Andersen Hitch and Reese Revolution

[TNcajungal]

We have a Forest River Flagstaff 32 foot fifth wheel. It came with a Reese Revolution hitch, which we liked, but always had trouble hooking up. While camping we saw the Andersen hitch that another camper had and we were sold on it. We purchased the Andersen. We purchased the B&W gooseneck hitch for our 2017 F250 King Ranch and installed the Andersen ourselves. We were ready to go and absolutely not thinking about this at all, we soon realized you cannot have 2 pivot points We did some damage to the fifth wheel, although not a lot, except the frame that the Reese attaches to bent somewhat. We found the two bolts that came with the fifth wheel and installed them into the frame part of the fifth wheel hitch connection. Now, we haven’t taken the fifth wheel out for a run. We are actually terrified that something will happen. Is it now safe to haul using the Andersen hitch? When installing the Andersen the measurements said to turn the red gooseneck connection to the rear instead of the front, but since this happened, we are thinking of turning it to the front because we are afraid of clearance issues. Please help in any way you can. We thought we had done our research and everything said we could used this hitch on our Reese but apparently not. Does anyone out there have any information about this?

[itat]

As long as the Reese Revolution pin box is locked so it won’t turn you can safely use the Anderson Ultimate hitch with it. I have no idea whether it will be as forgiving with a short bed truck though. I use a B&W Patriot hitch and let the Revolution turn as it’s made to do. It works great for me.

[TNcajungal]

We don't have a short bed, so it will work?

[tomkatb]

I think!

The Anderson is designed for a fiver hitch that measures less than 30” from the back of the mounting bracket to the pin. I suspect the one you have is longer than that when locked. Likely you could hit stuff when turning.

You could turn the Anderson adapter backwards. But I would be concerned the 30” might make the back of the hitch hit the side rail.

Likely your fiver had the 1621 hitch. Guessing here. The longer standard one.

Don’t know if this helps.

The guys at Anderson are easy to talk to.

[TNcajungal]

Thank you. I have reached out to them. Waiting for a reply.

[NMWildcat]

Every hitch should have directions on how to measure clearance. If not, there are lots of articles/videos about how to do it. If nothing else, take it slow and watch. Take it to a parking lot and see how far you can turn and how much clearance you have.
But at this point in your DIY catastrophe, you might be better off calling a mobile tech who will double check your installation

[hbillsmith]

Originally Posted by TNcajungal

Thank you. I have reached out to them. Waiting for a reply.

If by reached out you mean that you sent an email, I might suggest you just call them. I've had an Andersen Ultimate since our Wildcat 5er was new in 2015 and it's been great. I upgraded the Ultimate a couple of times when they made some design changes (probably didn't need to, but I just wanted the latest and greatest ;-)) anyway, each time I found it quick and painless to just give them a call. They have others with the Revolution and can tell you exactly what you need to do. They are great to work with.

[Bama Rambler]

Originally Posted by TNcajungal

We don't have a short bed, so it will work?

You say you don't have a short bed, but do you have an 8' bed? I ask because some people say the 6½' bed isn't a short bed (and technically it isn't) but it's shorter than an 8' bed.

If it is an 8' bed then you can safely turn the Ball Funnel toward the rear of the pin box (toward the rear of the RV).

We have a 6'3" bed and I have the funnel turned to the front of the pin box.

[TNcajungal]

Thank you for your response. We have the in between size, probably 6'3.

[Bama Rambler]

In that case I'd turn the ball funnel toward the front. It gives you more room between the truck and the RV, so more turning angle.

[Daniel.mullins4]

I have a Forest River ultralite 32’ 5th wheel, had an 18” pin box, due to the light weight frame structure increasing the pin box length puts more stress on the frame, I chose the Demco Autoslide hitch, I also replace the the pin box with a 10” Demco Glide Ride to reduce stress, with the 18” raising the landing gear dropping the load on the hitch I could see and hear the stress on the frame, this set up has worked flawless

[rocky4765]

Additionally ...I hope that the minor damage you incurred to the Reese doesn't affect the alignment of the Reese pinbox. It is very important the those two bolts are tourqued to the number that the factory uses. The people at Reese or Anderson should be able to help you. Sorry but I cannot recall the tourque specs.