The Andersen WD Hitch User Thread

[perryg114]

This hitch looks interesting. What is the outer housing made of ? It looks like aluminum. This would be the part that hooks to the draw bar.

Perry

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by perryg114

This hitch looks interesting. What is the outer housing made of ? It looks like aluminum. This would be the part that hooks to the draw bar.

Perry

Yes, it's aluminum.

[Rendrag]

The housing is aluminum, but the shank is steel.

[msmcv51]

And the bumble bee keeps flying!!!!

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by msmcv51

And the bumble bee keeps flying!!!!

And the heads are still buried in the sand.

[AWCHIEF]

Close, I spent the day spreading gravel for my new Airstream pad. 90 degrees & max humidity. Killer day!

[Noggin]

Originally Posted by dkottum

As long as you are listing the pros you got from these threads and ignoring the cons I posted earlier, I'll submit them again. And there is another:

4) It has never been demonstrated that the Andersen can distribute sufficient weight in many applications. This is a safety factor when a larger trailer is hooked to a lighter tow vehicle due to loss of traction at the steering axle.

doug k

Time to post this again, Been over a day! Maybe he'll post the other three also.
Cheers,
Noggin Inmearse

[dmand001]

After more than 1200+ miles w/ the Andersen hitch I must say that all of the glowing remarks made here in the forum about the Andersen hitch is true. I will not rehash nor bore you w/ them but will remark on perhaps other unmentioned matters that may be of more interest.

Set-screw placements? There’s no choice as to the placement of the set screws for the outside brackets which is bottom outside part of the frame. The inside part of the frame is another matter though as it could be mounted on the bottom as well as the top part of the frame just by flipping the brackets upside down. I chose to place mine on the top. I just thought it was designed that way. How did you mount yours? I followed the instructions but found it difficult to get the set screws to imbed flush. After twisting my initial allen wrench out of shape. I went ahead and tapped the hole slightly for some help. That helped some but again didn’t get it completely flush but it was solid w/ about 1 to 1 ½ of threads exposed. Needless to say it was a primary concern of which I checked on every opportunity but after 1200+ miles they’re holding firm. I will keep checking for any slippage or movement and see whether I need to change it or not. I will see after another 5000 miles.

I will try to post pictures that I took in Vegas w/ about 800+ miles.

[dmand001]

[perryg114]

I am concerned about not enough flex in the chain bushings. A bar will tend to bend more less in a linear fasion but the chains and bushings are only going to flex to a certain point and then the loads go way up. This would be like running load bars way too stiff on a conventional hitch. That is my engineer's perspective. I also don't like that the main structure is aluminum which has a finite fatigue life compared to steel.

Perry

[AWCHIEF]

Perry, I recall that your concerns have been brought several times before. Actual experience would suggest that they are not an issue.

[kscherzi]

Well this weekend I became initiated in the Airstream community and Andersen hitch users community. I took ownership of a 27FB, enjoyed 4 days of camping then drove about 300 miles home in pretty annoying winds (30 mph or so). I ordered my Airstream and purchased the Andersen hitch last February prior to the Atwood compatibility issue.

I'm conflicted about the hitch. I've never experienced sway on my prior trailer, but today's drive up I-5 in high cross winds with endless semi's passing seemed no big problem. My issue was getting weight off the rear axle. At a truck stop, CAT scale, I tried twice to get loads under spec by repeatedly tightening the bolts. In the end I torqued the bushings to where their bulged a lot but I couldn't transfer the last 80lbs off my rear axle to stay within spec.

So what to do? I can put the ice chest and everything else into the trailer, leaving the back of my Expedition empty (was full for this trip). According to the scale, there's 300lbs capacity on the front axle. Driving performance however is just fine. No twichiness or anything. Then there's the Atwood coupler issue. I have the bad coupler. At some point it will fail. So far its fine, its brand new.

