Andersen ultimare 5th wheel hitch and Ford SD

[xcntrk]

Originally Posted by Desert185

Update...

After many phone calls and research via various companies, my buddy who really wants the Andersen hitch has, with Andersen's blessing, decided to do the following.

Remove Popup ball hitch.
Install B&W turnover ball, which moves the ball in the bed aft four inches.
Install B&W offset ball, moving the ball ~4" further aft.
Install Andersen king pin adapter, but rotate 180 degrees to place the socket aft instead of on the forward side of the kingpin.

All this with Andersen's understanding and blessings to essentially move the trailer 10" further aft of the cab and allow a 90 degree angle...hopefully, as he figures 10" would do the trick.

What is that going to do to his weight? Moving the entire load of the pin weight 10" behind the rear axle sounds like a bad idea to me. 5th wheel & gooseneck hitches are centered over the rear axle for a reason. When you have thousands of pounds of pin weight, moving it nearly a foot behind the axle is going to really change the load characteristics not to mention introduce additional sag. It's one thing for a slider hitch to move the load back temporarily while navigating a slow turn, but to permanently fix your hitch so far back is very unconventional!

[Desert185]

It won't go 10" behind the rear axle.

The gooseneck ball is actually forward of the axle, and his older Popup ball is actually farther forward than the B&W turn around ball like mine (we checked).

Using an offset ball moves the ball very close to just above the axle.

Rotating the Andersen pin adapter 180 degrees moves the trailer farther forward (negating some of the weight shift), but provides moreside clearance between the pin box and the bed's siderails at 90 degrees, while not reducing the cab clearance at that angle.

All this is with the approval and advice of Andersen Hitches, BTW. I agree that a shortbed with a fiver is a disadvantage generally requiring a slider. He doesn't want to deal with a slider weighing in excess of 200#, and neither would I. I have, want, use and need a long bed. It's a pickup, so...

He wants to give it a try, and its not as bad as it sounds. He tows multiple types of trailers with his daily driver F350 and doesn't want to deal with having to remove a heavy 5er hitch when the time comes to tow a gooseneck trailer...and I don't blame him.

[Timon]

With the ball 4" behind the axel you will never loose more than about 200# of front axel loading with 4,000 of pin weight. That's less than tossing a few hundred pounds at the rear of the box or several hundred pounds on a standard rear hitch so it's really nothing to worry about.

[NotyetMHCowner]

I tow with the Andersen and a Ford short bed dually. When I weighed recently, I lifted 200 pounds off of the front axle with the fiver connected. Not enough to bother me.

Can I turn 90 degrees? No. I couldn't turn 90 degrees when towing my TT or boats in the past either, but I dealt with it. I can, however, turn pretty darn sharp. Sharp enough that the fiver axles are in a real bind. If I need more turning, I will just re-position a little and do it again.

The perfect scenario for towing is a long bed with a simple hitch, but since we do not full time (yet), then having the short bed benefits me more often than it doesn't. A slider was certainly an option, and I looked at them hard. But I just didn't want the heavy hitch to mess with or the extra cost of the hitch when I felt like I didn't need it. I am really glad I went with the Andersen.

The Ford beds are actually 6'9" anyway, so they are only 15" shorter than a long bed. My $.02

[gnirwin]

I too have an Andersen hitch on a Chevy Shortbed. I can turn I'm guessing 75-80 degrees but I too agree with the earlier poster, I have never had a trailer where I needed nor wanted to turn more than that. Too much stress on everything. I move forward and straighten the rig out a bit and no problem.