Andersen WDH without chains

Ask yourself why not use it? You got it so use it. That said, auto level suspension does not tell the truth about weights being distributed it just levels the TV. Without knowing the weights you may have too much weight on the rear tires or uneven weight distrbution, you have to turn off the auto level to see how much back end and front end are not leveled. If your not sure of payload weight on TV bring it to weight station and see the numbers and determine how much distribution is needed.

I'm still confused as to why you think you don't need the WDH function?

As icanon stated above, try the set-up without the self-leveling activated. More than likely, you'll still see rear end squat. Even with the air bags leveling out the tow vehicle, the weight distribution is not being distributed, it all over the rear axle. With the WD, you shouldn't even need any auto level at all. The WD will level, and distribute the weight to the front axle also.

If you already have the WD system, then use it as designed. It's safer, better for both tow vehicle and trailer, and you can use the sway as it was intended.

The chains are all part of it. How big is your camper? My Roo 183 requires a WDH on my Ram because it has over 500 pounds of tongue weight.

Without using the chains, you are essentially towing just like a regular drawbar with a ball. There will be no anti sway effect at all if the chains are not connected. You may not need to tension them much but there must be enough to take all the slack out of them for the anti sway to work.
Barney

call me over cautious if you want to but I wouldn't tow across the street with out fully hooking up my TT

Barney is right on the money. The chains hook to the ball shank, so when the trailer pivots it makes the ball shank pivot in its socket against the friction material. Without the chains, the ball will remain stationary (no pivot) and thus no friction to dampen sway.

If you are sure you don't need WD, don't bother buying the Andersen. You can just use a friction bar.

Like others are saying, you have to use the chains or it will accomplish nothing. Barney explains it well.

rexlion wrote:
Barney is right on the money. The chains hook to the ball shank, so when the trailer pivots it makes the ball shank pivot in its socket against the friction material. Without the chains, the ball will remain stationary (no pivot) and thus no friction to dampen sway.

If you are sure you don't need WD, don't bother buying the Andersen. You can just use a friction bar.

I already own it for my current set up.....

I also have a RAM 1500 with the auto-leveling suspension, a fairly small trailer (3750 GVWR) and am using the Andersen both for weight distribution and sway control. One of the things I like about the Andersen is that it is really easy to control the amount of weight distribution needed by simply tightening or loosening the chains. But in order to fine tune it, especially with the auto-leveling suspension you do need to hit the scales.

What I found with my set up is that with 500lbs of tongue weight it pulled about 200lbs off the front axle. With the default amount of compression on the bushings (per my manual this was 1/4" compression) it actually returned 280lbs to the front axle. So I ended up needing less tension on the chains than the default. The scale confirmed for me just how tight I needed to set the chains which I measure as compression on the red bushing. As others have indicated you do need a minimum amount of tension on the chains in order for the sway control to be effective.

Also, in addition to disabling the suspension when hitching up I would recommend that you measure the distance between the ground and the top of the coupler when the trailer is level. Then adjust the top of the ball to be slightly below that. This is contrary to what the install guide states, which is to set the ball 1.5-2" higher than level, but is appropriate with the auto-leveling suspension because once activated it will lift itself up to the normal ride height. If you set the ball higher to begin with now your trailer will be slightly nose high which can lead to instability and a poor towing experience.