Andersen Ultimate 5th Wheel Connection Review
#1
Lounging at the Lake
Thread Starter
Andersen Ultimate 5th Wheel Connection Review
Well after a bad experience with a Reese Slider (the review can be seen here) I Decided to give the Andersen Ultimate Fifth Wheel Connection a try. I ordered the Rail version as I already had them installed from the old Reese 15k. So here is the review.
Price:
$350 shipped from Tweetys.com, Cheaper than pretty much all the competition, A++
Initial Inspection:
Nicely welded and assembled, appears to be very strong, MUCH lighter than the old 15k slider. This thing cant weight more than 40 lbs. Very important for those of us with 1/2 ton trucks with limited payload or a bad back. Just got 135lbs of payload back! A++
Installation:
This is super easy. The hitch tripod part only has the 4 pins that pin it in, and 1 pin for ball height adjustment. The pinbox part has 2, 1 1/16 bolts that attach it to the kingping and 4 #6 allen set screws. This part can be rotated front to rear to adapt it to extended or non extended kingpins. Plus the hitch itself has 2 positions for longbed or shortbed trucks. The remote unhitching cable is also a great feature. A++
Hitching:
This is much easier than my old Colibert GN adapter or the Reese 15k. The ball is high enough on my f-150 that I can see it from the drivers seat. You can hit it first time everytime. No need to chock the wheels, engage the RV Brakes or do a pull test. Just back it up, retract the landing gear, lock the handle and your hitched, Marvelous!
Road Test:
1 word, Awesome. No bucking, no chucking, no noise period. The Camper is far enough back that I don't need a slider in 99.99 percent of situations. No worries about pinbox stress either as the ball and original pin are on the same plane. No moving parts to grease or maintain. A++
Summary:
Pretty much the perfect 5'er setup. I'm in love. A++++++
-SeaRayder
Price:
$350 shipped from Tweetys.com, Cheaper than pretty much all the competition, A++
Initial Inspection:
Nicely welded and assembled, appears to be very strong, MUCH lighter than the old 15k slider. This thing cant weight more than 40 lbs. Very important for those of us with 1/2 ton trucks with limited payload or a bad back. Just got 135lbs of payload back! A++
Installation:
This is super easy. The hitch tripod part only has the 4 pins that pin it in, and 1 pin for ball height adjustment. The pinbox part has 2, 1 1/16 bolts that attach it to the kingping and 4 #6 allen set screws. This part can be rotated front to rear to adapt it to extended or non extended kingpins. Plus the hitch itself has 2 positions for longbed or shortbed trucks. The remote unhitching cable is also a great feature. A++
Hitching:
This is much easier than my old Colibert GN adapter or the Reese 15k. The ball is high enough on my f-150 that I can see it from the drivers seat. You can hit it first time everytime. No need to chock the wheels, engage the RV Brakes or do a pull test. Just back it up, retract the landing gear, lock the handle and your hitched, Marvelous!
Road Test:
1 word, Awesome. No bucking, no chucking, no noise period. The Camper is far enough back that I don't need a slider in 99.99 percent of situations. No worries about pinbox stress either as the ball and original pin are on the same plane. No moving parts to grease or maintain. A++
Summary:
Pretty much the perfect 5'er setup. I'm in love. A++++++
-SeaRayder
Last edited by SeaRayder; 03-26-2012 at 11:07 AM.
#2
Are you still using this setup? Still working well? Surprised others have not tried it given the advantages.
#3
Oh and can you still use on gooseneck trailers or will it be too high?
#4
Lounging at the Lake
Thread Starter
Still working well? Yes! Both still work flawlessly!
Surprised others have not tried it given the advantages. Me too!
#5
Lounging at the Lake
Thread Starter
Yes you can still use it for a gooseneck trailer, but you may need to adjust the tongue on the trailer up. I do not have a gooseneck trailer myself but I do borrow my neighbors quite a bit. Since his truck (Ram 3500) has a flatbed the tongue is set as short as it will go. A standard height gooseneck ball in the back of my truck with a full bed would cause the trailer to hit my bedsides, but since the Andersen is about a foot higher than the bed I can actually use his trailer without adjusting the tongue at all. Perfect. I still give the Andersen my highest recommendation.
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