We recommend the Andersen Anti Slip Kit Mat between the base of the hitch and bed of your truck in order to prevent unnecessary friction. At this time we don’t recommend other aftermarket mats as they have not been tested to not shift during use. We recommend the following torque sequence when installing the base to make sure it is tight to the tow vehicle:

1 - Pin and clip base to existing gooseneck ball
2 - Tighten the top bolt to 60 ft-lbs of torque not the 50 it mentions in the manual
3 - Do NOT tighten the lower two jamb nuts on the coupler tube yet
4 - Lower the RV onto the hitch and latch RV with the tongue weight on the hitch
5 - Re-Torque the top bolt to 60 ft-lbs, this will eliminate all flex of the anti slip mat, truck bed, hitch etc.
6 - Now tighten the lower two jamb nuts to the coupler tube and you are ready to go.

The coupler tube for the Ultimate 5th Wheel Gooseneck Connection is the part that connects the Ultimate Connection with the gooseneck ball in the bed of the truck.

On some occasions, the standard coupler tube included with the Ultimate Connection is too short to connect to the gooseneck ball.

If you need to change the height of your gooseneck ball or the coupler tube length isn’t enough for a proper connection, you may need a replacement coupler tube to extend the connection of the Ultimate Connection so it can attach to the gooseneck ball. Refer to the Coupler Tube Chart to find the right size Coupler Tube.

There are several factors to take into consideration when determining the turn radius of a trailer. Pictures of your set up might help us out, but trailers vary in how large the pin box is, in the distance between the kingpin position and front 'nose' of trailer, and in the length and angle of the trailer's sidewalls, etc..

You can determine this by measuring from the center of your king pin to the nose of your trailer, and from the king pin to the side walls of your trailer, and also from the king pin to the end of the pin box (so you can see if it will hit the sides of your truck). Once you have those measurements, we can furnish you with the appropriate dimensions of our Ultimate Connection, just let us know if you are looking at the rail mount or gooseneck mount version.

There is no limitation in the actual turning radius of our Ultimate Connection other than where the nose or sidewalls of your trailer will hit your cab. Also, if you have an extended pin box, the back end of the pin box may hit the side walls of your tow vehicle (this can be compensated for by turning the king pin connector around pulling the trailer forward 8" total):

As far as the offset…

Gooseneck version: Up to a 9" offset when truck and trailer are in line to each other. The king pin of the 5th Wheel is set back 4" with our coupler (which can be reversed to reduce that). The Ultimate Connection Gooseneck base is offset from the gooseneck ball in the bed by 5" (and can also be reversed if needed).

Rail version: Up to a 8" offset when truck and trailer are in line to each other. The king pin of the 5th Wheel is set back 4" with our coupler (which can be reversed to reduce that). The Ultimate Connection Rail base is offset from the center point of the rails in the bed by 4" (and can also be reversed if needed).

So far we have had no issues with the Ultimate Connection not working in any make or model of short bed trucks. Just keep in mind that in some combinations you may not get a full 90 degree turn. As with all hitches on the market, watch your clearance the first time you use your hitch so you are aware of the limitations of your particular combination of trailer, tow vehicle, and hitch.

We do not recommend additional offset pin boxes to be used with our Ultimate Connection. The only  additional offset that will not cause such a negative towing experience would be using an offset gooseneck ball in the bed of the truck to provide the offset down low. The nose high attitude of the trailer is going to contribute to a terrible and sometimes unsafe towing experience also.

If you would like to upgrade to the new funnel, here are your options: 

The cost of the new funnel is $55 + shipping (part # 3244). It will work with your current Ultimate ball (the one at the top of the base) as long as you do not use it in the lowest position. The reason for this is that in the lowest position, if you encounter uneven terrain or severe dips, the funnel is close enough to the top of the hitch that it may end up getting badly scraped up or gouged, or the hitch itself will get scraped up. While it's not unsafe, it’s certainly not ideal.

If you choose to keep using your current ball, we just need to have you send an email to us that says you are aware that using the ball in its lowest position with the ball-funnel can cause scraping and damage to the ball-funnel and hitch, and that you agree to waive damages from the ball being used in the lowest position. 

If you prefer to purchase the new ball (part #3201), it will be an additional $35 (shipping is included with the funnel). 

If you are having issues with the Ultimate Base becoming loose during a trip, here are a few suggestions that might help.

Be sure to re-torque the top bolt of the Base AFTER you have lowered the full weight of the trailer onto the Ultimate ball. (Make sure the two front bolts of the coupler tube section are loose until after you re-torque, then tighten them down too.)

Try torquing to a higher spec, maybe 60 or 65 ft. lbs.

Make sure the bottom of the base is making good contact with the bed of the truck – look for bed bolts or other things that might protrude above the corrugation in the bed. Also check that the bed itself is flat, not curved.

Sometimes the bed liner material is more prone to allow the base to slip – or if you don’t have a liner, sometimes the metal to metal allows some slippage. In that case we recommend our Anti-Slip Kit. It’s a 41-1/4” x 37-1/4” rubber mat that provides better grip between the Ultimate Connection with the bed.

Check to see if the coupler tube is bottoming out inside of the hitch to the point where the top bolt may not be pulling up enough on the tube to make the base fully tighten down on the gooseneck ball. If so, you may need a shorter coupler tube.

We like to see the hitch at 60 ft-lbs torque as eventually the bolt could be stripped out. The only time we change the torque is if someone is having an issue with the base of the hitch rotating in the bed of the truck slightly or if they have certain bed liners.

If someone needs alternative solution we suggest they do the following instead of the 60 ft-lbs

1 - Pin and clip the hitch to gooseneck ball
2 - Tighten top bolt to 70 ft- lbs instead of 60
3 - Do NOT tighten the lower two jamb bolts yet
4 - Put the weight of the trailer on the hitch and latch the hitch to the elevated ball on the base.
5 - Re-Tighten the top bolt to 70 ft-lbs to remove any flex the bed or bedliner of the truck may have.
6 - Tighten the lower 2 jamb bolts to 60 ft-lbs and you are ready to tow safely.

As far as turning radius, the trailer will have excellent clearance from the cab of the truck. One area that should be checked, since it can vary from RV to RV, is the clearance between the back corner of the pin box and the truck's bed rails during very sharp turns. When towing for the first time, simply check this area during a tight turn to make sure there is adequate clearance.