Anderson weight distribution and sway control

[Itoddday]

Has anyone used the Anderson Weight Distribution Hitch with the sway control under the ball? If so, what do you think?

[RogerR]

I have the standard Andersen hitch and really like it. I have used it for about 5,000 miles in plains, mountains and heavy traffic. No sway events yet.

Really easy compared to bar and chain type hitches once you get the hang of it and have an electric tongue jack.

Use the search feature and select Andersen hitch. I recommend clicking on posts to shorten your search.

Pleases not my experience is with a 195RB. I have heard a few with really large RVs have not liked it. Since you didn't show what you are towing with you can repost for others with similar rigs to chime in.

Additionally, do you have specific questions or concerns?

[01tundra]

Use one with our Hummingbird and really like it, but our TT GVWR is only 3,750 lbs.

Simple, quick, lightweight and effective.

[2nOZ]

We have the Andersen WDH on our F250 pulling our White Hawk 27DSRL and really like it. Easy to hitch and unhitch. The DW can do it. No sway. So far we have pulled in 30mph headwind, crosswinds and tailwinds. Hardly noticeable when a semi passes you coming or going.

[Mikey]

I LOVED mine until I took it to the scales. It's perfectly dialed in for great sway control and bounce reduction but only restores about 30% of the front axle load, leaving too much load on my rear axle. I'm making some last ditch adjustments to see if there's any way I can get it to at least 50% FALR without changing the tow experience, but sadly I think there's another hitch in my future. I want to get closer to 100% FALR and this hitch just can't do it on my 33ft, 7,200 lb trailer.

I'm guessing that most of those with large coaches who love the hitch aren't getting proper weight distribution, even though they're getting amazing sway control. Which has me wondering - is there anyone else out there with a 30+ ft trailer who tows with the Andersen and has been to the scales? What kind of WD numbers is it putting up for you?

[Itoddday]

This is all good information... it seems it is about a 500 dollar investment in a hitch. I liked that it was lightweight, and easy to install. I towed a 5th wheel before, so never had to deal with these things. My trailer will be the 29RE White Hawk with a 8500 GVWR. I believe the hitch weight is in the 700 pound range.

I've seen people with the spring bar types and frankly it kind of freaks me out at how much they moan and grown... and, i think it would be a real pain to have to disconnect the bars just to back into a spot. I will still want good steering control for that too!

I am open to any suggestions as to which hitch will do the best job economically and safely.

Thanks for all the input! It really helps!

[Mikey]

Originally Posted by Itoddday

This is all good information... it seems it is about a 500 dollar investment in a hitch. I liked that it was lightweight, and easy to install. I towed a 5th wheel before, so never had to deal with these things. My trailer will be the 29RE White Hawk with a 8500 GVWR. I believe the hitch weight is in the 700 pound range.

I've seen people with the spring bar types and frankly it kind of freaks me out at how much they moan and grown... and, i think it would be a real pain to have to disconnect the bars just to back into a spot. I will still want good steering control for that too!

I am open to any suggestions as to which hitch will do the best job economically and safely.

Thanks for all the input! It really helps!

Any time. FYI, on a trailer your size your loaded tongue weight is sure to be closer to 1,000 lbs than 700...

[1wayhighway]

I use a Reese dual cam WDH setup and have been happy with it. I know a lot of folks out there use the equalizer and are also happy with those.

If I were to complain about the Reese I would say getting it dialed in took a little bit of work but it also was the first WDH I had ever installed so my learning curve was pretty steep.

Agree with the comment about the younger weight being close to a thousand pounds. My listed tounge weight was 635 and I am well over 800 lbs. I mention this to say make sure you get spring bars that are rated for a minimum of 1000 lbs. I use 1200 lb bars and it works well.

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[Itoddday]

Originally Posted by 1wayhighway

I use a Reese dual cam WDH setup and have been happy with it. I know a lot of folks out there use the equalizer and are also happy with those.

If I were to complain about the Reese I would say getting it dialed in took a little bit of work but it also was the first WDH I had ever installed so my learning curve was pretty steep.

Agree with the comment about the younger weight being close to a thousand pounds. My listed tounge weight was 635 and I am well over 800 lbs. I mention this to say make sure you get spring bars that are rated for a minimum of 1000 lbs. I use 1200 lb bars and it works well.

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This is excellent info! I was unsure as to home much weight to buy! I will go with the 1200/12000 pound hitch for safety. I don't want to go too stiff, but i don't want to be sitting on the edge either.

[sennister]

I have a Blue Ox. It is completely silent back there and no need to disconnect anything while backing into a spot.

