Anderson Ultimate and weight distrobution with offset

[BabyBober]

All:
Coming from a towable to a 5th wheel one of the "benefits" I am told is that the weight is directly over the rear axle for much better towing. I am considering an Anderson Ultimate or with a Reese Sidewinder with traditional 5th wheel hitch. This will be in a short wheel base 2017 Ford 350 (6 3/4' bed). The Anderson Offsets the "pin location" behind (towards the back) from the rear axle to work better in short beds. Does this effect vehicle performance in any way? 2K pin weight behind the rear axle means lifting weight off the front axle doesn't it? Bottom line, isn't shifting the weight backwards a bad idea?

Jim
Babybober

[SkiSmuggs]

I didn't notice anything negative. It seemed to tow better. I've heard that someone mentioned 200 lbs is taken from the front, but a driver and passenger should make up for that. 8000 miles of towing with mine and never felt light in the steering.

[Dave and Monica]

The weight is still applied to the ball of the hitch and therefore over the rear axle. The offset block position may have a small 'lever' effect on the actual pin weight but I believe would be a minimal impact. It would be a good exercise to try at a CAT scale.

Dave

[Jerryr]

I have a 2017 F-350 SRW, 6'9" bed, 4wd Crew Cab w/18" tires and I tow a 337RLS with an Andersen Ultimate. The truck came with factory gooseball prep. I also installed a Bedrug Bedliner so I cut a flap for the hitch ball.

I have the hitch mounted with the hitch ball to the rear tailgate. I have the adapter mounted so that the trailer is forward. It tows great. I've only towed it about 100 miles or so. Monday we're going on a 200 mile trip

The only thing, with the way the adapter is mounted is that with the tailgate down, when backing up to connect there's only about 4" or so from the tailgate to the trailer. I also need to back up pretty square.

I get plenty of clearance when turning and can go about 80 degrees and still not hit the rear window or side rails. I have the Andersen ball mounted in the center hole. With that I get 8" of clearance to the bed rails.

I may flip the adapter tpmmorow so I can get more clearance when tailgate is down. That will give me an additional 8". I just need to see how close the pin box comes to the side rails in tight backing turns.

Unloaded my bedrails are 59" off the ground. When the trailer is hooked up the truck rear goes down to 56" rail to ground and the trailer is pretty much level.

I just had a Bakflip F1 tonneau cover installed yesterday. I get good clearance with the cover folded and turning.

[Bamaman]

The Anderson is a very good hitch. You save some bed weight vs. using a conventional hitch which gives you a little more weight carrying capability. And you can unhook and remove the hitch without help of a strong friend or a winch to lift it.

On the negative side, the hitch has to be perfectly centered to hitch it up--best seen with closed circuit tv. You may have to adjust your vehicle frontwards, backwards, right or left. With most conventional hitches, you can get hitched if you're within a few inches of center.

If you have to leave your Anderson equipped trailer at a dealership for service, the chances are they won't have the head unit on the kingpin to match up to the 2 5/16" ball in the bed. You'd have to remove the head unit so they can move it around easily.

I'm running a B&M Patriot 16K hitch, and it breaks into two pieces in 1 second. I can easily handle getting both halves of the hitch out of my truck bed. And my fifth wheel has the modern shaped nosecone so we have plenty of articulation to park our trailer without having to use a slider. Close attention is required, however, when parking or making tight turns.

[Jerryr]

On the negative side, the hitch has to be perfectly centered to hitch it up--best seen with closed circuit tv. You may have to adjust your vehicle frontwards, backwards, right or left. With most conventional hitches, you can get hitched if you're within a few inches of center.

With the newer Andersen hitches there is a red plastic funnel mounted on the adapter that gives you the ability to hitch even when you are about 3" off either side to side or front to back.

My 2017 F-350 Lariat has a a second camera mounted high up below light above the rear window and it makes hitching an Andersen a piece of cake. It has a center line and when getting close it has a + button to magnify the area.

If you have to leave your Anderson equipped trailer at a dealership for service, the chances are they won't have the head unit on the kingpin to match up to the 2 5/16" ball in the bed. You'd have to remove the head unit so they can move it around easily.

Our dealer (LazyDays in Tampa) sells Andersen hitches and they have fork lifts that will mate with the Andersen. I saw this first hand. If not then removing the adapter will only take about 5-10 minutes tops.

[Second Chance]

We ran ours for a year and a half in a short bed with the ball to the rear - didn't notice any difference and it handled/towed just fine. It was also no problem lining things up without a camera or other technology. There was a screw in the middle of the folded up Tonneau cover that was visible in the rear view mirror - just lined 'em up and that was it. We had a slightly older version of the Andersen without the funnel and a line on the side of the adapter block with a Magic Marker where the cup was solved the fore-and-aft alignment problem. BTW, it's "Andersen" with an "e."

Rob

[BabyBober]

We ran ours for a year and a half in a short bed with the ball to the rear - didn't notice any difference and it handled/towed just fine. It was also no problem lining things up without a camera or other technology. There was a screw in the middle of the folded up Tonneau cover that was visible in the rear view mirror - just lined 'em up and that was it. We had a slightly older version of the Andersen without the funnel and a line on the side of the adapter block with a Magic Marker where the cup was solved the fore-and-aft alignment problem. BTW, it's "Andersen" with an "e."

Rob

Thanks Rob, I quests I can't spell. Oops. Why did you switch to a pullrite ?

[BabyBober]

I have a 2017 F-350 SRW, 6'9" bed, 4wd Crew Cab w/18" tires and I tow a 337RLS with an Andersen Ultimate. The truck came with factory gooseball prep. I also installed a Bedrug Bedliner so I cut a flap for the hitch ball.
.

Jerry , I see you have a short bed also. This is great info. It helps a lot. Please post the clearance you have on the bed rails with the block turned around once you try it out.

THANKS

[Second Chance]

Thanks Rob, I quests I can't spell. Oops. Why did you switch to a pullrite ?

Short story... we traded trucks (GMC 2500HD to F350 DRW) on a Friday evening/Saturday morning and were pulling out the next day (we're full-timers). There was only one Andersen adapter for the Ford puck system in the whole southeast and the dealer couldn't get it there in time. They had the PullRite OEM for Ford in stock and the service manager and a technician stuck around Saturday to install the PullRite for us so we could stay on schedule. I loved the Andersen and wasn't happy to give it up. I like the PullRite just fine, but in the long run it will require more regular maintenance and I can't get it out of the truck bed by myself.

Rob