Well, unfortunately I did not have that experience. It arrived late, not their fault, it was a UPS issue, and possible an Amazon vendor issue. But because of that I was not able to pre-install it prior to taking delivery, and by the time I arrived 150 miles from home to pick up my new 5th wheel I called them for advice they were gone for the weekend..... Again, not their fault. I left multiple voice mail messages wherever I could; unfortunately Andersen seems to have a outdated voice mail system. I sent an urgent email to their customer service department, and this is where it escalated to disappoint. No one, I repeat no one answered my plea for help. I called at 8:00 am west coast time on Monday, and it took 3 attempts over 30 minutes to get to speak to someone other than the receptionist. On the third attempt I was able to speak to someone that was apparently on their cell phone, and he didn't seem too focused on my issue, maybe he was driving somewhere at that time, I don't know. But in any case he could not offer me any assistance other than to replace the 5/8" retaining pin for a grade "8" - 1/2" bolt. He then asked me to send photos via email, and I did, including a short video to demonstrate the problem, and for the next three hours no one, again I repeat, no one attempted to contact me. The following day I received an email from someone who's last name was the same as the company name, spelled slightly different asking if someone has contacted me. I responded that no one contacted me prior to his email, and explained my circumstances (that was next day, Tuesday), and as of this post no one, again no one contacted me.

The issue, is that apparently the casting for the base retaining pin was not aligned properly to allow the base to be retained to the goose ball hitch. I tried multiple goose *****, and could not get the pin to fit. I must note the grade "8" - 1/2" bolt did secure the hitch to the ball, but I did not feel safe and comfortable hooking up my 14,500 trailer with that scenario.

Fast forward; I returned the Andersen, along with the items needed to make it work. I purchased a B&W companion for the Ford factory rail setup and could not be more pleased. It cost me more money, but it was worth it. I asked the person at Anderson to reimburse me for my added expenses due to this issue, and all I hear are crickets.....

DO NOT BUY THE ANDERSEN, I am thoroughly disappointed!

 

Never heard of this problem before and I understand your frustration.

Strange...

Too late! We have been 100% happy with the product and service provided. Not every product works for everyone the same though, so I hope your B&W purchase suits you better. A 50 lbs hitch that securely tows our 5th wheel around the country for 1000's of miles, count me in...

Some people don't buy Mercury cars because of their bad experiences with them, but I have a 2002 Mercury Sable with 252,000 miles that runs like a champ. It is what it is...

I am glad you took a moment and could vent your frustration out here, but you do realize that a very small percentage of the Andersen customers reads this. Perhaps seek other avenues to talk about your **** poor experience with them and get some resolution to your "issue".

 

I have had nothing but good experiences with Andersen. When I first received the AUH the latch cable was damaged. I called them and they sent a new one, no questions asked. Due to my own mistake I over tightened the bolts through the polymer cone and it cracked. I called them to purchase another and they sent it to me no charge. I had to purchase the Rotoflex lockout kit and the bolts were too short, called them and they sent me new ones no charge.
I know that no company will never have no problems but I have experienced and heard (almost) all good things about Andersen.
And, BTW, I love the hitch!:

 

I have an AUH too. The Company has been a tremendous help. They answer questions, and will make things right.

 

I've seen the Mercury and, while not the prettiest thing, it worked good enough to get Sous over to help me fix my front landing gear and save the weekend camping trip. Without Sous, I would've spent half a day trying to fix that damn thing.

I'd never had gooseneck or fifth wheel hitch before and got the AUH after reading reviews and seeing people's posts on different forums. I probably wouldn't have gotten a 5er at all had it not been for the versatility of the AUH. I was hell bent on getting a bumper pull because I didn't want to deal with a traditional fifth wheel hitch that takes up so much room and is hard to remove. Now I am the happy owner of Sous's 5er and it seems to pull great with the AUH. My hitch was still in the box in the bed of my truck when I got to Sous's house to pick up my 5er. We installed it in just a few minutes and everything went smoothly (I have the gooseneck attachment, not rails). I had to mount the king pin adapter backwards to get side rail clearance but its no problem now even with my roll back tonneau cover installed. I am a happy customer of Andersen so far.

 

You are most welcome sir!

You know that Mercury is one of a kind... That is my beater car that I drive around because if someone hits me in it, I will laugh it off. One of the very few cars on the planet where a deer hit the car, not the car hitting the deer.

We are glad you enjoyed your first weekend out with the camper too! It was nice catching up with you a bit and showing you some of the ropes at the site.

AUH is a great product that not everyone will like for one reason or another, that is just how the world is.

 

2015 F250, 2016 Coachman, Anderson steel rail hitch, cone forward of kingpin, ball towards rear of truck, no clearance problems.

 

Decided to play around a little bit this weekend while camping. Turned my AUH around after getting to the campground to see if moving the 5th wheel pin forward about 10" would make much difference in trailer towing or maybe lessen the squat of the truck some by moving some weight to the front wheels. Only difference I could see was less clearance between the 5th wheel and the tailgate, went from 20" to 10" with the tailgate open. Pictures are at different angles, sorry, but didn't think about this post when I took the pics. I think I am going to turn the AUH back around so the ball is to the rear with my adapter towards the cab of the truck.


With the AUH ball towards the rear.


With the AUh ball towards the cab.


This setup actually puts the king pin about two inches in front of the axle where as the other way puts it 12" behind the rear axle.

 

I have thought about reversing the AUH so the ball is towards the cab and then take it to the scales to see how much weight is actually switched to the front axle. I weighted the truck previously with and without the 5er hooked up and saw a decrease of just 80 lbs on the steer axle with the trailer hitched up. I have a SRW SB but my Coachman is well rounded on the nose and I don't think clearance would be an issue with the AUH switched around. Just not sure its worth the trouble.
Has anyone done this to see the weight transfer?

 

I know that the Anderson torques down on the gooseneck ball to "secure the assembly to the bed of the truck", but I think to your point, what's to prevent that assembly from spinning on the ball? Especially as the trailer bounces and applies upward (lifting) pressure? I wouldn't be surprised if the Anderson assembly moves/twists a little.

 

It torques down and also torques from the side (actually from the front I guess). I'm not saying it couldn't move but, if installed properly, I don't think that's an issue.

 

Anyone have this problem.....

 

Nope never had that problem. I have seen pics like this before taken after a wreck but the wreck caused the damage to the hitch not the hitch damage causing the wreck.

 

If I remember correctly that setup was not recommended by Andersen. The king pin box that is on it is not approved for that hitch.

 

There was a long post about this exact hitch issue a while back if you use the search function.

A lot of factors came into play on it, and we never did hear a resolution to it.

Again, use what makes you happy and gives you the warm fuzzy feeling that you made the right call for your situation. For me and a lot of us, we are 100% happy with the Andersen. There is a reason why other companies have started to get as close to a copy of the design as they can without infringing on patent violations.