Andersen is a renowned company that put their focuses on manufacturing weight distribution hitches for large vehicles. They have also a reputation for making quality trailer accessories and ball mounts.
They were the ones who first came up with a no-sway hitch which is still one of their best-manufactured products. Their hitches help the users to distribute the weight of their vehicles equally so that they can get an easier and smoother ride.
But even with all these features and benefits, their hitches show some problems too and we will be pointing those flaws and help you learn about them as well as how to fix them in this article.
Table of Contents
Proven Tips Tricks and Solution
Here are some proven tips, tricks, and solutions to the Andersen Weight Distribution Hitch Problems as follows:
- Check Tires and Pressure: Before getting to any conclusion about problems regarding hitches, you should better check the air pressure of the tires of both your vehicle and trailer. And before driving them, you need to check the sizes of the tires as well to avoid Andersen Weight Distribution Hitch Problems.
- Load Capacity: As there is a strict guideline regarding the load of the vehicles and trailers, so you should never overload your vehicle or trailer. You need to keep in your mind that the given weight capacity includes trailer weight, tongue weight, vehicle weight, and the weight of your passengers as well.
- Avoid windy conditions: If you can avoid it, then do not drive during windy periods. But if you can’t, then here are some tips that can be helpful for you.
- Whenever you seem to have trailer sway, try reducing speed gradually but never hit hard on the brakes.
- Try to keep the steering wheels steady without making sudden turns so that you need not try steering out of any sway situation.
- Avoid driving vehicles at an increased speed because higher speeds will make your trailer sway more acute.
- Stop trying to evaluate the reasons for the sway because it is not a good idea to get a trailer on the high road even with knowing that it is having a swaying issue for some time being.
- If you want to reduce sway, then only apply the trailer brakes.
Are Andersen Hitches any good?
Yes, Andersen hitches are pretty good and popular. Everything weighs pretty little than the huge clunky hitches as well as get less space of storage in Andersen hitches. You will not get any additional anti-sway bars so that you can unhook or hook up. People who have used it for many trips praised it by saying that it remains silent and provides a comfortable driving experience. They have also tagged Andersen hitches “still better than everything else out there seen by them.” Check Andersen weight distribution hitch reviews.
Andersen Hitch Troubleshooting
- Make sure the difference between the trailer levels is not more than an inch and you should start by keeping your trailer height level from forward to the back.
- Whenever you are having trouble installing the hitches, then take help from the manual even though you were not the person who did it the first time. Don’t just read and go through the manual and start doing things according to your basics. Rather follow all the steps precisely and you won’t get yourself into trouble.
- Remember one thing, it is not a necessary thing to keep the trailer levels equal.
- If the tire pressure of the tires of the vehicle and trailer is right, then it will never bother you.
- Always check a load of your vehicle so that you don’t cross the instructed load limit. Because then your vehicle will start getting you into troubles and issues.
- Pick and install good suspension in both your vehicle and trailer.
Andersen Hitch Failure
- Twisting and Shifting Hitch: Sometimes after months of using, hitches get twisted or shifted from the spot that it was meant to be. Whenever you face this kind of situation, you should know that your Andersen Hitch is about to fail. Therefore, you should install a new hitch and push it forward to its right place so that it can keep the torque up to 50 lb.-ft. in addition, a bed liner made from rubber or mat can be used for preventing the shifting of the Andersen hitch on your vehicle. So, you can also try using this method.
- Damage to Cab Back Short Bed Window: Usually most of the damage happens because of the errors of hitching rather than the turning of the actual hitch. Because of getting distracted by hitching, it is quite common that people drop their fifth wheels on the bed of the truck. But if you install the mount ball in front and pin it later in the adapter, then the pin could hit the sides of the truck bed during a turn.
Andersen Ultimate Hitch Troubleshooting
In the case of Andersen Hitch troubleshooting, you can follow these solutions to get better results for your vehicle and trailer:
- If you want to install the pin forward and push the ball after that, then you need to turn around 90 degrees as well as make an entire U-turn before the top or cap gets close to having the rear window.
- After the installation process, you need to do a couple of turns in a much larger area so that you can get the whole experience of it and make the necessary adjustment as you feel is required. In this troubleshooting, you will figure out the best working way for your adapter that is easy to roam around. When you need to adjust them, just go and loosen up all the jackscrews and your problem will be solved.
Safety Issues: Andersen Ultimate Hitch Problems and Failure
There are a few safety issues on Andersen ultimate hitch problems and failures and they are discussed as follows:
- As we know that nothing is perfect in this world and this also goes for Andersen’s Ultimate hitch. Sometimes the bed of this hitch gets damaged and the reason behind this is the hitch working with a heavier trailer. Andersen Ultimate hitch is preferable to work with lighter hitches. Therefore, when you use them for heavier trailers, it does get damaged.
