WD hitch design versus TV ride quality

fla-gypsy wrote:
Depends on many factors, just changing hitches will change the ride but not neccessarily make it beter. I find my F-250 actually rides softer with the lod attached.

My F-250 definitely rides "softer" with my TT attached.

Depends on many factors, just changing hitches will change the ride but not neccessarily make it beter. I find my F-250 actually rides softer with the load attached.

Towing with a Ram 1500 and an Andersen hitch. I would HIGHLY recommend the hitch; but as posted above be sure to verify it's suitability based on the amount of weight distribution required. I have a relatively light trailer (Camplite 21BHS) and the truck sits pretty level without any WDH at all. However, the sway control and the control of bouncing over bridges, bumps etc., make the Andersen a great hitch for me and others.

Ron Gratz wrote:
If you are towing a "very heavy 2003 25' TT", its tongue weight probably is heavy enough that the Andersen WDH would not be able to achieve 100% Front Axle Load Restoration.

It would be a good idea to know what the loaded tongue weight is before considering an Andersen WDH.

Ron

I would agree with this. I did considerable research before finally picking up the Andersen. There is a lot of noise when it comes to hitch discussions and with the Andersen not a lot of what I would consider reliable or real world details at this point. When I looked at the postings I was able to find by folks who were actually using the Andersen my conclusion was that with tongue weights above 750-800lbs there seemed to be less success in getting 100% FALR. I do recall one user with an 1100lb tongue weight that reported no issues with FALR, but that seemed to be an exception. I think I saw a posting that stated Andersen is making the polyurethane bushings stiffer in an effort to help the higher tongue weights. Also, it was hard to find posted CAT scale results for the Andersen.

For those folks who were getting sufficient FALR the reports were generally favorable in terms of ride and sway control. Since my tongue weights are around 450lbs this seemed like a good choice given the ease of hitching/unhitching plus clean and quiet. I've had to spend some time dialing in the setup as with any new hitch, but now that I've gone through that it's working very well.

One note from my experience in getting it adjusted - be prepared to accept a tack weld on each of the outer brackets in order to avoid having them slip forward once the chains are tightened. I torqued my to 120lbs (100lbs is recommended) and they still slipped a bit. I could tell after pulling for a while that things were loosening up just a bit. Now that I have the tack weld in place things are working just great.

Ron, thanks for the tip. I was just looking at another forum and was beginning to get that idea but there is so much chaff it was hard to find any wheat after the first kernel.
The specs claim about 5500 for the trailer so it probably goes down the road closer to 6100 with a little water, food etc.
Thanks

Timtation wrote:
Ours is currently the Draw-tite hitch. I will look into the Anderson.

In a post on 10/5/14, you stated:
"TV is a 2011 Ram 1500 with the 5.7 Vortec, Plenty of torque for the job which is a very heavy 2003 25' TT,---"

If you are towing with a 2011 Ram 1500, you probably need a WDH which can restore 100% of the load which was removed from the TV's front end when the TT was hitched.

If you are towing a "very heavy 2003 25' TT", its tongue weight probably is heavy enough that the Andersen WDH would not be able to achieve 100% Front Axle Load Restoration.

It would be a good idea to know what the loaded tongue weight is before considering an Andersen WDH.

Ron

Ours is currently the Draw-tite hitch. I will look into the Anderson. Thsnks,
Tim

Some pluses and minuses about the Andersen hitch, but ride improvement is one I enjoyed.

Are you adding a WDH to a non-WD setup? If so, do be aware that SOME tow vehicles should NOT be used with a WDH, according to the mfg. I _THINK_ this is a function of the vehicles frame/unibody construction. I'm told that my BMW X5, a unibody SUV is one of them, whereas my older Jeep is a framed vehicle, and benefits from a WDH.

Changed from a Drawtite trunion bar setup to an Andersen hitch. Traveling the same roads, DW said, she no longer needed to wear a sports bra. Just tried a BlueOx Swaypro, also on the same roads. No mention was made about a change in ride quality.