Anderson weight distribution hitch

[dave macrae]

Just wondering if anyone on the forum has any experience with the "Andersen sway less wdh " I have had the wdh with the bars and find that altough they work they can be a bit of a pain to use and store. This hitch looks interesting http://www.andersenhitches.com/Produ...-brackets.aspx

[Carol R]

Hi Dave,
Unfortunately, but soon to be rectified when I pick up my 17B at the end of May, I have no experience with any type of.WDH. This Anderson "Sway Less" looks very interesting especially for a mature solo traveler with a few back issues. Wondering if this one would be easier for me to lift and work with. Have you heard from anyone who has used one yet? How do you think it compares in function, quality and weight to the standard Equalizer WDH Escape uses?

Thanks for any information and opinions you might have!

[dave macrae]

No I haven't had any feed back from other owners so the only info I have so far is from the Anderson propaganda , I am always a bit suspicious of someone who claims to re-invent the wheel but this product does appear to be onto something . There is nice little video on their site . I like the idea of physics of how it works and certainly would be much easier for hooking up than a traditional WDH with bars . I guess I was hoping one of our fellow members here would have some more insight

[Jim Bennett]

Like mentioned the other thread on WDH's, I had looked at it, and have pretty much the same conclusions as you, Dave. It looks easy to install, and way easier to store. No need for lube either, as the ball turns with the trailer hitch.

On their site, they list a dealer just east of Calgary, but their website is for a company that does "Excavation, Landscaping and Snow Removal In Calgary". I might fire them an email, and see what they have to say though. Maybe they are using the product. There is a company in Ontario that has them too, but only two of the larger 2 5/16" balls. LINK

HERE is a link to one for sale on eBay, though it seems they use UPS for shipping, so a caution there. HERE is another even cheaper, but still UPS shipping.

[float5]

I believe the Anderson is pretty new. It is a completely different animal from the WDH that Escape supplies. One thing I would say is that I would never buy a product like that unless I could locate a bunch of owners giving it good reviews.

For sway control hitches, there is Equil-I-zer (note the hyphens, as without them, you are probably not talking about anything with sway control although occasionally someone has one and reviews without the hyphens). Someone told me about the Reece Dual Cam with Sway Control. You would probably have to ask Escape about any particular one to make sure the Escape can take it. If there are any Escape owners with any of these, we have not heard about it I can remember. Hope someone pops up on it.

[Dave Walter]

To me, this looks like a sway control device rather than a WDH. From what I can see. The hitch does not do any transfer of load from hitch to front axle of TV and to trailer axles. If you are looking for a WDH, you would have to go with a more conventional design. For sway control, this could possibly do the trick.

[dbailey]

They do look interesting...

[dave macrae]

If the propaganda is correct, and it does seem to make sense In my head (I know that's frightening ) , by tightening to chains you reduce the distance thus pulling up and providing the levelling effect .

[dave macrae]

I don't need a lot of weight distribution for my set up , but I want to kill a couple of birds with one stone, I need bit more distance between the truck and the trailer to be able to open my rear hatch , would also like to take a bit of the bounce out while going over bumps.

[dbailey]

I have no experience with WDH, so when I started exploring towing a 19 I tried to figure out how WDH worked, before ever seeing one. The Andersen actually works the way I guessed all WDH's might work...

The trailer tongue holds the hitch ball in place. The chains pull on the lower part of the hitch below the ball, causing that piece to torque forward at the top and backwards at the bottom. This applies torque to your hitch receiver which transfers it to your whole vehicle which effectively tries to rotate your whole vehicle down in front and up in the back -- hence putting some of the weight on the front wheels.

[Jubal]

If you are going to use this system it would be a good idea to carry replacement bushings and the " brake type linings".

Andersen HItches new "No Sway" Weight Distribution - YouTube

[Jim Bennett]

I can definitely see how it would distribute the weight. With tightening the chains, the ball and coupler has nowhere to go but up, giving the very same effect as the bar type WDH, but with a different setup.

