Did my Andersen No-Sway WDH do this???

[09KZMXT266]

Or did the trailer service center?

I'm not sure, what caused it, but after hooking up last night I noticed chunks of aluminum on the ground under my setup. I had just got my trailer back from service where they move trailers around with fork lifts, so maybe they somehow banged into it? Did the Andersen hitch plate somehow do it? Totally confused, and looking for your thoughts....



Note: Moderator edit to redo picture urls for enlargement.

[tbred]

I have to agree with others who state friction between plate and frame. Just went out and looked at our Anderson plate (not hooked up to tv right now) and there are zero wear/rub marks on it. Have towed several thousand miles w/ this hitch fwiw.

[carringb]

goducks10 wrote:
Two things stand out. 1st, the plate and the tongue move as one.

They only rotate as one and even then, the urethane springs will allow a small amount of independent rotation until the springs provide enough force for the ball to breakaway and rotate within its friction cup.

The plate will also move fore-and-aft relative to the trailer frame as the vertical angle changes between the truck and trailer, such as when entering driveways with dips or going over speed bumps.

I'm not saying it couldn't be a forklift. That was actually my first thought. But after looking at the pic closer, it does look like there is interference between the plate and frame, and I don't think that is a good situation.

[brownieab]

The ball on the end of the forks is not really at the end of the forks. There is some fork extending after the ball. Once the ball is engaged with your trailer, the end of the fork "may" hit the trailer in a turning situation. The pivot point being the ball, exerts alot of force at the tip of the fork while turning and in contact with your trailer. If you go back to the dealer, have the fork truck come out and hook up to your trailer. Try to recreate the issue and then you will know for sure how it happened

[fla-gypsy]

based on the photos alone I cannot draw a conclusion

[shakyjay]

As goducks points out the plate and tongue move as one unit. From looking at the video on Anderson web site it appears that the tension on the chains is what prevents the tongue from turning on the ball. Question I have did you ever move trailer without the chains or at least without having full tension on them? If so would that have allowed enough movement for some rubbing to occur?

[goducks10]

Two things stand out. 1st, the plate and the tongue move as one. So any scratches would be from something else. The plate doesn't rotate under the bottom of the tongue. The whole setup is based on friction. The friction is from the shaft of the ball rubbing inside it's housing.

2nd, it looks like grease on the outside of the base of the ball where it enters the housing. I hope there's no grease inside that housing as it's lined with brake pad material to create friction.

I would get someone to watch the WD while it's turning to see exactly what's going on.

I put my money on the dealer messing up with his forklift.

[shakyjay]

It is really difficult to determine exactly what the cause is. It does appear as if the plate itself is sitting very close to frame. It also appears that there are rub marks on plate from frame however those marks appear to be fairly recent. From looking at frame it is definitely indented and the weld is torn. So much for the obvious. If I had to put it all together I would guess that the frame was struck at some point hard enough to dent and cause enough of a downward bend thereby causing it to rub against the plate. The tearing of the weld is a result of that rubbing. In any case I would suggest contacting Anderson to see if there is some way to get more clearance.

[93Cobra2771]

Taller ball for sure is needed...

[carringb]

I'd say its the plate as well. The evidence is rubbed onto the plate. It probably barely hooked the bottom of the frame in a dip. You need a taller ball, or switch to an unslung coupler.

[mikeh449]

call Andersen and see if you can get a taller ball

[BurbMan]

Grandpere wrote:
This is a tough one, but if pressed for an guess I would say forklift. JMO

Ditto, although not sure how...if they hit it with the fork hard enough to do that it would have knocked the TT off its jack and spun it around. Is the tongue jack bent, crooked, or binding at all?

I don't see how the hitch plate could do that in normal operation. Fix doesn't look too bad, just beat it back into place and re-weld.

BTW that is an interesting trailer....who makes it?

[Tvov]

I don't know about the damage, but that is an interesting TT (or Toy Hauler?) you've got there!

[Grandpere]

Well just from the pictures, if the hitch did it you would have felt the trailer move as in a sudden impact like hitting a non-moving vehicle. The marks on the area that was peeled back seem to be higher than the hitch plate. My guess is that it was hit by something with a lot of force to do that much damage. I am also guessing that if it was the hitch plate you would have felt it while towing the trailer home. But,unless the dealer is very disreputable, I cannot see them trying to hide this kind of damage that is so obvious.

Without being there to get a really good look at the scratches and the point of impact it is hard to tell. If the repair place is not too far away, ask the service manager to stop by and look at it, I would not want to pull it back to them as it will damage you hitch plate.

This is a tough one, but if pressed for an guess I would say forklift. JMO

[nomad297]

It looks like the plate did it. There are obvious rub marks on the plate where it came in contact before. Perhaps this time you were making a turn at the top of a hill and it caused the plate to rise up just a little more than usual.

Bruce