Anderson weight distribution and sway control

[Subaru297]

Originally Posted by 2nOZ

Not sure why you feel every bump because our TV and TT ride really smooth. We never touch the nuts while disconnecting or connecting. We had to hitch up to our TT with the truck on a steep incline while the TT wa on level ground. It took my wife less than 15 minutes. It took the guy next to us with similar circumstances 2 hours to get everything just right so he could hitch up. Had a huge issue trying to get the trunnion bars into position due to the angle. I know that is a one off but we haven't experienced the problems that you speak about.

I don't think I could get my trailer high enough to unhitch without unscrewing everything. So I had to loosen everything off every time. If you can unhitch by just raising the tongue and pulling the pin to drop the triangle plate that would certainly be quicker and would retain your settings. Also any angle on the trailer would pull on one side and make getting the triangle plate off difficult so I had to loosen the bushings.

But once the trailer tongue is on the ball with the Blue Ox is is probably 1 minute to attach the two bars. Very easy unless the trailer is really crooked to the TV. A few times I have left the bars hanging until I have pulled out of the spot and gotten the trailer straight then snap the bars up.

Regardless of its use and ease of setup it didn't return the weight needed to the front axle. This is based on scaled weights as well. I would bet that most people using the Anderson are under the same scenario and just don't know it unless they have visited a scale. The tight ride I felt was probably from tightening the bushings too much to try and get as much weight transfer as possible. All this would probably be different with a short wheelbase TV and a lighter trailer. I really like the design and engineering that went into it and it "looks" like it should work great but it doesn't have the mechanical advantage needed to transfer sufficient weight on a long wheelbase vehicle.

Have you scaled yours since getting the Anderson? Looks like a recent purchase for you.

Cheers

[Mikey]

Originally Posted by schrederman

I fought a really rough ride since trading RVs in August. My old EAZLift was made for top mounted couplers. My new White Hawk as an under-slung coupler. Yours probably will have the same. I finally bought a Blue Ox Sway Pro BXW1503 hitch made specifically for this type of coupler. It has spring bars instead of the round ones. The hitch is much easier to set up, and to hook up each time. The ride is greatly improved. My TT is about the same size as yours. My TT gross weight 7500# and I'm within 200# of that. My tongue weight is now 990#. Your weights will probably be higher, as your trailer has 1000# more gross weight.

I just ordered the BXW1503 myself after reaching the 5th stage of grief on my Andersen: acceptance. I loved the anti-sway it delivered - I towed with it for a couple of thousand miles and the ride was amazing. But after weighing in and seeing how it absolutely failed in weight distribution, I knew I had to move to something else. When dialed in perfectly for anti-sway it only gave me 25% FALR. And when I tried to increase FALR, it affected the previously perfect sway control and only achieved about 40% FALR - and the urethane bushings were under such compression (12 threads) that they began to show signs of stress.

I've spent hours and hours trying every possible tweak to dial the hitch in. I had several calls with Jason at Andersen to troubleshoot and try to figure out a way to make it work for me (GREAT guy, BTW, even fabricated different brackets for me and sent them at no charge). My conclusion - this innovative and simple hitch simply cannot deliver WD for a 33', 7,200 lb. underslung Whitehawk.

All that said, I think the Andersen is a nice hitch for sub-25' trailers and would never presume to "warn off" people that want to use it on larger rigs. I would simply recommend that they hit the scales to see whether it gives them safe WD. The anti-sway was so great that I cursed myself for weighing my rig at all, because I knew that I couldn't ignore being over my rear GAWR.

My only concern now is whether the Andersen spoiled me for other hitches. I've read tons of reviews of the Blue Ox, and they typically say "really does its job" or "felt little sway." That's good enough for me to want one, but my Andersen LAUGHED at high winds or passing 18-wheelers - it was rock solid. I'll use it one more time to tow my rig to level ground, and then the SwayPro goes on. I'll probably have a moment of silence for my Andersen, maybe bring a box of tissues as well...

If you love your Blue Ox, let me know.

[sennister]

Originally Posted by Mikey

~sinp

If you love your Blue Ox, let me know.

I have the BXW1003 (our camper is lighter than yours) and so far I am happy with it. Though we haven't used it enough to fully review it. So far our only trip was and empty trailer home from the PDI. So it was empty. However that also means who knows were we were at on the % to TW. With the pass through front storage empty and the weight in the back for the outdoor kitchen it was probably closer to 10% than I would normally like to be. It was pretty windy and interstate all the way home.

We never had sway issues with our old camper but that was much smaller. What I did notice was there was no chucking with this one which we would feel with the old one. Probably the suspension on the new trailer more than the hitch. But it didn't sway at all that I noticed either.

The big reason I went Blue Ox over Equalizer was I wanted to be able to adjust the amount of lift without tools and a chain system works better at this. It is also easier to set up but the dealer did that for us during the PDI.

[Mikey]

Originally Posted by sennister

I have the BXW1003 (our camper is lighter than yours) and so far I am happy with it. Though we haven't used it enough to fully review it. So far our only trip was and empty trailer home from the PDI. So it was empty. However that also means who knows were we were at on the % to TW. With the pass through front storage empty and the weight in the back for the outdoor kitchen it was probably closer to 10% than I would normally like to be. It was pretty windy and interstate all the way home.

We never had sway issues with our old camper but that was much smaller. What I did notice was there was no chucking with this one which we would feel with the old one. Probably the suspension on the new trailer more than the hitch. But it didn't sway at all that I noticed either.

The big reason I went Blue Ox over Equalizer was I wanted to be able to adjust the amount of lift without tools and a chain system works better at this. It is also easier to set up but the dealer did that for us during the PDI.

Thanks, those features appealed to me as well. Guess we'll learn more at the same time.

[schrederman]

The real test for the Blue Ox will come in a few days when I load DW up and take her on a trip... If she's happy, then it's passed every test... ... If not...... pray for me.

[Mikey]

Originally Posted by schrederman

the real test for the blue ox will come in a few days when i load dw up and take her on a trip... If she's happy, then it's passed every test... :d... If not...... Pray for me. :d

🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 😉