B&W Companion vs Andersen Ultimate Showdown!

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by 05CrewDually

Doug I wish you the best. I'm sure you saw the pics posted when one of the Andersen's collapsed. I hope you don't hit a curb like you did recently because I do not see the Andersen holding up to a force with your combined weight. Then again if you did it would be a more thorough review or test. Be safe.

Yep, I’m familiar with that picture. I just wish the original post hadn’t been deleted from the GD Owners group on Facebook. I wish I knew who it was to talk to them and get the whole scoop.

I actually know of a couple of other cases where Andersens bent but nothing catastrophic like that case. It’s my understanding that they’re continually tweaking them to make them better & stronger and their customer support takes care of folks who have issues. BUT- the issues still occur.

That said, I also read of folks who had issues with the famed B&W, as well. From the top draw-down bending to the legs bending truck beds. B&W also has fantastic customer service and support- I’ve been on the receiving end of that multiple times now.

So we’ll see. With 2 hitches with strong fan-followings, I’m excited to put them to the “test” side by side. Hopefully I get to use them on 2 different trailers, even.

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by 05CrewDually

You read wrong. It was while a Momentum was being towed by an independent owner. Do a search there's info out there.
Let's see how Doug makes out. Hopefully not like this guy.
Goose box is the way to go.
Attachment 161613

I've searched the world over and I thought I'd find the information you say is out there ---- but, alas, I can't find anything on this. Would you please do us all a favor and give us a pointer/URL to this information? Thank you, kindly.

[ependydad]

Finally picked up my Andersen from the campground office today. Sadly, didn't have time to start setting it up. It'll have to wait for another day.

[ependydad]

[ependydad]

Fortunately, I'll have a few towings with my new camper with the B&W and will be able to compare it with the Andersen fairly well.

If I can figure out how to carry both for a spell, I'll do that so I can really compare the two! Swap back and forth every couple of trips. We'll start to put some real miles on come April to June.

[ependydad]

I installed my Andersen last week. Overall, it was a simple install.

Honestly, 1 part annoyed me: but you’re expected to be able to torque a set of Allen hex head screws to 40 ft./lbs. Long Allen heads with a socket is a tool I’ve never had nor needed before. Given my limited space, I’m not enthusiastic about the need to buy something special that only has 1-use.

But, I had an awesome helper (I posted these on another thread here):







I had the 2 hitches side by side on the ground and my non-RVing cousin asked why the one (B&W) looked so much beefier than the other?





Over all, though- as I said, the installation was pretty simple. Andersen’s instructions are words accompanied by full-color photos. The idiot in me likes the shiny pictures!

Before we could get on the road, I had to disassemble the B&W. Again, I had some pretty awesome helpers:



As of now, I’m going to sell the B&W. I just don’t have the room to lug both back and forth and this camper is too heavy for it (21k vs the 20k limit on the B&W). If you’re in Atlanta or Huntsville, check my soon to be written classified ad!

The first hitching was a bit nerve-wracking. It had gotten dark and the kingpin on this Spartan doesn’t seem like it is as extended as my Sabre. Backing up to the hitch, I have to be straight on with no angle or he tailgate will hit the camper. With the B&W - the coupler plate would catch the king pin and you would never overshoot it. With this Andersen, I have to make sure we stop at just the right spot.

I’m going without safety chains right now. Sounds like the legality is in the favor of them not being needed. Andersen sent them to me at my request, I just now need to install them and make sure they won’t beat up the crap I have in the bed.

After putting the camper on the ball and engaging the safety lock, my wife asked, “so, with this connection, what’s the point of a pull test?”

It truly doesn’t need a pull test. There’s no way it’s going to slip if the camper/coupler is down on the ball. The only thing you can forget is to engage the pin. Even then, it would take a hell of a drop of the truck bed to disengage the two.

We drove for 200 miles on Monday night. We stopped for fuel and other than almost losing a gas can, the drive was uneventful.

Today, we drove for almost another 300 and stopped to weigh the rig which meant unhitching and re-hitching. We then unhitched at the campground.

Unhitching has been weird- the truck seems to lurch/jump forward about 3”. I even made sure to have the emergency brake on. And, my final move was different with each unhitching- once pulling forward thru 2 truck spots and second backing into our spot.

You can see the difference in these pics. This was literally the result of unhitching:





I’d love input from Andersen owners.

I never experienced anything like that with the B&W. The TrailAir TriGlide hitch would flop around, but we knew to take pressure off of it if we had last backed up.

There is truth in needing to raise the camper hitched to get on the ball. With hydraulic legs, it isn’t an issue. With my old electric landing gear... it would be extra slow.

Overall, the ride experience was identical to the B&W. Same quality of ride and sensation in the truck.

And lastly, the size of the hitch- as y’all know, I load up my truck bed! For someone with a Turnoverball Gooseneck Companion, the footprint is the same size. For those with pucks, it sounds like the footprint is much bigger on the Andersen. I did find that I can lay things inside of the Andersen on the truck bed.

