Gooseneck fifth wheel adapter question

[BucknMindy]

Looking for input on the Anderson gooseneck adapter. I'm in the process of purchaseing a new fifth wheel toy hauler. I currently have a B&W gooseneck hitch already installed in my truck. The new trailer is 8800 uvw and 11550 gvw. Has anyone used this hitch and what are the pros and cons? Thanks in advance.

[BarneyS]

As usual, a post about the Andersen hitch, whether travel trailer or 5th wheel, goes sour and must be closed. In case you are missing a post or two they are in the delete pile.
Barney

[94-D2]

Amador County CA. SR-88 @ SR-104 May 2012
Amador County CA SR-88 near Pine Grove Volcano Road June or July 2016

Have a good life..........

[jkwilson]

94-D2 wrote:
my experience is localized and not national which is why you can’t find it on the internet. I am simply relating two experiences I had personally in the course of my duties as it related to the OP. so your skepticism is all yours. Take what you want from it but you don’t have to be belittling or rude. I was looking at the forum to augment my new 5th wheel and pull truck and ran across the post. That’s it. It am not an internet troller hel bent baiting unsuspecting people into arguments. have no grandiose need to be regarded or see my post in print to get off on it. I’m an officer of the law and as such carry the character and integrity required of the position. It is obvious that this forum is either fraternal and closed to those not in the click or plain uninviting; if you are representing yourself as a senior member on this forum. Either way, it is apparent some people aren’t welcome. So, have an admin delete my bogus post and go ahead with your life.

To the OP, my experiences are intended to inform you of what I observed regarding the hitch. Good luck and safe travels with whatever you do with your RV. I wish you well.

When and where did it happen? We can easily request copies of the accident reports you filed and then we can publish them here. It is public information.

[94-D2]

my experience is localized and not national which is why you can’t find it on the internet. I am simply relating two experiences I had personally in the course of my duties as it related to the OP. so your skepticism is all yours. Take what you want from it but you don’t have to be belittling or rude. I was looking at the forum to augment my new 5th wheel and pull truck and ran across the post. That’s it. It am not an internet troller hel bent baiting unsuspecting people into arguments. have no grandiose need to be regarded or see my post in print to get off on it. I’m an officer of the law and as such carry the character and integrity required of the position. It is obvious that this forum is either fraternal and closed to those not in the click or plain uninviting; if you are representing yourself as a senior member on this forum. Either way, it is apparent some people aren’t welcome. So, have an admin delete my bogus post and go ahead with your life.

To the OP, my experiences are intended to inform you of what I observed regarding the hitch. Good luck and safe travels with whatever you do with your RV. I wish you well.

[cummins2014]

ependydad wrote:

WTP-GC wrote:
This should be interesting...
The entire internet can offer maybe 2-3 examples of supposed failure of the AUH, none of which involved a collision. Now a brand new forum member shows up and has 2 exclusive examples by himself. If the "pyramid structure" failed, that hardly means that the trailer would have come dislodged from the coupler or ball. In fact, no other report has shown an absolute failure of the frame...only deflection of the members.

Accident reports are public record. Please provide a link to the reports.

I followed a thread on a Toy Hauler group on Facebook where owners posted about their crash and the AUH failing. The owners claim the AUH failed during a hard braking maneuver but also admit to following too closely. Timing is so quick in a crash that it's hard to say for certain.

Here's a copy of the pictures and their write-up (it's Facebook, but you don't have to login to see them):
https://www.facebook.com/LearnToRV/posts/1882493731818038?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDLZOLXq1fXRN9-7ct_kdrz...

The owners sent the mangled hitch back to Andersen but never heard anything back from them.

This was the "new and improved" design.

I also read about this particular accident on another forum, and the driver blamed the accident on the Andersen hitch, stating the hard braking caused the hitch to bend, the ball on the Andersen to snap off, and the momentum of it causing him not to be able to stop in time, and hitting the vehicle in front of him. The vehicle in front of him was trying to stop to miss an accident with two cars that had collided into each other.

This was on the Montana owners forum, with pictures of the vehicle he hit etc. My question would be how in a panic stop would anyone know that the hitch had failed before he hit the vehicle in front of him. A lot going on in just a second or two or whatever .

[laknox]

ependydad wrote:
I'll admit, this is all the farther I've made it into this thread.

BucknMindy wrote:
The idea of something much lighter is a selling factor also as well as the smooth ride.

The ride was the exact reason that I got rid of my Andersen. With my truck and trailer combination, it was so bad that my wife was in pain from it. She couldn't take back to back travel days.

I wrote a full review here:
http://learntorv.com/andersen-ultimate/

I got the hitch so that I could do a direct head-to-head comparison to the B&W Companion since both hitches have fanatical fan bases:
http://learntorv.com/the-hitch-showdown/

Yet, you don't mention this in your reviews...

Also, in your AUH review, you claim that no safety chains are necessary. NOT true. Here in AZ, if the connector's a ball, pintle or clevis, you must use safety chains...period.

Lyle

[ependydad]

WTP-GC wrote:
This should be interesting...
The entire internet can offer maybe 2-3 examples of supposed failure of the AUH, none of which involved a collision. Now a brand new forum member shows up and has 2 exclusive examples by himself. If the "pyramid structure" failed, that hardly means that the trailer would have come dislodged from the coupler or ball. In fact, no other report has shown an absolute failure of the frame...only deflection of the members.

