New Andersen WD hitch

Well, I just went to look and our ball receptacle doesn't have the back structure other than the latch and a plate at the bottom below the latch. I'll have to take this up with Andersen and ask if they tested their hitch with these type of latches. Worse comes to worse we'll just be out the return postage, not good but not all bad.

I just emailed my question to Andrew with Andersen Hitches: "Our trailer outlined in an earlier email I've sent you has a hitch designed with a ball receptacle that has no structure to support forward force of the trailer other than the ball retainer latch and a moderately thin plate below the latch. My not classically engineering educated mind tells me your system pulls the trailer forward putting a good amount of pressure on this latch. Have you have tested this hitch on this type of ball receptacle?"

While composing my question I thought about the way it works. If our ball receptacle is designed to take intermittent forward force from the trailer while going down hills and initial bumps from rapid stopping I'm not sure there will be a problem. Nonetheless I will be taking special interest in the condition of the latch every time I hook up.

newsomer wrote:
OK rexlion, your post nudged me over the line. I guess I'll be the guinea pig here. I just ordered a Andersen 3380 weight distribution hitch from a guy on eBay. Got it for $409.00 with free shipping and 60 day return policy (I pay return shipping if it comes down to it). There's another selling the same for $399.00 but has a 7 day return policy.

I should be able to recoup maybe a couple of hundred for my old hitch.

I'll post my impressions of the Andersen hitch after I've had a chance to give it a workout. Wish me luck.

Note that the latch assembly won't instantly break if there is too
much on it. Also dependent on what kind of coupler/latch you have.
The images posted earlier shows some with no upper dome contact towards
the rear, so the latch on 'that' type will see all of the forces. Others
do have the upper dome curve down in the rear, so below the ball flat
spot will touch and take the Andersen forces.

The big question is how long and what about during an emergency situation

What is your setup?

Good luck and report back often

OK rexlion, your post nudged me over the line. I guess I'll be the guinea pig here. I just ordered a Andersen 3380 weight distribution hitch from a guy on eBay. Got it for $409.00 with free shipping and 60 day return policy (I pay return shipping if it comes down to it). There's another selling the same for $399.00 but has a 7 day return policy.

I should be able to recoup maybe a couple of hundred for my old hitch.

I'll post my impressions of the Andersen hitch after I've had a chance to give it a workout. Wish me luck.

I went by my local trailer repair shop today to have the brakes looked at on my cargo trailer. Lo and behold, they had an Andersen on the shelf! The employee behind the counter said that when they first came in he thought it was the stupidest thing and would never work. Then they had one purchased and they installed it. He said he is now convinced that the Andersen is great. The customer loves it and called them up after about 500 miles of towing to say how well it took out the usual up-and-down motions when going over bumps. And get this... he says the Andersen at rest puts NO pressure on the coupler latch! He said he didn't believe it till he saw it, but they were able to pull the latch lever up and disengage the latch, then reengage it freely, while the chains were loaded up. He thinks the ball is being pushed toward the upper and forward part of the ball socket, keeping pressure off the latch.

I told him I would have to see it to believe it, because I can't visualize it. But I know this guy, I'm in the place fairly often, and I don't think he would lie to me. I think the actual installed unit really changed his mind, once he saw it under load for himself.

They do store whatever energy is imparted on them. It is how they release (rate
of change) that energy that makes the big difference

Chains do NOT stretch 'as' much as plastic straps, but chains DO stretch and store
energy. Why the links are oval and not round. Also, the fragmentation is dependent
on the alloy/hardness of the chain links

I've seen chains snap and fragment during acceptance certification testing of
our equipment for cranes. Big cranes. Also saw how some of those fragments
embedded themselves in metal cabinets. Been decades since a designer and now
see plastic straps where chains were the norm. Cable was also used, but not
as often as their maintenance schedules required change often....again, wonder
how plastic straps are now allowed.

Do know that for public road trucking of metal (sheetmetal, plate, etc) does NOT
allow plastic straps on bare metal. Accident would have the plastic straps cut
in an instant

Speculation on my part of this hitch system. As I do NOT know the properties of
the plastic compression springs. Therefore their energy release characteristics
Nor their compression characteristics...will they become un-compressible within
some compression distance like a coiled steel spring?

BenK wrote:
Bob, now that you mention this...also wonder about the travel distance capacity
of those plastic springs during a whop-d-do

Will they continue to compress? Up to how much to then become a solid

Will the clamping method hold or will it then slide along the tongue member?