After I get some more miles on, I’ll post back.

[Mr. Dan]

Let me have that Andersen rig and I'll test it for you, say, for three (3) years. That will save you the trouble.

[ependydad]

I posted similar comments to Instagram and @yay.adventure had some helpful details.

https://instagram.com/p/BhID8XineGm/

Essentially:
1) chock wheels
2) our truck in neutral
3) engage parking (not emergency) brake
4) unhitch

Apparently without putting the truck in neutral builds kinetic energy that gets released when the ball is freed from the coupler. It’s made worse by engaging the emergency brake.

[itat]

Doug, is there a reason why you chose to install the coupler with the ball behind the pin?

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by itat

Doug, is there a reason why you chose to install the coupler with the ball behind the pin?

Yes, the instructions call for measurements between the ball and the side rails vs the coupler and the rear of the pinbox.

With my Retrax bedcover, it encroaches on bedspace.



I’m fairly positive that I’m going to turn it around and will watch for the pinbox vs. rails.

[Rugman1952]

Very informative post, Doug, and great looking helpers!
When we bought our first ever 5ver last year, (after years of tts) I also bought the b&w companion since we had a ball in the truck bed. Oops, turns out we had a pop-up ball and not a turn-over ball. Hence, round hole, not a square hole, in truck bed. Soooo, ended up with the Andersen. We love the hitch, but can't compare it to the b&w, since we never got to try one.
As far as movement between the hitch and kp coupler during unhooking, as shown in your pics, I'm at a loss. We don't full time, but camp at least 12 times per summer. Since the 5ver is parked at a storage lot, every time we go out it involves hooking up, pull it home, unhook, pack up, start fridge overnite, hook up, go to campground, unhook, have fun, hook up, pull it home, unhook, unpack and clean, hook up next day, pull it to storage, unhook. Whew!
Our unhook is pretty basic. Back in or pull thru, level side to side, chock wheels, trans. in nuetral, park brake on, lower landing gear until clear of hitch ball, pull truck out, and raise or lower landing gear till level front to back. No movement.
Please keep in mind that if you put your trans in park only, w/o setting the park brake, the "parking pawl" inside the trans has some built-in slop that will allow your tv to roll 1 to 3 inches when tension is released, depending on manufacturer, wear, mileage etc.
Hope this helps.

[Electra glide]

I have used the Andersen for a few years now. I started out with version 1 and had no issues but they did send me a version 2 after about a year. My fifth wheel has a nose cap issue that doesn't like my short bed set up. I am still working on this issue. I made a video to show off the set up. I also sent it to Andersen to see if they had any suggestions. I sent it 9 days ago but no reply back yet. I am thinking about turning my adapter back around but not sure if this will put too much weight behind the rear axle?
In the video you will see a dent in my truck bed on the drivers side. I had the ball set to low and in a tight turn the fifth wheel hit a pothole and the pin box hit the truck. Totally my fault and I have since raised the ball and never had an issue since.
I also asked about the chains.
"This is kind of a grey area. The ultimate connection was tested as a fifth wheel hitch and approved as a fifth wheel hitch. According to DOT regulations, because it is a fifth wheel hitch, it does not need safety chains.

On conventional gooseneck trailers chains are required due to the latching mechanism on the gooseneck trailer, the long neck of the gooseneck adapter, and because of the increased leverage.

The Andersen Ultimate Connection does not utilize a latch nor does it pivot at the point of the ball. We do utilize a gooseneck ball to secure the fifth wheel hitch into place, which for the Ultimate Connection creates a solid base with no moving points. Our unconventional setup is much like the OEM puck system that is utilized to accept fifth wheel hitches sold in the newer trucks today.

Unfortunately, it is up to the officer to interpret DOT regulations and laws. We have only heard of one case, out of the 35,000 units that we have on the road today, where the DOT officer insisted on having the customer add safety chains to his setup. For this reason, we do recommend and offer safety chains (part # 3230) for our Ultimate Connection."
https://youtu.be/ADm9WFwVIvg

[Electra glide]

After seeing post 30 your booklet seems much better than the booklet I got. Also your adapter looks better than mine. Anyway I see from that picture if I turn my adapter back around with my 4 inch offset and short bed truck the kingpin will/may hit the tailgate. So I think that option is out for me.

[ependydad]

Thought I would loop back on this one. As mentioned, I installed my Andersen back at the very end of last month. I even sold my B&W when I was in Atlanta. It was a sad day, but my scaled weight of the camper is over the ratings of the B&W.

First, getting the Companion out. I don't recall if I shared this but it had been installed fulltime in the camper for the past 2 years and hadn't been removed that entire time. We found that the base was "glued" between the rubber runners and the grippy factory spray-in bedline. I ultimately had to hitch up to the camper and raise the landing gear to get the hitch to let go and lift from the truck bed.



I don't fault the hitch at all. As I said, it had been installed for 2 years and used hard.


