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I towed my first 350 miles on it this weekend (2018 XLT 2.7L 4WD short-bed w/ a 4,000 lb travel trailer, family of 5 in cab -- kids all generally small -- and a light load in the bed). It definitely reduces sway. On-coming trucks at 65 mph weren't a terror. With a moderate cross wind, there was some sway but I could just as easily chalk that up to my shorter wheelbase. In this regard, I think it works as advertised.
What I didn't like was that hitching up took me a lot longer than with a standard WDH. My Anderson was professionally installed and is quite tight, so maybe that's the issue here. But as it stands, I seem to have to back up around 1.5" past the point at which the ball is centered in the coupler in order to get enough slack to install the trapezoidal piece. And even then, I found that to install the pin in said piece was sort of a hassle, despite a little grease and a few taps of a mallet. I don't know if the tolerance on this is just tight or what, but even with the chains fully loose, manually jiggling the pin into place was difficult.
Once installed, the chains are every bit as taught as a standard WDH. But it definitely required more fussing than with a traditional WDH, which is so simple -- click bars into hitch, lever the chains into place, done.
So at the moment, I'm not irritated enough to ditch the setup. I don't have experience with travel trailers that are 7-8K lbs, but that said, I can imagine I wouldn't want to use this on anything larger than my current trailer. YMMV, and safe travels.
I towed my first 350 miles on it this weekend (2018 XLT 2.7L 4WD short-bed w/ a 4,000 lb travel trailer, family of 5 in cab -- kids all generally small -- and a light load in the bed). It definitely reduces sway. On-coming trucks at 65 mph weren't a terror. With a moderate cross wind, there was some sway but I could just as easily chalk that up to my shorter wheelbase. In this regard, I think it works as advertised.
What I didn't like was that hitching up took me a lot longer than with a standard WDH. My Anderson was professionally installed and is quite tight, so maybe that's the issue here. But as it stands, I seem to have to back up around 1.5" past the point at which the ball is centered in the coupler in order to get enough slack to install the trapezoidal piece. And even then, I found that to install the pin in said piece was sort of a hassle, despite a little grease and a few taps of a mallet. I don't know if the tolerance on this is just tight or what, but even with the chains fully loose, manually jiggling the pin into place was difficult.
Once installed, the chains are every bit as taught as a standard WDH. But it definitely required more fussing than with a traditional WDH, which is so simple -- click bars into hitch, lever the chains into place, done.
So at the moment, I'm not irritated enough to ditch the setup. I don't have experience with travel trailers that are 7-8K lbs, but that said, I can imagine I wouldn't want to use this on anything larger than my current trailer. YMMV, and safe travels.
Did you loosen the nuts first by the red bushings? The video I watched on Youtube said to loosen the nuts until about 1 thread is showing, connect the truck and trailer, use the trailer jack to raise the back of the truck about 1"-1.5", then install the chains and triangle plate. Once the triangle plate is on, lower the jack until the jack is no longer supporting the truck/trailer. After that, you use the socket that came with the setup and a 1/2" drive socket wrench to tighten the chains until they are at the right level for your setup. In the video they stated to start with 4 threads showing and tighten from there to adjust for your setup.
I have found the only time loosening the nuts doesn't get me enough slack is when the mounting plate is badly aligned with the hitch- like when I disconnected it with the trailer at an bad angle and then reconnected it at a different angle. This is easy enough to fix by turning the tow vehicle with the trailer hitched but the Andersen not yet hooked up. I'm not sure if this is easier or harder than a traditional WDH, but the Andersen is the one my aluminum framed trailer manufacturer recommended, and it works well for me.
Well Hombres, I did my second tow with this setup this weekend -- a bit over 400 miles and a total of four mountain ranges to the coast and back.
I made a few minor adjustments from my first tow, and believe I have this in a place where I can both connect and disconnect as quickly or quicker than a normal WDH. The tolerance on the pin remains a small issue, as I can't seem to get it through without a couple of taps from a mallet. And my power tongue jack has a dumb safety feature that makes raising the hitch sort of a hassle. But I can't pin that one on Andersen...
But otherwise, I am now generally positive on this setup. Which is to say, I didn't s**t a single brick in coastal sidewinds or on some very curvy mountain roads. Again, my experience is based solely on a 4000 lb travel trailer and I have no reference for anything heavier. But for my setup, I think it's quite fine. YMMV.
Well Hombres, I did my second tow with this setup this weekend -- a bit over 400 miles and a total of four mountain ranges to the coast and back.
I made a few minor adjustments from my first tow, and believe I have this in a place where I can both connect and disconnect as quickly or quicker than a normal WDH. The tolerance on the pin remains a small issue, as I can't seem to get it through without a couple of taps from a mallet. And my power tongue jack has a dumb safety feature that makes raising the hitch sort of a hassle. But I can't pin that one on Andersen...
But otherwise, I am now generally positive on this setup. Which is to say, I didn't s**t a single brick in coastal sidewinds or on some very curvy mountain roads. Again, my experience is based solely on a 4000 lb travel trailer and I have no reference for anything heavier. But for my setup, I think it's quite fine. YMMV.
Thank you for continuing to update this thread. I have been eyeing this hitch for over a year. It’s supposed to quiet, you can reverse with it, no drilling into frame, etc.
I do have a question for you. It’s “seems” like it is easier, physically, to hook up? What is your experience?
I am a disabled vet and looking for a WDH that is easy on the back, knees, and joints. Thank you very much.
Now that I have it adjusted right, I do think hooking it up is easier. One thing I thought about this weekend, and the video above maybe demonstrates, is that you have a lot of room to fine tune it. When unloaded, you can just hand tighten/loosen the nuts (say to make it a half thread tighter) and then lower it into place. As opposed to on a WDH where you can only adjust in whole link increments. Also, with a WDH levering the chains into place can be hard if you're not on level ground. My only gripe right now is that the pin is a bit of a tight fit.
The Andersen performed really well this weekend, I have to say I was impressed. We took some darn curvy roads, and on our way home we went 60 odd miles with 25-30 gallons of fluid sloshing around in the tanks.
05-28-2019, 12:16 AM
