Andersen Ultimate Hitch vs Mopar Fifth Wheel Hitch

[Maggiesclan]

Hello all,
Hopefully, my wife and I are going to purchase a 3120RL. Currently, the sale would include an Anderson Ultimate Connection 2 gooseneck 5th wheel hitch. The frame is very light vs what we have now which is a Mopar “in bed” 5th wheel hitch.
Other than being lighter in weight, does the Anderson hitch hold More advantages than the Mopar hitch?

Thanks in advance for your comments!

 

[Laura&Jerry]

Personally, you couldn't pay our family to use the Andersen hitches. In March of 2022 Lippert has denied warranty coverage for all units that have frame damage that use the Andersen hitch and that is still in effect. You can verify with both Lippert and Keystone. Like Keystone told us, "You're going down the freeway at 60-65 mph and suddenly a vehicle stops in front of you or pulls out in front of you and you have to slam on the breaks. Do you want that lightweight aluminum hitch to hold back 16,000+ pounds of 5th wheel and prevent it from crashing through the rear window of your truck." Just watch YouTube videos of that hitch from accidents. The "I like the Andersen because it's lightweight and I can remove it myself from the bed of my truck" can never override proven hitches such as the B&W Companion, Reese, Reese Gooseneck, Curt and a couple of others. I understand that the newest GenY hitch has been approved by Lippert. Yes, the other standard hitches are heavy and usually take 2 people to take them in and out of a truck bed, but they are proven hitches and I would think anyone would want heavy duty to do the job over lightweight.

Respectfully yours,
Laura & Jerry Thorsell
MOC #19945

 

[Maggiesclan]

Personally, you couldn't pay our family to use the Andersen hitches. In March of 2022 Lippert has denied warranty coverage for all units that have frame damage that use the Andersen hitch and that is still in effect. You can verify with both Lippert and Keystone. Like Keystone told us, "You're going down the freeway at 60-65 mph and suddenly a vehicle stops in front of you or pulls out in front of you and you have to slam on the breaks. Do you want that lightweight aluminum hitch to hold back 16,000+ pounds of 5th wheel and prevent it from crashing through the rear window of your truck." Just watch YouTube videos of that hitch from accidents. The "I like the Andersen because it's lightweight and I can remove it myself from the bed of my truck" can never override proven hitches such as the B&W Companion, Reese, Reese Gooseneck, Curt and a couple of others. I understand that the newest GenY hitch has been approved by Lippert. Yes, the other standard hitches are heavy and usually take 2 people to take them in and out of a truck bed, but they are proven hitches and I would think anyone would want heavy duty to do the job over lightweight.

Respectfully yours,
Laura & Jerry Thorsell
MOC #19945

Hello Laura and Jerry,

Thanks for your response. I was unaware of the Lippert warranty issue. Yes, the Anderson is lighter in weight, but I had the same thought about what could better handle the weight.

If we are lucky enough to purchase the 3120RL, I will use our Mopar “heavy” hitch. Thanks!!

 

[mlh]

If you look at the Andersen hitch you will see it can hold tremendous weight vertical but where it will fail is horizontally. If it is stressed those 45 degree angle brasses will fail when stressed in a wreck. Of course no one is going to have a wreck until they do. That hitch could be much improved but it wouldn’t be free and that’s probably why it isn’t. It looks like to me it’s profit over a better product.
Lynwood

 

[Maggiesclan]

I was skeptical about the overall strength of Andersen hitch vs my Curt made Mopar steel hitch. I’ll stay with Mopar hitch. Thanks!

 

[VagabondLove]

I moved up from a 25k Reese Ford puckhitch to the curt 30k hitch, and am extremely happy I did. The Reese was finicky, especially when not level. My dw had to hold the release arm out while I slowly drove forward when unhitching, minding her toes while doing so. The curt is a much more secure product, ordered through Amazon. Amazon.com

 

[Rod Spohn]

Hello all,
Hopefully, my wife and I are going to purchase a 3120RL. Currently, the sale would include an Anderson Ultimate Connection 2 gooseneck 5th wheel hitch. The frame is very light vs what we have now which is a Mopar “in bed” 5th wheel hitch.
Other than being lighter in weight, does the Anderson hitch hold More advantages than the Mopar hitch?

Thanks in advance for your comments!

We love our Anderson hitch. Lipperts issues are all political. There are other similar hitch’s that they have no problem with. I guess I’m lucky, I have a letter stating Anderson hitch’s purchased before a certain date will still be covered. Probably every hitch style out there has had failures. I have had not problems with ours. Also have not heard of any problems from people I’ve talked to.
Do your own research along with common sense to decide…

 

[jsb5717]

Keystone and Lippert’s warranty is certainly a consideration. Regardless of the motivation for Lippert’s stance, a denied frame claim due to hitch would be a big problem. Once you’re past the frame warranty period it doesn’t matter as much. We, too, had our Andersen before the warranty limitations were in effect so we were also grandfathered into the previous warranty.