There was a Youtube post earlier in the thread, so talking about the physical size in the truck bed... it is about the same between the B&W Companion RVK3500 (the one that goes into a B&W Turnoverball gooseneck NOT the one that goes to pucks). The Andersen is open around the base, which is good as it allowed me to slide some things in and around it (scooter and bike rack). Both sit below the rails, so my bed cover (Retrax Pro) still slides over nicely.


Installation is similar on both. On the B&W, it had a post that went down into gooseneck hole (which was annoyingly always connected to the base (this was a change from my older B&W to my newer B&W), so it didn't sit flat when out of the truck). On the Andersen, you use the gooseneck ball. Both get torqued to specific ft/lbs.

After the installation into the truck, you install the adapter onto the kingpin.


The weight of the hitch itself for installation and removal is hard to argue. The B&W, while it comes apart in 2 pieces, are still heavy. And the base is just cumbersome in size (especially with the fixed square post coming out of the bottom).


I now have about 1,000 towing miles (Orlando to Atlanta to Huntsville to Memphis) on the AUH over a variety of road conditions. I've hitched and unhitched 4 times each now.

The hitch feels absolutely as solid with the Andersen as it did the B&W. The ride quality is equal (albeit a little jarring- but that's the trailer + fixed kingpin vs. the hitches). As of now, I feel equally safe. Fortunately, I never experienced hard braking applications with the B&W and hope to continue that trend. Yes, I'm familiar with the crumpled AUH pictures that made their rounds a while back.


Not having the need to do a pull test is still weird and foreign.


Hitching the AUH is slightly more difficult. With my truck + trailer, the tailgate comes within 3-4" of the front of the camper to get hitched. This was the same with the B&W. The difference with the B&W, the pin would hit into the hitch and it would absolutely stop me. With the Andersen, I find that I need my wife's guidance from beside of the truck to ensure I'm far enough back but not too far. Slightly more nerve wracking and seems that it would be more difficult to hitch up alone.


The AUH does require the trailer to be lifted quite a bit higher than the B&W. With hydraulic landing gear, this isn't an issue. In fact, it helps in that I keep my grill across the rear of the bed; I used to have to turn it out of the way of the kingpin because the B&W hitch was lower. Now I leave the grill sideways and just come in over top of it. If I still had electric landing gear, this would likely prove to be annoying (though, it's my wife's job to adjust camper height!).


Both require the safety catch to be engaged. The B&W, that's pinning the latch handle. With the AUH, it's a matter of engaging a bar across the AUH Ball. I know a concern is about locking these- the B&W can be locked to not open. I haven't looked into a way to lock the AUH, but given that it's 3,200 lbs of pin weight, even if it wasn't locked- that would take one hell of a bump to dislodge the coupler to raised gooseneck ball. You definitely could lock the AUH to the truck bed.


I mentioned it before, but the one nut that I haven't cracked is that my truck seems to drift forward every time I unhitch. A surprising amount and more than I ever saw with the B&W. This was simply unhitching:



I've tried a couple of procedures that were suggested online and each time, I still find the truck moves.


So, in short- as of now, I'm finding the AUH is an excellent hitch and equals the B&W is quality. It supports the ratings (and actual scaled weight) of my camper. I'll be the first to admit if/when something goes wrong.

(Yes, I've ignored the owner's stupidity at Arches NP. Intentionally. That has been beaten up on other threads.)

[ben31]

ependydad, any further updates? Are you still happy with your decision?

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by ben31

ependydad, any further updates? Are you still happy with your decision?

I forgot about this post- ultimately, I only kept the Andersen for about 4 months before replacing it. If I had my new truck, I likely would have gone back to the B&W with pucks (rated to 25k). As we didn't get the new truck for another couple of months, we opted to go with a TrailerSaver TS3 which is a full air ride hitch.

The Andersen ended up just giving us a pretty harsh ride. My wife suffers with back pain and we were moving pretty quick for a while.. even had a couple of back to back travel days. Between the pin light toy hauler (only about 15%) and the fixed pin box, it translated into a lot of movement/rough ride in the truck.

I wrote up a couple of articles about it:
https://learntorv.com/the-hitch-showdown/

B&W Fifth Wheel Hitches | Learn To RV

Andersen Ultimate Fifth Wheel Connection | Learn To RV

The Andersen isn't a bad hitch and I didn't feel unsafe using it. Though, another one got destroyed during an accident that doesn't leave me with warm-cushy-feelings. That was debated here on the forum (and across the Internet).

The truth testament to the hitch is its lightweight design. If you need that, get it. Otherwise, I preferred the B&W to it.

The B&W is just a solid contender of a hitch. Easy/easier to hitch up, doesn't bind up, and comes out of the truck in 2 manageable pieces. I used to roll it around on a furniture dolly. And no gray area on whether safety chains were required or not.

[Fifth Wheelers]

Pro's and Con's don't make me feel safe, I will go with what makes me safe no matter which one seems to be the best. They are all opinions. I feel safe with my B&M Companion, nothings against others.

[ben31]

Thanks for the update!