that completely captivates the pin but I am price-sensitive.

Lake Huron · 02-19-2018, 05:07 PM

My first hitch was a Q20 and loved it. Great hitch. Ended up getting another truck and it came with a B&W and then a different trailer so I sold my Q20 with the trailer as a package deal. If its a Curt hitch, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Like a B&W, they are a great hitch and built like they mean business. I looked at other hitches when I was shopping and wasn't too impressed with most of them out there.

Cannon · 02-19-2018, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lake Huron

My first hitch was a Q20 and loved it. Great hitch. Ended up getting another truck and it came with a B&W and then a different trailer so I sold my Q20 with the trailer as a package deal. If its a Curt hitch, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Like a B&W, they are a great hitch and built like they mean business. I looked at other hitches when I was shopping and wasn't too impressed with most of them out there.

Can you tell any difference between the Q20 and the B&W. I have a 10yr old Q20 and was thinking about upgrading to the B&W. I read somewhere that they do not jerk as much as the Q20.

Lake Huron · 02-19-2018, 06:19 PM

Yes, I did notice a difference. I don't care what anybody says, you'll never totally get rid of the jerking. But with upgrades, you can get rid of a LOT of it. My neighbor had a Basic Reese hitch and we dropped in my Curt and he couldn't believe how much difference it made. Then I took him for a ride in my truck with my B&W and it rode even smoother yet. He had some extra money to spend so he went with the B&W. But don't get me wrong, that Curt hitch is a great unit. When I get my old truck restored, the factory drop hitch is getting replaced with a Curt. Both Curt and B&W make units that mean business just looking at them.
If they took the spring loaded pull lever style of the Curt head and incorporated that in the B&W instead of the swinging lever they use, that would make a great hitch.
Another good upgrade is a pinbox. My previous 5th wheel was a 40' Sierra and it had a standard solid pinbox on it. I installed a Flexair pinbox on it and that made a huge difference. Up and down was nearly gone and the jerking was greatly reduced. The Flexair is an airbag ride with a pivoting kingpin plate. It felt like the hitch and the pinbox were fighting each other a little bit in the jerking area. I sold that trailer and took the Flexair off it. My Northpoint has a Moryde pinbox on it. I have a bit of up and down with it, nothing too terrible, and the jerking is not too bad but it feels like they are fighting each other too. I called B&W and without trying to put my answer in their heads they said the same thing, they are kinda fighting each other. He said the big rubber mounts the head sits on and the pivot of the head on those mounts were designed to help eliminate the jerking to give you a better ride. They said to put an airbag pinbox on it and I should have a really nice towing ride.
My Flexair is for sale in the classified section of the forum.

Apology to DavidJay, I didn't mean to hijack your thread. Hopefully some of what I've said here helps you out.

TxLoser · 02-19-2018, 06:38 PM

I had the A16 sliding hitch. Was a great hitch at first. The big issue I had, was the jaws loosened up on me and had some pretty dramatic chucking as a result. You could visibly see the issue with the jaws, so the hitch dealer gave me a new head. It seemed to work well so I sold it.

I now have a B&W Patriot and it's better than the Curt was new. Hitching and unhitching is so easy, and there's zero slop. Maybe my Curt was flawed from the get go and I didn't know any better, but either way, this was my experience.

Cannon · 02-19-2018, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lake Huron