Accident reports are public record. Please provide a link to the reports.

I followed a thread on a Toy Hauler group on Facebook where owners posted about their crash and the AUH failing. The owners claim the AUH failed during a hard braking maneuver but also admit to following too closely. Timing is so quick in a crash that it's hard to say for certain.

Here's a copy of the pictures and their write-up (it's Facebook, but you don't have to login to see them):
https://www.facebook.com/LearnToRV/posts/1882493731818038?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDLZOLXq1fXRN9-7ct_kdrz...

The owners sent the mangled hitch back to Andersen but never heard anything back from them.

This was the "new and improved" design.

[ependydad]

I'll admit, this is all the farther I've made it into this thread.

BucknMindy wrote:
The idea of something much lighter is a selling factor also as well as the smooth ride.

The ride was the exact reason that I got rid of my Andersen. With my truck and trailer combination, it was so bad that my wife was in pain from it. She couldn't take back to back travel days.

I wrote a full review here:
http://learntorv.com/andersen-ultimate/

I got the hitch so that I could do a direct head-to-head comparison to the B&W Companion since both hitches have fanatical fan bases:
http://learntorv.com/the-hitch-showdown/

[94-D2]

I didn’t see the other question regarding collisions involving a standard 5th wheel hitch. The answer is yes, several, and no I have not seen a separation with the 5th wheel king pin connection. I have been doing this job for 24 years. I had the occasion to see a truck and 5’r jackknife, climb a rock face embankment 24’ then crash into itself on the way back down. The pin box and 5th wheel hitch were still in place and the remainder of the frame tore away from the pin box. This may be why the connection requires no safety chains and passengers can ride in the trailer with that connection but not the other. I get the ease of the Andersen but I can argue with my own experiences. So FWIW, THE 5th wheel king pin is as strong as it gets.

Happy campin’

John

[94-D2]

The hitch is not a cause of either of the collisions and therefore only reported damage as a result of the collision. There are no links to the report but are probably available under the Freedom of information Act in redacted form. I am not debating the integrity of the hitch. I’m sharing my experience. One collision occurred 2012 and one in 2016. And in both cases, they became separated from the tow vehicle. That is a fact because I investigated it. Retention for collision records are 3 years + current in California.

As a side note for CA users, this system is a ball hitch connection and therefore the user looses the 5th wheel licensing exemption for trailers over 10,000 lbs. One would have to obtain a class A DL in order to pull it over that GVWR.

[fj12ryder]

I wonder if the Andersen hitches that were damaged were the old style that have been damaged in the past, or one of the new ones that were supposed to be stronger.

[ZeeLet50]

Another vote for the Andersen. I have the same setup you are looking at. The B&W turnover ball is nice as it leaves the bed flat when not in use. The AU is light and easy to install. Other good points are when hitching it is easy to line up and ensure positive connection. Yes you do have to raise the front of camper higher but its never been an issue. I see from previous picture that chains are available. I may have to invest in those just for added piece of mind.

[billyray50]

WTP-GC wrote:

94-D2 wrote:


That being said, I have had two experiences with the mentioned hitch system and both times was in the course of a collision investigation and both times the hitch failed at impact. Specifically, the pyramid structure did not hold up during the impact which resulted in the trailer striking the rear of pull vehicle cab. The last such case was an 8k TT/Ram 1500 hitting a Chevy S10 at 30 mph. The fist was a 12k Terry/Ford combination that hit a Miata rear end. Those two instances alone, would shy me away from this style of hitch and stick with the 5th wheel.

It is my underatanding that B&W makes a 5th wheel hitch that fits its center bed box. I would certainly look into that instead.

This should be interesting...
The entire internet can offer maybe 2-3 examples of supposed failure of the AUH, none of which involved a collision. Now a brand new forum member shows up and has 2 exclusive examples by himself. If the "pyramid structure" failed, that hardly means that the trailer would have come dislodged from the coupler or ball. In fact, no other report has shown an absolute failure of the frame...only deflection of the members.

Accident reports are public record. Please provide a link to the reports.

Yes would like to read these links.

[WTP-GC]

94-D2 wrote:


That being said, I have had two experiences with the mentioned hitch system and both times was in the course of a collision investigation and both times the hitch failed at impact. Specifically, the pyramid structure did not hold up during the impact which resulted in the trailer striking the rear of pull vehicle cab. The last such case was an 8k TT/Ram 1500 hitting a Chevy S10 at 30 mph. The fist was a 12k Terry/Ford combination that hit a Miata rear end. Those two instances alone, would shy me away from this style of hitch and stick with the 5th wheel.

It is my underatanding that B&W makes a 5th wheel hitch that fits its center bed box. I would certainly look into that instead.

This should be interesting...
The entire internet can offer maybe 2-3 examples of supposed failure of the AUH, none of which involved a collision. Now a brand new forum member shows up and has 2 exclusive examples by himself. If the "pyramid structure" failed, that hardly means that the trailer would have come dislodged from the coupler or ball. In fact, no other report has shown an absolute failure of the frame...only deflection of the members.

Accident reports are public record. Please provide a link to the reports.