Lightest WDH's?

In either case, the sway was NOT caused by the Andersen hitch.

The sway was from inadequate tongue weight. 10-15% is a RULE OF THUMB. Some trailers, especially travel trailers, require much more than 10% due to the high center of gravity and the axles located toward the middle of the trailer.

Some trailers tow fine with 5% tongue weight. Some need 20%.

As an Andersen owner who has towed an average of 3K miles per year for 4 seasons, I took note the two happy Andersen owners in this thread have 3/4 ton trucks.

I have the Expedition EL in my signature and my TT has a 26 ft box, roughly 6,500 lbs loaded (weighed at 6K the first year, assuming I've added too many toys).

It is light and easy to use, but I also don't feel I'm getting enough weight transfer. It got less fussy while towing after I used a clamp to take all slack out of the receiver to hitch junction. And although it's been some time, we've had a few instances of the Ford anti-sway jumping in.

If I make a change, I'll likely go with the Blue Ox Sway Pro if nothing changes in our rig. All that said, I see the OP has a different solution. My post is just to help anyone who's searching.

Since this was my post that came back from the dead....here's the rest of the story:

Had the Jayco on order, but went to the local RV show for kicks. Saw the Grand Design line, and the DW had me cancel the Jayco, and we went with a Grand Design Imagine 2670MK. I bought the Andersen on Amazon, and installed it in the dealers lot when we picked up the trailer (dealer was unfamiliar with it, didn't really want to order it or install it). It was really straight forward, pretty easy to do. But....
Driving over 60mph, over the course of a few 60 to 120 mile trips, I got many instances of mild sway, and twice bad enough to set off the trucks anti-sway alarms. Did a lot of trips to scales, and re-checking the Andersen setup. Water tanks are ahead of the axels, with full water tongue weight was at 11%. There wasn't much I could do to bump it more with that trailer configuration, beyond loading gold bars or sandbags up by the battery.

Rather than trying other brands of hitches that may not work well either, spent the big $$ for a ProPride. It is very heavy. TW is now 12.5% (920 lbs) at the scale, dry. Whether the weight or the design of the PP, all is great now.

The Andersen may be fine where tongue weight is in medium to heavy (in terms of %) condition, but for me it was not useable. I did have to tighten the chains to "8 threads" to return the truck to Ford recommended 50% front fender rise. Did not keep actual scale numbers, so can't quote them. But I feel I could have gotten it to zero rise, if I worked at it a bit. My impression is that at 34', the trailer is just too long for the Andersen, which allows it to overcome the friction cup sway dampening too easily. That, along with the too little TW, I'm guessing was my issue.

Post to AMG1978
I am using an Andersen WDH . I have a 2014 2500HD Duramax pulling an 8500# TT with 1000-1100# tongue weight. My truck sags a bit more than I'd like.( 2' low from level) but pulls great. I haven't measured weight transfer to front axles and won't be able to for another 2 months. Do you have any scaled numbers on the Andersen's ability to transfer weight from rear to front axle of truck?

I have the Anderson WDH and my 35' trailer is about 11-12k. I have heard it isnt the best at distributing weight back to the front axle. I want to weigh my setup and see how true that is. I will say though the sway control is great. It is super quiet. Really easy to use.

While I am fine with my TV pulling even if the weight isnt distributed back to the front axle as well as it should; I may decide to switch hitches after I weigh and see where we stand.

I do like it though.

WE3ZS wrote:

mkirsch wrote:

The effect of moving the bikes to the back may pull too much weight off the tongue, causing trailer sway. Remember the effect of moving the bikes to the opposite side of the axles is about 2X the weight of the bikes. 100lbs of bikes will pull 200lbs off the tongue.

I think you have your math a little backwards. Since the axles are biased towards the rear of the TT (offset to the rear from length centerline) then any weight added to the rear will offset the TW by a fraction of the weight added, not a multiplication of that weight. 100lbs of bikes on the rear will reduce the TW by less than that 100lbs.

but the bike was also moved so 100 is taken off plus the percentage given by leverage from the bikes on the bumper. Compromise on 150?

mkirsch wrote:

The effect of moving the bikes to the back may pull too much weight off the tongue, causing trailer sway. Remember the effect of moving the bikes to the opposite side of the axles is about 2X the weight of the bikes. 100lbs of bikes will pull 200lbs off the tongue.

I think you have your math a little backwards. Since the axles are biased towards the rear of the TT (offset to the rear from length centerline) then any weight added to the rear will offset the TW by a fraction of the weight added, not a multiplication of that weight. 100lbs of bikes on the rear will reduce the TW by less than that 100lbs.

Two common concerns about the back bumper of the trailer:

1. Is it more than a thin aluminum tube designed to hold the sewer line? It may not be stout enough to handle a bunch of bikes bouncing on it.
2. The effect of moving the bikes to the back may pull too much weight off the tongue, causing trailer sway. Remember the effect of moving the bikes to the opposite side of the axles is about 2X the weight of the bikes. 100lbs of bikes will pull 200lbs off the tongue.

nickthehunter wrote:
If the GVW of the trailer is 7500 lbs., then the most the tongue weight can be is 1125 lbs., and that is if you use 15 percent. More than likely the tongue weight will be closer to 975 lbs. And just so you know, often the published dry weight of the trailer includes propane and a battery. Some even include a full tank of water. You need to look into what the dry weight of your trailer includes.

Did that - Jayco explicitly states empty propane, and no "dealer options" (like a battery), and empty tanks.

So just looking at how to cut weight in the front, so I can put more in the trailer (up to GVW, of course). Still have to explore the impact of moving bikes to the bumper (have to add a receiver and move the spare tire), and/or go with less battery and depend on solar or generator more.

If the GVW of the trailer is 7500 lbs., then the most the tongue weight can be is 1125 lbs., and that is if you use 15 percent. More than likely the tongue weight will be closer to 975 lbs. And just so you know, often the published dry weight of the trailer includes propane and a battery. Some even include a full tank of water. You need to look into what the dry weight of your trailer includes.