I really like how light all the parts of the hitch are. I think the sway technology is a good match for Airstream trailers. I'm not convinced yet the hitch is good at distribution of weight. For me it barely works on my rig (weight distribution) so should I change the coupler and stick with the Andersen , or should I walk?

[Rendrag]

I hope your dealer gives you the opportunity of trying a different hitch. I like the Andersen, but it is not for those that need to unload as much weight as possible off the rear axle. My Silverado 1500 required 50% front weight restoration and my 2500 requires 0%, so it is fine with both. The Andersen works great for those of us who have plenty of rear axle capacity and payload. Light, clean, easy to use, quiet, and good resistance to sway. If I had to take four or five hundred pounds off the rear suspension, I would look elsewhere, Equal-izer makes some good looking hitches.

[dkottum]

kscherzi, we had the Andersen but with the Atwood and weight distribution problems, as well as other concerns posted here previously, we decided it was not compatible to our needs.

We bought a Propride hitch and now know what comfortable and safe towing is really like.

doug k

[Rich of SCal]

I towed my AS up the mountains for the MemDay weekend for the first time. As I stumbled over all the Reese dual cam hardware in my shed to get my Andersen shank to hook up the Andersen I was so glad not to have to mess with all that Reese weight again. Hook up and unhooking with the Andersen is so much easier and lighter that I will never go back. I am reconciled with the fact that I should eventually have my Atwood coupler replaced. But even that inconvenience doesn't come close to the hassle of using the Reese system.

Granted, I have a smaller, lighter AS. All the more reason I don't want to use a heavier "traditional" hitch.

I did notice that when I tensioned the Andersen properly I was getting some rise on the "shark fin" on the coupler. Returning from camping I tensioned it less and the ride was much more bouncy. So replacing the coupler is something I will eventually do once I find a good welder with rv coupler knowledge. I don't want a hack job!

[idroba]

Originally Posted by Rich of SCal

(snip)

So replacing the coupler is something I will eventually do once I find a good welder with rv coupler knowledge. I don't want a hack job!

Find a place which builds or repairs horse trailers. They do it all the time and are fast and reasonable. There are always horse trailer places around.

[Rich of SCal]

Originally Posted by idroba

Find a place which builds or repairs horse trailers. They do it all the time and are fast and reasonable. There are always horse trailer places around.

Good tip. Thanks.

[HowieE]

Originally Posted by kscherzi

In the end I torqued the bushings to where their bulged a lot but I couldn't transfer the last 80lbs off my rear axle to stay within spec.

What specs? Are you saying the weight on the rear axle is greater than the TV manufacture has suggested?

Yes it is a fact that you could remove ALL THE WEIGHT off the rear axle if you used an I beam but that is not the design or suggested use for most WD hitches.

Please post the manufactures rear axle load limit, approximate for any load in the rear of the TV, your dry tongue weight, and your scale weight when loaded. It may be that you are just out of range with that combination of loads.

There is something wrong here and I doubt it is with the Andersen considering the size of your trailer.

You should barely see bulge in the bushings if things are set up right. Mine expand less than an 1/8 in. with a 34 ft trailer.

Look at the video on post #1 the bushings and the size of that trailer

[msmcv51]

I replaced the Attwood coupler on our 87 25' Sovereign, only because the Reese straight line was very worn, not because of the Andersen. Then I started reading about the problem here and was glad that I did. I decided on the Quick-bite because of the ease of hook up.

[AWCHIEF]

Personal Opinion: I think this thread has run its course. Same post being repeated over and over by the same folks –pro and con. Sad thing is someone did try to start a new thread and it instantly took the same turn as this one. There is so much confusing table napkin fuzzy math and misinformation here that new users and those considering the Andersen system get all paranoid about the system and their couplers even when they do not personally have any problems or issues or at the most small issues that can be corrected with proper setup technique. Good luck to all with whatever trailer/TV/WD and anti-sway system you use. As for me I am still a happy Andersen WD system user with the trailer/TV combination that I currently have.