- Andersen hitches often start making a squeaking noise and it is because of the wear off of the friction liner which results in direct rubbing of the hitch and ball against each other.
- Some of the Andersen hitches get bent which does create safety issues for the owners because bent hitches cannot work properly. The main issue on this problem arises because of raising trailers higher than it was suggested on the manual to do hitching or unhitching. Therefore, you should better be careful with the manual as well.
- Sometimes, Andersen’s ultimate hitch gets wear off before the warranty which can also be a safety issue because if it gets wear off during driving, it may cause an accident. Though this problem is a rare one, you should get your hitch checked often when the warranty is about to get finished.
Can you back up with an Andersen weight distribution hitch?
Yes, anyone with proper knowledge of Andersen WDH can back up without disconnecting anything. There is no need to disconnect your Andersen hitch just to back up. Rather you can easily use the hitch as an ideal mount ball when you don’t require to use it as a weight-distribution hitch. Then it will eliminate the requirement for extra towing hardware.
Andersen hitch creaking: How to prevent and what to do?
Your Andersen hitch should not be creaking at all in any situation. But if they do, then you need to think they are not in good shape. To fix this problem, you can clean the cone as well as the tapered portion of the housing ball. To prevent this, you may have to swap it with a new one that has anti-sway material.
For a quick fix, you need to follow these steps as mentioned below:
- Remove your cone from the housing ball
- When the cone is out, try using some rubbing alcohol so that it can clean both the inside and outside of the cone
- Then move to ball housing and start cleaning the inside area of it
- If you find anything unusual while cleaning them, do contact with Andersen authority
- If you don’t find anything awkward, then cleaning will be enough to do the trick.
Contact Andersen Hitches | the Best Trailer Hitches
How do you attach an Andersen hitch and Andersen weight distribution hitch installation instructions?
Andersen Hitch Stabilizer Function
- Setting up the Andersen ultimate fifth wheelers hitch
- Assemble the hitch head properly
- Check the collar of the friction
- Get the fasteners and fix them tightly
- Andersen system will be ready to work
This is how you can make an Andersen Hitch Stabilizer function.
FAQ
Are Andersen weight distribution hitches any good?
Andersen weight distribution hitch has a great company customer service that offers assistance 24/7. Their hitches are lighter in terms of weight, easy to use, and a lot faster than the other products. Along with weight distribution, it is also anti-bounce, anti-sway, absolute silent, and comes with a lifetime warranty. They even come at an affordable price which is competitive with the other complicated, large, and clunky hitches. So, we can assure you that Andersen weight distribution hitches are certainly a good choice.
How tight should Andersen’s weight distribution hitch be?
If you want to take our suggestion or recommendation to tighten your Andersen weight distribution hitch, then we will recommend you to get it tightened at five full revolutions beyond your finger tight so that it can keep the chains under the right tension and extremely tight all the time and keep engaging sway control.
Do Andersen hitches require safety chains?
No, Andersen hitches don’t require safety chains. According to DOT rules and regulations, a fifth wheel hitch does not require any safety chain. But when you use any conventional gooseneck trailers for your work, then you will need chains because of the latching mechanism which is on your gooseneck trailer. Though the Andersen ultimate hitch does not use a latch nor does it turn at any point of the housing ball.
How do you adjust an Andersen hitch?
You can adjust an Andersen hitch by following these steps given below:
- First level the trailer
- Mount 1 to 112 so that it gets higher than the measurements
- Now install the housing ball
- Set the torque at 150 lbs. and torque the nuts
- Attach all the triangle plates
- Straighten the links of the chains
- Screw the set-screws till they get tightened
- Then turn and draw a line on the socket
- Finally, raise your jack, plug in all the lights, and your Andersen hitch will be adjusted.
What is the best weight distribution hitch with sway control?
These are the best weight distribution hitch with sway control as follows:
- Andersen Hitches: No-Sway WDH
- Pro Series Weight Distribution Kit Complete
- Equalizer 4-point Control Sway Hitch
- Husky Round Bar WDH
- EAZ LIFT 1000 pounds Elite Bar Bent WDH
How does Andersen no sway hitch work?
The Andersen system is well-known as a weight-distribution hitch that comes with sway control. For controlling the sway component so that no-sway hitch can come in, the hitch utilizes an assembled cone which is made of liner brake type of material and the assembly ball sits right in. but when the trailer rotates because of the sway, the housing ball will try to turn in the liner brake and this is how Andersen no-sway hitch mostly works.
Conclusion
As you can see Andersen is a renowned hitch and trailer accessories manufacturer who produces the best no-sway hitches in the world. But even their hitches often face some issues and problems. It is not unlikely but if you don’t learn about them then it can do a lot of damage to you. Therefore, in this article, we tried to showcase those problems and solutions as well so that you can predict the issues on your own and solve them right away to keep your vehicle and trailer smooth and running.