You will find that most people who use Andersen hitches like them. Most nay-sayers have never owned one…you do the math.

You’ll have to decide for yourself. We used one for a few years and I enjoyed the smooth tow and easy-to-remove weight. I switched for reasons other than safety considerations. We enjoyed our hitch and had no trouble at all.

 

[WhatExit?]

Good luck with your 3120RL Montana purchase! We have that model and it's really been great.

We tow with an F350 6.7L diesel Single Rear Wheel (SRW) with a 6' bed using a B&W Companion slider hitch (I have yet to use the slider function as it hasn't been necessary but it's good to have if/when needed). It's a well made, reliable, heavy duty hitch.

 

[Mark77]

Timely... I bought a rig with an Anderson hitch, pulled it 250 miles home from WI, and then went on another 500 mile round trip with it. I love the simplicity and the light weight of the hitch, but (unrelated) the "Trail Air" pin box assembly does not play will with the tonneau cover rails on my truck. THEN I started seeing Anderson hitch failure video pop up, probably because of my research of the same. One content creator said Anderson was offering trade deals for the newest generation, beefed up because of the failures of the early generation models (mine). I reached out to Anderson and was told the deal was for original owners only.

Fast forward to last week and I found a good deal on a Curt made Ram 20K puck hitch, similar to the OP's hitch and I just had to have it! Probably the best built 5th wheel hitch I have ever owned, but I cannot use it because I still have the short box issue. Could also go back to my Pull-Rite auto slide hitch conglomeration I put together and have pulled well over 10,000 miles with, but it probably weighs 350 pounds with all the adaptation I had to use for the Pucks, while the Ram 20K weighs in at about 150.

My friends give me crap about "collecting" hitches, but I am never quite satisfied!

One way to use the Ram hitch is get either a Curt Turning Point or a Reese Sidewinder. I am curious if anyone has ever towed with one of those? It would solve 2 problems. Cab AND Box clearance issues as the pin box would never turn inside of the truck box. Please comment, or start a new thread if you have ever used one of those hitches.

 

[Theunz]

I think it’s safe to say that more trailers by far have been damaged by conventional hitches than Anderson’s. You absolutely cannot have your trailer fall onto you bed rails with an Anderson like so many have had with a conventional hitch.

 

[twindman]

No one ever mentions the Pullrite Superglide hitches??? They are VERY sturdy. I have done a U turn in about 4 lanes of traffic with it. Pretty much 90 degree turning radius. And the best service - at least 12 years ago. HAd it installed here in Mesa and it behaved kind of weird. On the way to the Goshen rally, I stopped at their headquarters somewhere between Chicago and Goshen. They looked at it and said the wrong hitch plate was installed. Fixed it on the spot while I spoke/jawed with the original owner! No charge for the new plate - said you already paid once, so it was on the house.

 

[Maggiesclan]

I moved up from a 25k Reese Ford puckhitch to the curt 30k hitch, and am extremely happy I did. The Reese was finicky, especially when not level. My dw had to hold the release arm out while I slowly drove forward when unhitching, minding her toes while doing so. The curt is a much more secure product, ordered through Amazon. Amazon.com

 

[Maggiesclan]

We took possession of our new to us 3120RL. I used our Mopar aka “Curt “ hitch. It worked well.

I plan on selling the Andersen hitch very soon!

 

[Maggiesclan]

We love our Anderson hitch. Lipperts issues are all political. There are other similar hitch’s that they have no problem with. I guess I’m lucky, I have a letter stating Anderson hitch’s purchased before a certain date will still be covered. Probably every hitch style out there has had failures. I have had not problems with ours. Also have not heard of any problems from people I’ve talked to.
Do your own research along with common sense to decide…

 

[Maggiesclan]

Thanks for your input Rod. Glad you are happy with the Andersen hitch!

 

[nickdog1]

Hello all,
Hopefully, my wife and I are going to purchase a 3120RL. Currently, the sale would include an Anderson Ultimate Connection 2 gooseneck 5th wheel hitch. The frame is very light vs what we have now which is a Mopar “in bed” 5th wheel hitch.
Other than being lighter in weight, does the Anderson hitch hold More advantages than the Mopar hitch?

Thanks in advance for your comments!

I

 

[nickdog1]

I have Monty 2022 3231CK,four seasons now. I have been using the Anderson hitch new with this trailer. It tows nice don’t even know trailer is back there. Anderson states if the trailer frame is compromised and lipped won’t warranty the frame, Anderson will fix the frame for free in the warranty period, I think the warranty on my trailer is 3 years. I remove it every time we go camping for two weeks or month.

 

[Grandpa]

I've had my Anderson for 6 years on my 2021 montana high country with no problems