Everyone has an opinion on this though. I was going to go Equal-i-zer which is a good hitch as well. My thought is my load changes a lot. Sometimes we boondock so full FW tank and generator. Other times we full hookup camp and I won't have that stuff. The Blue Ox can just drop a link or pick one up to change the amount of lift on the WD hitch as needed. Some of the other solutions are adjustable but not with out busting out some tools.

[Subaru297]

Originally Posted by Mikey

I LOVED mine until I took it to the scales. It's perfectly dialed in for great sway control and bounce reduction but only restores about 30% of the front axle load, leaving too much load on my rear axle. I'm making some last ditch adjustments to see if there's any way I can get it to at least 50% FALR without changing the tow experience, but sadly I think there's another hitch in my future. I want to get closer to 100% FALR and this hitch just can't do it on my 33ft, 7,200 lb trailer.

I'm guessing that most of those with large coaches who love the hitch aren't getting proper weight distribution, even though they're getting amazing sway control. Which has me wondering - is there anyone else out there with a 30+ ft trailer who tows with the Andersen and has been to the scales? What kind of WD numbers is it putting up for you?

I would agree with this assessment. We towed our 281BHS with an Anderson briefly and I was disappointed as well with the weight distributing side of things. It would not return enough weight back to the front axle. It also makes the ride quality worse and really stiffens things up. You feel every bump your vehicle drives over and then you feel it again when your trailer drives over it.
I also do not understand when people say it is easy to setup. A bar or trunnion style hitch is way faster and easier to hook up everyday. No messing with bushings, washers, nuts and hitch pins. And a trunnion style gets set the same every time you hitch up. The Anderson could be different depending on how much you tighten each side.
Modern WDH hitches with sway control built in don't need to be disconnected while backing up.
The only advantage I see with the Anderson after using one is it is lighter weight. You don't have to lift the heavy hitch head on and off your truck.
I think the hitch has a place for people with smaller trailers and vehicles with shorter wheelbases but for a full size pickup and a large trailer you would be much better off with something else.

Get a Blue OX, Equilizer, Reese, or Husky and you will probably be happier.

I used it with a F150 and the F250 in my sig. I now use a Blue Ox and am very happy with it. Fairly quiet and very easy to hitch and unhitch and you don't have to remove the bars to reverse.

[PonyExpress]

[QUOTE=Itoddday;509767.

I've seen people with the spring bar types and frankly it kind of freaks me out at how much they moan and grown... and, i think it would be a real pain to have to disconnect the bars just to back into a spot. ![/QUOTE]

Ok so I have been told to remove the sway bar when backing but this is the first i've heard of removing the spring bars to back up.

did i miss it?

[sennister]

Originally Posted by PonyExpress

Ok so I have been told to remove the sway bar when backing but this is the first i've heard of removing the spring bars to back up.

did i miss it?

Friction antisway bar yes, remove before backing. Spring bars, if you want you can. Maybe once backed in the TV and TT are at a sharp angle to where it is easier to remove them while straight. That is fine but you don't have to. There are several WD hitches that don't use a friction antisway bar like equalizer and Blue Ox off the top of my head. So no need to unhook anything unless you want.

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[Mikey]

Originally Posted by Subaru297

I would agree with this assessment. We towed our 281BHS with an Anderson briefly and I was disappointed as well with the weight distributing side of things. It would not return enough weight back to the front axle. It also makes the ride quality worse and really stiffens things up. You feel every bump your vehicle drives over and then you feel it again when your trailer drives over it.
I also do not understand when people say it is easy to setup. A bar or trunnion style hitch is way faster and easier to hook up everyday. No messing with bushings, washers, nuts and hitch pins. And a trunnion style gets set the same every time you hitch up. The Anderson could be different depending on how much you tighten each side.
Modern WDH hitches with sway control built in don't need to be disconnected while backing up.
The only advantage I see with the Anderson after using one is it is lighter weight. You don't have to lift the heavy hitch head on and off your truck.
I think the hitch has a place for people with smaller trailers and vehicles with shorter wheelbases but for a full size pickup and a large trailer you would be much better off with something else.

Get a Blue OX, Equilizer, Reese, or Husky and you will probably be happier.

I used it with a F150 and the F250 in my sig. I now use a Blue Ox and am very happy with it. Fairly quiet and very easy to hitch and unhitch and you don't have to remove the bars to reverse.

What did you switch to?

