Andersen Hitch Failure
Not sure if this has been posted. Rather disconcerting. Andersen failure
Forum Discussion
As an AUH owner, I've been quick to comment on threads like this...only in defense of the product and engineering behind it, but never as a fanboy or promoter. This failure is what, maybe 3 or 4 that we've heard of? I like the response from Andersen where they rightly proudly proclaim that this represents only about 0.000007% rate of failure. Not too shabby.
The crush test is realistic because of the design and the direction of pressures exerted against the supports. In fact, the crust test puts pressure in a more perpendicular direction against the supports than the more lateral directions experienced when towing. In other words, the crust test exerts more shear pressure (weaker) than compression pressure (towing, stronger). The engineers that commented on the original thread more than likely have it right...that there was some sort of damage to the one bent tube beforehand or perhaps a defect in the material. For a topic like this, I prefer the intelligent and thoughtful comments of an engineer far more than a regular joe piping up to say "I just don't think its any good".
As an additional thought, considering that we're all hauling around a poorly-built RV, held together only by a hope and a prayer that some Amish kid did his job correctly on an assembled piece of junk that was put together in a day's time with staples, cheap self-tapping screws and puddle welding...why so much hate against a thoroughly-engineered hitch product?
The crush test is realistic because of the design and the direction of pressures exerted against the supports. In fact, the crust test puts pressure in a more perpendicular direction against the supports than the more lateral directions experienced when towing. In other words, the crust test exerts more shear pressure (weaker) than compression pressure (towing, stronger). The engineers that commented on the original thread more than likely have it right...that there was some sort of damage to the one bent tube beforehand or perhaps a defect in the material. For a topic like this, I prefer the intelligent and thoughtful comments of an engineer far more than a regular joe piping up to say "I just don't think its any good".
As an additional thought, considering that we're all hauling around a poorly-built RV, held together only by a hope and a prayer that some Amish kid did his job correctly on an assembled piece of junk that was put together in a day's time with staples, cheap self-tapping screws and puddle welding...why so much hate against a thoroughly-engineered hitch product?
