Andersen Ultimate 5th Wheel Hitch evolution

[Centex]

Absolutely no drama here, just observing some slightly interesting evolution of the Andersen Ultimate 5th wheel hitch. I became aware of this as a result of exchanges between myself and another forum member; I bought my 3220 hitch in 2021, he bought his this year.

1. My ball has 3 height-adjustment holes; his has 2 holes.

Andersen has not changed the replacement ball part number (3201) but is no longer offering the 3-hole version as a replacement part.

In reply to my casual inquiry via email asking 'Why the change?', Andersen's two sentence reply was "The owner decided to go away from the 3 hole ball and introduce the 2 hole ball. However, either ball is still safe to use."

2. Andersen has added an "Ultimate Ball Set Screw for securing the ball". This is a set-screw through the tube holding the ball which presses on the shaft of the ball. No torque value is given, the instructions just say "... tighten it after adjusting the ball height". Looks like a non-critical 'anti-rattle' device to me (?).

These differences are reflected in "Download 2022 Installation Manual (Ultimate Connections with a two hole ball)". Note: this is the url link from Andersen's website which my browser reports as a 'not secure download'; apparently just sloppy certificate maintenance by Andersen's web folks.

While the absolute height dimensions vary for models other than the 3220 discussed here, the changes apply to all of the Andersen Ultimate 5th-wheel variations.

Again, no drama here, just thought it was an interesting evolution of the product, I'd not run across mention of this on the forum, thought perhaps of interest to others.

[SageRpod]

Originally Posted by Centex

Absolutely no drama here, just observing some slightly interesting evolution of the Andersen Ultimate 5th wheel hitch. I became aware of this as a result of exchanges between myself and another forum member; I bought my 3220 hitch in 2021, he bought his this year.

1. My ball has 3 height-adjustment holes; his has 2 holes.

Interesting. Mine is a two-holer with the set screw, which I agree, serves an anti-rattle function. My gut tells me that Andersen decided the the middle whole really doesn't provide that much value as an adjustment and Andersen could save x number of dollars and time by not machining a third hole when two will do the job for the majority of the users.

I might add, that this weekend, coming back from a camping trip, we opened the back window on the F150 and that Andersen has to be the quietest hitch I have ever used.

[Perry Butler]

A few years ago Andersen was having owners with large rigs, over 12,000#'s, shear the pin at the middle hole, so it was eliminated and the shearing stopped. I knew about this, but with the light weight of the 5.0 wasn't worried.

Enjoy,

Perry

[Centex]

Originally Posted by Perry Butler

A few years ago Andersen was having owner with large rigs, over 12,000#'s, shear the pin at the middle hole, so it was eliminated and the shearing stopped. I knew about this, but with the light weight of the 5.0 wasn't worried.

Enjoy,

Perry

Interesting; Andersen's reply including the statement "However, either ball is still safe to use." was without any knowledge of the size / weight rig I am driving / towing (never mentioned that in my email to them).

But I agree, I'm not worried about my little Escape 5.0

[oldwave]

Not a big fan of that company from some of their antics in a National Park few years back.
Nuff said

https://www.rvtravel.com/anderson843/

[Perry Butler]

Originally Posted by oldwave

Not a big fan of that company from some of their antics in a National Park few years back.
Nuff said

https://www.rvtravel.com/anderson843/

They paid a fine, apologized, and I understand the graffiti has been removed. While they will carry a "Scarlet Letter" for the rest of their lives, they've made amends as best as possible and have my forgiveness.

If I can forgive my ex-wife for leaving me and my children (8 and 12 at the time) without any warning or explaination, this one is easy. About 15 years ago I sat each of my adult children down and told them to "get over it". They now have a great relationship with their mother.

Enjoy,

Perry

[SageRpod]

Originally Posted by oldwave

Not a big fan of that company from some of their antics in a National Park few years back.
Nuff said

https://www.rvtravel.com/anderson843/

Agree with Perry. Crap happens. People make stupid mistakes. We're all human. Heck, the NFS burnt down 342K acres of forest in New Mexico last year due to stupidity, yet we I still pay my fees and go to their campgrounds.

A wise person once said, Not forgiving is like drinking poison yourself and waiting for the other person to die.

[oldwave]

Originally Posted by SageRpod

Agree with Perry. Crap happens. People make stupid mistakes. We're all human. Heck, the NFS burnt down 342K acres of forest in New Mexico last year due to stupidity, yet we I still pay my fees and go to their campgrounds.

A wise person once said, Not forgiving is like drinking poison yourself and waiting for the other person to die.

On the other hand my experience is that business owners private behavior is sometimes predictable of their business practices. Given I worked for the NPS for 30 years this on was a craw sticking ughh. This was not a mistake it was hubris and arrogance, and given what I did and what I saw visitors sometimes do to do the resources it cemented my determination not to do business with the company. Sure he paid his fine. Sure some NPS and NFS have made mistakes etc. there are many choices to spend your money, I made my choice with this incident in mind. Not advocating for anyone else to do the same. A mistake would have been to drive the wrong way or go off the road and hit a resource. This was vandalism by someone whose customer base is for the most part supporters of preservation of these places. Just my opinion, glad he was caught.

[Ooshkaboo]

Originally Posted by Perry Butler

They paid a fine, apologized, and I understand the graffiti has been removed. While they will carry a "Scarlet Letter" for the rest of their lives, they've made amends as best as possible and have my forgiveness.

If I can forgive my ex-wife for leaving me and my children (8 and 12 at the time) without any warning or explaination, this one is easy. About 15 years ago I sat each of my adult children down and told them to "get over it". They now have a great relationship with their mother.

Enjoy,

Perry

Definitely looked like a “oops, my bad” situation. Really a lack of awareness, but not like he did an Isis move and destroyed historic statues.

Also, really good move you made for your children sake if nothing else.

[AndyZ]

Is there any source for the older 3 hole ball? Gives more configurability, and with the light weight of the Escape 5.0 it seems like the shearing pin issue should not be a problem.