[JeremiahM]

How does the blue ox perform for sway reduction? It looks similar to basic WDH, I'm confused at why it doesn't require a friction bar

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[geezerbob]

We used a Andersen hitch with a 21ft tt Alaska and back 8,400 miles worked great.
Last year 23 ft X23B to Alaska and back 10,500 miles. We have an Equalizer hitch on that one. I do unhook it when working in tight places, but I like it as well although it is heavier then the Andersen. The X 23B came with the Equalizer, I guess I should sell the Andersen now that I don't use it.
Bob

[jsallman1]

Originally Posted by Itoddday

This is excellent info! I was unsure as to home much weight to buy! I will go with the 1200/12000 pound hitch for safety. I don't want to go too stiff, but i don't want to be sitting on the edge either.

Just FYI, I cant speak for the reese, but he equalizer 1200 and 1400, the bars are identical (verified from equalizer), sticker on the outside is the only difference. If you go the equalizer route, go for the bigger head in case you "upgrade". The 1400 head is much beefier than the 1200lb head. I had issues with the 1200 and equalizer actually swapped it for a 1400 for me, gave me new stickers for the bars.

[2nOZ]

Originally Posted by Subaru297

I would agree with this assessment. We towed our 281BHS with an Anderson briefly and I was disappointed as well with the weight distributing side of things. It would not return enough weight back to the front axle. It also makes the ride quality worse and really stiffens things up. You feel every bump your vehicle drives over and then you feel it again when your trailer drives over it.
I also do not understand when people say it is easy to setup. A bar or trunnion style hitch is way faster and easier to hook up everyday. No messing with bushings, washers, nuts and hitch pins. And a trunnion style gets set the same every time you hitch up. The Anderson could be different depending on how much you tighten each side.
Modern WDH hitches with sway control built in don't need to be disconnected while backing up.
The only advantage I see with the Anderson after using one is it is lighter weight. You don't have to lift the heavy hitch head on and off your truck.
I think the hitch has a place for people with smaller trailers and vehicles with shorter wheelbases but for a full size pickup and a large trailer you would be much better off with something else.

Get a Blue OX, Equilizer, Reese, or Husky and you will probably be happier.

I used it with a F150 and the F250 in my sig. I now use a Blue Ox and am very happy with it. Fairly quiet and very easy to hitch and unhitch and you don't have to remove the bars to reverse.

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.

[sennister]

Originally Posted by JeremiahM

How does the blue ox perform for sway reduction? It looks similar to basic WDH, I'm confused at why it doesn't require a friction bar

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We had a Draw Tite WD hitch which is a spring bar and chain based system and uses a friction bar. With the new camper we wanted a new hitch and went with the Blue Ox. Now We just got the trailer and while some campgrounds are just now starting to open we haven't had a free weekend to go. So the only experience I have towing it was home from the dealer. This was about a 30 mile trip pretty much all interstate/highway with semis and strong cross winds. I was probably more sensitive to sway being this is a much bigger trailer (23' over all on the old one to 30' on the new) compared to our old one. With the amount of wind I expected some movement and I did feel a little but very little. I was expecting more being the camper was completely empty so no clue where we were at for tongue weight but it pulled really well.

As far as how it works. Well comparing the traditional bar and chain style of the Draw Tite to the Blue Ox they look similar. The bars are much different. The Draw Tite bars are more square shaped like Equalizer. The Blue Ox are round near the hitch head and transition to where they are flat and pretty thin where the chain attaches to them. They are designed to flex much more than what the draw tite bars flex. I would argue that the those bars flex next to nothing. It is this flex of the spring bars and the angels at which they attach to the hitch head that controls sway from what I have read in the manufacturer data. The further out of line the trailer gets the more spring pressure is applied. So it is kind of like big springs are there trying to force it to track true behind the TV. Also the cam mechanism that attaches the chains to the A Frame is much different than anything I have seen before. I don't know how much better it is than traditional and don't think it has anything to do with sway control. It really is the hitch head design and spring bars that do everything.

Another benefit to the Blue Ox is that it is really easy to set up. All you do is put the camper and TV on level ground. Measure the coupler height with the trailer level. Then take the measurement, add an inch and that is the hitch height on the TV. Hitch them up and set up the cams on the A Frame, I think 29" back, and level things out. Verify the chains are 90 from the bars and if they are torque everything down and you are done. No shims or hitch head angles to mess with.

The one draw back to the Blue Ox is that you have to buy the hitch for either a underslung coupler or standard coupler trailer design. It seems the underslung coupler isn't as common and if I replace the trailer with one that has a standard coupler, because there are not shims and such, I would also have to replace the hitch head. If they are the same coupler design but different tongue weight, then spring bars only are needed. With the equalizer one hitch can do either underslung or standard.

[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.