jag1886

My trailer came with a cheap old Husky WHD hitch and a sway controller, I'm not impressed with it. I hate how heavy it is to take off and put on, it's greasy, noisy, doesn't control sway in big side winds and bounces a lot on bad roads .
I've been looking at these Anderson WDH and it looks good to me, suppose to reduce sway, bounce, uses no grease and is light weight.
Anyone use one of these? I'd love to hear from people that have actually used one.
I pull a 25' Micro Light that weighs about 6000 LBS loaded.

PerryB

The Andersen does a rather poor job of actually transferring weight. The anti-sway/friction bushing is also prone to working loose. The official fix is to beat it back in with a hammer. I looked at this hitch when I was considering a TT (as opposed to a 5th) and was underwhelmed. For a light trailer the WD would be OK, but the friction member issue put me off. It IS light and inexpensive.

Brandon Ammons

Ricknala

I have used one for 4 years with a 5600 pound trailer. It seems to distribute the weight just fine and controls the sway, pulled with it for about 6800 miles.
2017 xlt crew cab short bed turbo.

massspike

Used one for 2 years with our 7000lb 28' TT. It is able to transfer the weight I need when I have it dialled in. My take on this system is it is great if you aren't towing heavy and long. Unlike other systems the anti-sway isn't independent of the weight distribution -- it is proportional to the down force caused by the tongue weight -- so if you have too much TT for your truck it is going to make the problem worse. I think with your TV and TT setup you would be OK (fwiw: my previous set up was similar to yours and I got away with a basic WDH)

My issue has been that the bottom of the frame brackets slide forward over time -- 1/4 to 1/2 inch -- and this screws up the WD since you can only compress the urethane spring so much. I have had to re-install the brackets a few times and this isn't something I carry the tools to do on the road so I've had a few trips where the weight distribution has gone to zero. I think this is a combination of the design (the chains pull instead of levering like other systems) and my Minnie's frame. If it happens again I am going to get a different WDH.

P.S. ignore PerryB's comments. That bushing is designed to be removeable and it allows you to fully service the unit over time. As a consequence it can shift indicating wear so you just keep an eye on it.

old_programmer

I have not used one but when we were buying our newest trailer I discussed in with our RV dealer's parts manager who does. What I got out of it was they are work well enough up to about 5K pounds. A drawback is the rubber grommets that make up part of the weight distribution system will loosen up in hot weather needing to be re-tightened regularly. I came to the conclusion it was an adequate hitch for lighter trailers for those folks who mostly make weekend trips to a nearby campground. In the end I opted to buy a 4-point Equal-i-zer sized to the new trailer as I knew how it handled long trips and how it worked from past experience.

tcp2

It looks ok, but the fact that the chains pull the trailer forward, instead of pulling the hitch head down, made me leary of it. It is pulling the ball lock mechanism hard against the ball all the time. Maybe because the ball rotates with the trailer, this isn't an issue, but it still seems to put a great deal of strain on the weakest point of the hitch head.

PerryB

The geometry is flawed, the frame brackets creep and the anti-sway bushing falls out, but ignore that.

doctorschlachter

Anyone who has had complaints does not know how to use it properly, or does not have it install properly.

I have towed approx 50,000 km's with the Andersen. Mostly towing my 26', 7000 lb TT, with 500 lbs in the box (no, I am not over payload for those who are concerned). The weight distribution is great, the anti sway is even better.

The frame brackets will not creep if installed properly. I am not talking about welding them either. I use the set screw supplied with the kit and nothing more.
My brackets have never moved at all, and I transfer the max amount of weight I can.

The anti-sway bushing physically cannot "fall out" as it is tapered towards the bottom and has a snap ring to hold it in place.
The bushing can, and will, slowly squish of the top of the hitch, but this is just an indicator that the bushing needs replacing.
This bushing is FREE from Andersen. I have replaced mine twice.

massspike

That set screw just secures the upper part of the bracket. The problem is, the chains pull the lower part of the bracket and in my case the force will "crush" the frame enough to allow it to pivot forward (and damaging the frame). They should have allowed for 2 set screws. If I had a portable welder, I would weld it in place like some people do.