New Andersen WD hitch
A fellow camper bud showed me this. It's new and different. Anyone using one? Andersen WD hitches A U-tube video with the factory guy explaining it. You have to get past MR Truck doing his...
Forum Discussion
Did the couple latch loading by using this hitch ever get addressed? I know there has been lots of discussion about it. I just found out after calling Andersen that a local dealer got one in for review to see if they wanted to carry it. I called the dealer and they are not sure they want to use them. This is what they told me over the phone (they normally carry Reese Dual Cams for the higher end and the basic EZ Lift/Curt for the low end).
Pros:
1) The hitch DOES reduce bounce by a significant amount. They tested this with a F150 and a 32ft camper with a weight of 5500#. The TT and TV were already setup with the basic EZ Lift round bar hitch with a friction bar. There are railroad tracks close to the dealer and they drove back and forth over them with the Andersen vs. the EZ Lift. With the Andersen the truck only bounced 1, maybe 2 times at worse. With the EZ setup they counted up to 5-6 times.
2) The setup was pretty quick. Install was fast (about 45 minutes taking their time). The single pin hookup and disconnect was nice (but see notes below).
3) Nice and lightweight. Also seemed to be built well.
Cons:
1) The coupler latch: The first thing they noticed was how the whole dynamic of towing the TT was changed. You are no longer using the coupler for its intended purpose. You are now towing it with the chains and brackets attached to the frame rails. The coupler is just a rotating point now with no pulling pressure on it. Instead all the pressure is from the opposite direction of design.
2) They were unsure of long term effect of towing the TT this way. Its never been done before obviously. The frame rails should be fine, the angle of pull is the same with the chains vs. the coupler. The pulling is being concentrated on the brackets and bolts using the small set screw as a fulcrum for the bracket. The screw never moved (they followed the three turn after contact install) but it did crush in the rail.
3) The hookup was fine as long as you were always in exact alignment with disconnect. If your angle was off when you went to hookup again they were unable to rotate the ball easily to line things back up. There was just too much pressure from it being set down in the tapered shank and lining. They even put a small bar into the pin hole to try and rotate the ball. That worked, but it took some serious tugging.
So while there were definitely some pluses, there were also some negatives. The head guys biggest worry was how the TT was being towed now, using those chains and brackets vs. the ball and coupler. He also had doubts on the longevity of the latch. He didnt think it would be an instant failure, and it could be just fine for the occasional camper. If you tow a lot he thought there would be premature failure of the coupler vs. standard usage.
On both hitches, sway seemed to be well controlled. Normally they would recommend running dual friction bars on the 32ft camper but they wanted to leave things setup as they were for the test.
If they do carry it, they were going to try and limit the sales to occasional use campers and also lighter campers (to keep the chain tension down) until more long term durability is known.
Pros:
1) The hitch DOES reduce bounce by a significant amount. They tested this with a F150 and a 32ft camper with a weight of 5500#. The TT and TV were already setup with the basic EZ Lift round bar hitch with a friction bar. There are railroad tracks close to the dealer and they drove back and forth over them with the Andersen vs. the EZ Lift. With the Andersen the truck only bounced 1, maybe 2 times at worse. With the EZ setup they counted up to 5-6 times.
2) The setup was pretty quick. Install was fast (about 45 minutes taking their time). The single pin hookup and disconnect was nice (but see notes below).
3) Nice and lightweight. Also seemed to be built well.
Cons:
1) The coupler latch: The first thing they noticed was how the whole dynamic of towing the TT was changed. You are no longer using the coupler for its intended purpose. You are now towing it with the chains and brackets attached to the frame rails. The coupler is just a rotating point now with no pulling pressure on it. Instead all the pressure is from the opposite direction of design.
2) They were unsure of long term effect of towing the TT this way. Its never been done before obviously. The frame rails should be fine, the angle of pull is the same with the chains vs. the coupler. The pulling is being concentrated on the brackets and bolts using the small set screw as a fulcrum for the bracket. The screw never moved (they followed the three turn after contact install) but it did crush in the rail.
3) The hookup was fine as long as you were always in exact alignment with disconnect. If your angle was off when you went to hookup again they were unable to rotate the ball easily to line things back up. There was just too much pressure from it being set down in the tapered shank and lining. They even put a small bar into the pin hole to try and rotate the ball. That worked, but it took some serious tugging.
So while there were definitely some pluses, there were also some negatives. The head guys biggest worry was how the TT was being towed now, using those chains and brackets vs. the ball and coupler. He also had doubts on the longevity of the latch. He didnt think it would be an instant failure, and it could be just fine for the occasional camper. If you tow a lot he thought there would be premature failure of the coupler vs. standard usage.
On both hitches, sway seemed to be well controlled. Normally they would recommend running dual friction bars on the 32ft camper but they wanted to leave things setup as they were for the test.
If they do carry it, they were going to try and limit the sales to occasional use campers and also lighter campers (to keep the chain tension down) until more long term durability is known.