Here is what can happen when stored energy, in this case the nylon tow strap,
lets loose all of that energy and is what Bob is talking about

Poor analogy... Straps can stretch and store a tremendous amount of energy. When the anchor point fails (like a shackle), the strap acts like a rubber band, sling-shotting the pieces like you see in that photo. I've witnessed such failures with my own four eyes. I've not seen anyone killed, but it's only by dumb luck.

The chains on the Andersen WDH, on the other hand, pose much less of a threat. Chains in general do not stretch much or store much energy before snapping. In the event they do snap, those chains are not very long and both ends are captured, so it's not like it's going to launch bits and pieces a thousand feet. The chain is under tension, with one end pointing up under the tow vehicle and the other directed at the front of the trailer (more or less). Furthermore, they are relatively short (less than 36" overall?) so even if the end detaches, it's not going far.

In terms of the travel of the bushing, lets assume, for a second, that the ball changes angle from one extreme to the other of approximately 30 degrees between maximum incline and maximum decline, or in other words, 15 degrees nose-up to 15 degrees nose-down on the tow vehicle. (I strongly suspect that anything more than that will have parts of truck or trailer dragging the road) If we assume that the distance from the pivot point (on the ball) to the chain attachment point is 8 inches, a simple approximation is going to be 8sin(30) which equals 4 inches of total travel, or plus or minus 2 inches from the static point on level ground. In reality, I strongly suspect the maximum change in angle you're going to see between the tow vehicle and trailer on a steep driveway approach is not much more than 5 or 6 degrees, which makes for a rough travel of roughly 1.387 inches... That's not all that much movement, and I would expect that the bushings would be able to easily absorb that motion without a problem.

Bob, now that you mention this...also wonder about the travel distance capacity
of those plastic springs during a whop-d-do

Will they continue to compress? Up to how much to then become a solid

Will the clamping method hold or will it then slide along the tongue member?

Here is what can happen when stored energy, in this case the nylon tow strap,
lets loose all of that energy and is what Bob is talking about

I've read through most of this discussion and I go back and forth on whether to just go for it. Our current TV/TT/Equal-i-zer setup is working but I'm considering going with something a little beefier.

I keep pondering those chains though. All that stress and one "weakest link" would shoot through three cars before coming to a rest. I don't think the spring bars would do that much damage as they would be heading for the earth if they snapped.

The biggest drawback for me is the placement of the shock mount at the end of the chain. I have but two places I can place the mount and if they aren't at the right position at the end of the manufactured length or after taking out a link or two I'd be paying for the return shipping. I don't want to go through that.

I've posed the question in an email to their customer support but haven't heard back after three days. Anyone know the distance from ball center to retainer placement? I've looked but cannot find where they give any measurements.

Handye9, if you get a chance. The next time you talk to them, ask
them about the coupler latch and if they would warranty that?



Noodling some more after that last cycle brought up the whop-d-do situation

Wonder how much travel the plastic springs have. Distance in compression and extension

Will it go to zero and over the preset tension? Yes, but how much? and then vs
the traditional WD setup in the same whop-d-do?

That then brings up adjustments and then how much height variation does the
Andersen system have. No head tilt. No raising of another ball. Kinda sorta okay
but that is if the tongue vs the holes in the shank line up. What if they don't
and that is where the head tilt comes in.

What will an off height do to the tensioning of the system? Then what during a
dynamic whop-d-do?

I called Andersen MFG. The marketing guy couldn't answer some of my questions and transferred me to the company president. Here are some of the questions and answers.

Question: "If you were spending 40K on a new trailer, would you be comfortable using this hitch"?

Answer: "I wouldn't use any other hitch".

Question: Do you need to tighten / loosen the two nuts for hitch / unhitch?

Answer: Yes. First time you hitch, tighten the nuts to compress the bushing 1/4 inch. Then count the number of threads (same as counting chain links with other types of hitches) sticking out of the nut. Subsequent hitching up, you tighten to that thread position. No torque wrench needed. I mentioned marking the threads with paint or nail polish, he said "good idea, once you get it set for your trailer".

Question: Unhitch procedure?

Answer: Pretty much same as other types of hitches, tongue jack down to take off weight, loosen the nuts, and pull the pin to release the plate. No heavy bars to remove, no heavy hitch to remove, this entire set up ways about 60 lbs.

Question: How often is it necessary to replace friction material inside ball mount?

Answer: It's got a lifetime garantee, you shouldn't need to replace that.

I was told this hitch was in R&D for five years and only started marketing in August 2011. They did not want to compete with Reese and Equalizer, with a product that was similar to Reese / Equalizer design. Thus, a totally new hitch concept.

The guy was pretty convincing.