With this setup, all the pulling would now happen through the chains, and the trailer tongue would be pushing towards the ball, not pulling on it. I have a bit of concern with this in that the coupler is designed primarily for pulling, though it certainly must be able to handle lots of forward pressure under normal use.

There seems to be some good reviews at other trailering sites. but I have not seen much from folks towing lightweight trailers. I have no trouble towing without a WDH right now, and only a couple of situations where I found it would have been nicer, and if something like this would help even a little bit, and give good sway control, it might just be the ticket for me.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Jubal

If you are going to use this system it would be a good idea to carry replacement bushings and the " brake type linings".

I don't think this is an issue, they are warranted for life, and if they need to be replaced, they say they will ship the replacement parts for free.

I have now spent a bit of time looking around, and am slowly beginning to think it could be a good option. Lots written in other forums, but one needs to filter through all the drivel between posts that actually give reviews.

Here is a video comparing the two types of WDH's. Obviously done by Andersen, so the knocking of the spring type needs to be taken with a grain of salt, as they have been proven to work. What it is good for is explaining how both types work to distribute weight.

Andersen Weight Distribution Hitch vs Spring Bar Weight Distribution -comparison - YouTube

[cpaharley2008]

I like the Andersen set up, but I have one concern. The frame attachment relies upon side clamping force to keep the attachment fixed. Historically, I find these systems fail to keep the rear attachment point fixed. Other than drilling a hole in the frame, not, what will keep that clamp from moving due to the forces being placed on those 2 bolts.In addition the picture shows a large flat frame with a lot more surface area for gripping vs a channel frame or a smaller 3" box frame we have.

[Jim Bennett]

I don't think that would be too much of an issue, Jim. With the attachment only on one side (the bottom), the clamp would twist the slightest at first, with the bolts biting into the frame. I have not heard of any issue like this in the reading of reviews I have done.

[Jubal]

The Anderson Manufacturing Rep. has posted on the Forest River forum Andersen Hitches - Page 3 - Forest River Forums The thread is informative.

[Jim Bennett]

Following that link that Jubal posted, I did see a couple with concerns of the clamps shifting, and one case where they did on the initial run, but it sounds like they were fine after that.

[cpaharley2008]

I just read the entire thread, very interesting, particularly the ending!!

[Dave Walter]

As I mentioned previously, the Anderson system seems to be more suited to sway control than for WD.

For WD, the Anderson hitch with chains works in a similar manner to more conventional WD hitches that rely on tension bars. Both systems work by having a moment (force x lever arm length) applied at the hitch, which distributes weight from the rear of the tow vehicle towards the front. In the case of the conventional hitches, the force is applied upwards to the bars and the lever arm length is approximately equal to the length of the tension bars. For the Anderson hitch, the force is the chain tension and the lever arm length is the vertical distance between the receiver and the point where the chains attach to the hitch. Given that the lever arm distance for the Anderson hitch looks to be about 1/5 or so the lever arm distance for the conventional WD hitches, to get an equivalent WD effect on the tow vehicle for the two systems, the Anderson hitch would have to have about 5 times greater tension force applied in the chains than would be required for the conventional WD system. To me this seems like a lot of tension to have to apply to the chains. It is quite likely that the Anderson system could not even develop the tension forces required to give similar WD effects as conventions WD hitches. If a large tension force is generated in the chains of the Anderson system, and since the Anderson system uses a connection that is bolted onto the trailer frame, this large force in the chains could quite readily cause the bolted connection to slip (unless it is drilled and bolted through the trailer frame or welded to the frame).

The system seems suspect to me relative to WD. I think that I would stick to a more conventional WD hitch.

Just my 2 cents. (Oops, given that the penny has been discontinued, this is now my 5 cents).

cheers
dave

[dave macrae]

I have to admit I just am not sure about this yet. Holy cow did that thread on the forest river forum go sideways.