Yes, I did notice a difference. I don't care what anybody says, you'll never totally get rid of the jerking. But with upgrades, you can get rid of a LOT of it. My neighbor had a Basic Reese hitch and we dropped in my Curt and he couldn't believe how much difference it made. Then I took him for a ride in my truck with my B&W and it rode even smoother yet. He had some extra money to spend so he went with the B&W. But don't get me wrong, that Curt hitch is a great unit. When I get my old truck restored, the factory drop hitch is getting replaced with a Curt. Both Curt and B&W make units that mean business just looking at them.
If they took the spring loaded pull lever style of the Curt head and incorporated that in the B&W instead of the swinging lever they use, that would make a great hitch.
Another good upgrade is a pinbox. My previous 5th wheel was a 40' Sierra and it had a standard solid pinbox on it. I installed a Flexair pinbox on it and that made a huge difference. Up and down was nearly gone and the jerking was greatly reduced. The Flexair is an airbag ride with a pivoting kingpin plate. It felt like the hitch and the pinbox were fighting each other a little bit in the jerking area. I sold that trailer and took the Flexair off it. My Northpoint has a Moryde pinbox on it. I have a bit of up and down with it, nothing too terrible, and the jerking is not too bad but it feels like they are fighting each other too. I called B&W and without trying to put my answer in their heads they said the same thing, they are kinda fighting each other. He said the big rubber mounts the head sits on and the pivot of the head on those mounts were designed to help eliminate the jerking to give you a better ride. They said to put an airbag pinbox on it and I should have a really nice towing ride.
My Flexair is for sale in the classified section of the forum.

Apology to DavidJay, I didn't mean to hijack your thread. Hopefully some of what I've said here helps you out.

Thanks

DavidJay · 02-19-2018, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TxLoser

I had the A16 sliding hitch. Was a great hitch at first. The big issue I had, was the jaws loosened up on me and had some pretty dramatic chucking as a result. You could visibly see the issue with the jaws, so the hitch dealer gave me a new head. It seemed to work well so I sold it.

I now have a B&W Patriot and it's better than the Curt was new. Hitching and unhitching is so easy, and there's zero slop. Maybe my Curt was flawed from the get go and I didn't know any better, but either way, this was my experience.

Yeah, that is where I was going with the “price sensitive”. I just have a really hard time paying $571 (can’t find any discount anywhere) for a B&W Patriot.

TxLoser · 02-19-2018, 08:07 PM

I get that. I'd go with Curt if you feel good about the pricing. It'll be a big improvement on what you've got now. My experience was not the norm. Most reviews of the Curt are very positive.

citgodan · 02-20-2018, 02:36 PM

I have the Q16 on mine. Now that you mentioned it, there was a little loosening up of the jaws. The only thing I do now is at acceleration, I let the camper slightly shift to the rear side of the hitch avoiding the jerking at the start of movement. It has been my only 5th wheel hitch, so I can't compare. All in all, it works just fine.

Watsons · 02-22-2018, 12:05 PM

Hi all,
I have owned CurtQ16 and ReeseR22 hitches and put up with chucking for way too long.
Went to the B&W Partiot 18k and will never look back!! Worth every penny!!
There was a slight bit of play where it pins to the main rails but I put thin rubber pads under the hitch at the 4 pins and it feels like the trailer is welded to my truck. I vote B&W!!!
Cheers

DavidJay · 02-22-2018, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Watsons

I vote B&W!!!

Yeah, I am almost there.

I am struggling with spending the extra ~250 bucks (versus the A16), but I've searched a bunch of forums and can't find anyone who has a bad word to say about B&W.

I currently have the bar-style "Pro Series". I want to upgrade to a 360 degree design before we start our serious retirement travel in the spring of 2019.

eagleback · 02-22-2018, 02:03 PM

I have the Q20 and love it. This came from E-trailer, I know its the 20 but the 16 should be the same. "The two largest differences is the limited warranty on the Q20 is 10 years for the hitch and lifetime for the legs while the A20 is a limited lifetime warranty. Also, the Q20 features the 360-degree movement with the spherical axial bearing to improve the pivoting of the hitch head. This feature however, is why the Q20 is not compatible with a Sidewinder or Revolution pin box which the A20 is".

GraftonGuns · 02-22-2018, 05:29 PM

David, I have that hitch. It works well but was a little noisy from where the pins go through the bed rails. I bought the rubber "gaskets" from Curt for about $7.00 and it quieted everything considerably. This A16 came "free" from CW wen I made the deal on my 2017 Jayco Eagle HT 27.5 RLTS

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