Recommended Hitches for Tundra

[ReefRanger]

We are looking for our first AS and this is my first post on Air Forums. Our tow vehicle is a 2008 Tundra 5.7L double cab long bed which has a factory tow package. We hope to get a used AS in the 27-29' range. We will be full-timers/boondockers for the next couple of years.

Does anyone have recommendations on hitches we should consider getting? I don't want to skimp in this area but I also do not want to do overkill.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Full-timing...lots of road time, no skimping, Hensley Arrow or ProPride.

But whatever you choose, proper set-up is the most important factor.

Bob

[aftermath]

I have the exact TV as you and I use an Equalizer. We are just about 16K miles with our 25FB and more than that combined with the white box be towed previously. Absolutely no trouble in all sorts of conditions. Pulled in high winds, rain, snow, on the plains and in the mountains. Never a concern for me.

There are those on the forum that tow longer trailers with them as well. Hopefully one will post up soon. It is a good option but there are others as well. Get something with built in sway.

[aftermath]

Just reread your post. I do not have the long bed. Sorry.

[AWCHIEF]

I would recommend the Andersen WD system. Reasons: Built in sway control, effective weight distribution, light weight, greaseless, quite, competitive cost and outstanding customer service from Andersen.

[timmaah]

We full-time and boondock heavily with our 2008 Tundra and 25' Airstream.

Our Hensley has been awesome. Haven't felt a single movement from the trailer in the year+ we have been on the road.

[BAB]

I have a ProPride and wouldn't think of any other kind of hitch -- both from a safety and ease of operation perspective. They are expensive but you absolutely get what you pay for.

[Forger]

We've used an Equalizer on our Ford F150 to tow our 25FB for (3) years and about 12K miles. I am very happy with the Equalizer. Cost effective, easy to hook up, and I have never had any adverse feel from the trailer swaying, bouncing or otherwise trying to take control.

[m.hony]

I have the EazLift in the shed I used with my previous 28' trailer. I upgraded to the Equal-I-Zer with the new trailer. I hope to upgrade to the Hensley Arrow one day. Both hitches did what they are designed to do, but themEqual-I-Zer is a lot easier to hook up. You can see my truck in my avatar and in my signature.

[Goal15]

I use an EAZLift with our 2006 Safari 23 and 2011 Tundra Double Cab. Works great!

[dkottum]

Originally Posted by AWCHIEF

I would recommend the Andersen WD system. Reasons: Built in sway control, effective weight distribution, light weight, greaseless, quite, competitive cost and outstanding customer service from Andersen.

Michael forgot to mention this hitch is not compatible with your late model Airstream coupler (it can wear the latch and uncouple), has no secondary safety system to prevent trailer from uncoupling should the latch become undone, has very limited weight distribution capabilities, brackets that are an inadequate design to hold the w.d. chains, and has almost no flexibility in vertical motion, to mention a few items we encountered before we got rid of it.

The Hensley/Propride hitch design is in another league above all friction sway control hitches. It doesn't control sway, it eliminates it. We had two other hitches before our ProPride, never realizing how effortless and comfortable towing an Airstream could be. Hensley is virtually the same design.

doug k

[AWCHIEF]

doug, I have not forgotten a thing. You really have an axe to grind. Just because the Andersen WD system did not meet your personal standards does not negate the fact that it has worked out perfectly for thousands of owners and actual users towing Airstream and other brand trailers. How about staying with the facts instead of your small view of the system. Still waiting to hear what actual problems you have experienced with the Andersen WD system. Seems that your paranoia is what stopped your use, not actual personal problems with the Andersen WD system.

[dkottum]

Originally Posted by AWCHIEF

doug, I have not forgotten a thing. You really have an axe to grind. Just because the Andersen WD system did not meet your personal standards does not negate the fact that it has worked out perfectly for thousands of owners and actual users towing Airstream and other brand trailers. How about staying with the facts instead of your small view of the system. Still waiting to hear what actual problems you have experienced with the Andersen WD system. Seems that your paranoia is what stopped your use, not actual personal problems with the Andersen WD system.

I would refer anyone considering this hitch to the Andersen Hitch Users Thread where even the most ardent supporters of this contraption (I was one of them) have described one problem after another with it, and it still is inadequate for weight distribution.

The exception may be those with tiny trailers and without late model Airstream couplers where little w.d. is needed.

doug k

[AWCHIEF]

Yep, definitely go to the Andersen thread and you can read the reviews from many more happy users than the not so happy.

[gmw photos]

BloeOx swaypro. Read the reviews on this and other forums, and I think you will find near 100% satifaction.
There are certainly numerous choices out there as to brands, but as another poster pointed out, proper set up is possibly the most important consideration no matter what brand or design you choose.

[slowmover]

There is no such thing as overkill as regards best hitch type. Especially when fulltimng. Settting up a two vehicle combination on a set of certified scales to get formula values correct is worth the small amount of time & trouble.

The VPP hitches -- Pro Pride first, and Hensley second, -- are the standard for WD hitches with integrated antisway. Others resist sway, these "eliminate" it.

Second tier -- and a very long ways down -- would be the REESE Dual Cam, and then the Equalizer.

After that would be the standard friction bar type. A bad choice.

An Andersen "might" work if the TT had a tongue weight of a few hundred pounds. It is otherwise not suitable. Very few have been able to make it work according to any formula of correct WD hitch set-up. "Weight distribution" is a requirement and "anti-sway" is optional, so don't mistake one for the other in re opinions.

.

[ReefRanger]

Thanks everyone for your response. It looks like I have a few options to consider. I will check out the threads for the different hitches.

[Pahaska]

After years of towing contentedly with a Reese Dual-Cam, I switched to ProPride about 9 months ago and I have never regretted the decision or the cost.

I have towed in red-flag conditions when even the 18-wheelers are parked and never felt the trailer except going downhill with a 40 knot wind directly at my back with the trailer trying to push the truck. Even then, no hint of sway.