Weight Distribution, Sway, and Tongue Weight

[jtelles3993]

What did you use to remove the snapring?

I borrowed a set of snapring pliers from a friend. Came right off. I tried taking it off with regular pliers, screwdrivers, scribes, etc., but it was too strong.

[jtelles3993]

Btw, the new one they sent me is also black. It's all back together now, just need to take it for a test run, maybe next week?

[ammobob]

Hope it goes well and you get more mileage out of the replacement. I broke down and ordered mine Friday. Will get 3000 or so miles on it in June. I will inspect it when we get home and keep everyone posted if I see any issues.

[jtelles3993]

Hope it goes well and you get more mileage out of the replacement. I broke down and ordered mine Friday. Will get 3000 or so miles on it in June. I will inspect it when we get home and keep everyone posted if I see any issues.

Look forward to your report.

It's a great set up for our aluminum frames. The cone seems to be the only weak link and on mine it was just a noise issue during low speed, sharp turning scenarios (camp sites, gas stations, etc). At highway speed and typical highway maneuvering, there was no noise, and anti-sway and weight distribution were not affected at all. After disassembly and inspection, the cone is obviously still functional and would probably (noisily) last for a long time. I'm going to see how much a new cone costs and probably just keep a spare with the camper just in case it ever happens again. It's an easy job as long as you can get your hands on some snapring pliers :thumbup:

[ammobob]

Keep all of us posted once you get the price of a new cone. Sound like something I would throw a spare of in my camper.

[silly122]

I believe I read somewhere that we should not drill holes in the frame for a WD hitch on our aluminum trailers.  So, is there any kind of consensus which brand is the best for our trailers?  I do not have the personal experience to properly read all the forums that talk about WD and sway control and relate it to the LL.  Help !!

I believe LL doesn't recommend WDH due to the risk of bending the A frame if over tightened. Also, you're correct that LL advises against drilling in to the A frame to install the conventional sway controller.

I've read through a couple of threads saying that weight or tongue weight is the key so I just picked up a "weight Safe" http://www.weigh-safe.com/product/weigh-safe-4-inch-drop-hitch-2-shaft/?  trailer hitch system that gives you instant tongue weight with height adjustment. I'm going to try to properly distribute weight in my 21BHS and see how that feels. If I still feel like something is needed, I also found a clamp on sway system http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003VASX0A/ref=mp_s_a_1_19?qid=1431791788&sr=8-19&pi=SL75_QL70&keywords=sway+control  that should be safe to use with my LL to give me a little more peace of mind.
Posted using my powerful BlackBerry Z30

[david]

I think that you should consider the friction cone on an Andersen WDH an expendable item and plan on replacing it periodically. A 5,000 mile life wouldn't surprise me at all.

That cone is subject to a tremendous force on it when the trailer sways. If you want to produce 100 ft lbs of friction with the cone, it probably needs 1,000 lbs of force on the friction material. That means it must be really tight and that leads to unavoidable wear.

The way the Andersen handles sway is different from all other WDH/sway control hitches in that the friction forces are very concentrated at the surface of the cone. A friction pad sway control device has much less force due to its geometry vs the Andersen.

But replacing the cone every 5,000 miles doesn't seem to be a deal killer does it?

David

[daplumbr]

Just got back this evening from our first foray with the Andersen WDH. 500 miles of a wide variety of roads and speeds and weather over 3 days. It eliminated porpoising, greatly reduced the pull/push of passing vehicles, and had no sway in the wind. We felt the buffeting of trucks right in front of us, but dropping back some fixed that and it's not really a sway thing anyway. With our TV, we didn't need the WD aspect, but based on a our first 100 miles trip with a light trailer last fall, we decided to go with sway control and the Andersen does both. I have the chains at a very low tension according to the manual, just 2 turns past hand tight. I have no fear of bending the frame or coupler at that low a tension and we are getting the sway control we wanted. I realize the force on the friction cone and will keep watch on it for wear. I'd be disappointed if it's only good for a few thousand miles, but the control it provides our set up is worth replacement. Lining things up when hitching adds a layer of complexity and some time but once the chains are tight, it all feels very secure in a comforting sort of way. 

[djsamuel]

[quote source="/post/10888/thread" timestamp="1431782361" author="@surfsup"][quote source="/post/10886/thread" timestamp="1431779350" author="@ammobob"]Hope it goes well and you get more mileage out of the replacement. I broke down and ordered mine Friday. Will get 3000 or so miles on it in June. I will inspect it when we get home and keep everyone posted if I see any issues.[/quote]Look forward to your report.

It's a great set up for our aluminum frames. The cone seems to be the only weak link and on mine it was just a noise issue during low speed, sharp turning scenarios (camp sites, gas stations, etc). At highway speed and typical highway maneuvering, there was no noise, and anti-sway and weight distribution were not affected at all. After disassembly and inspection, the cone is obviously still functional and would probably (noisily) last for a long time. I'm going to see how much a new cone costs and probably just keep a spare with the camper just in case it ever happens again. It's an easy job as long as you can get your hands on some snapring pliers :thumbup:

[/quote]The noise may have disappeared over time too. As I said, mine started to creak when backing into campsites, etc., but that lasted 3 trips or so after the Arizona trip. All quiet now. As shown in the picture I posted, 6000 miles and still going strong.

[jtelles3993]

Glad yours settled down DJ. The creaking and moaning on mine was getting worse, and it was very VERY loud - to the point everyone at gas stations and campsites would gawk at us. Fairly certain it wasn't gonna get better.

[mitch]

Just got back from a trip and my report is exactly the same as Merlin's, setup with respect to the amount of tension on the on the chains sounds about the same too.  I'm very pleased with the improved handling even though my truck is fully capable of handling the camper without any wdh at all.

[jtelles3993]

Here's the old cone. As you can see, it is not destroyed, not even close. This cone would have kept going for a long time, noisily. In fact, I've decided to clean it up and keep it as a "worst case scenario" spare part.




[img style="max-width:100%;" style="" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-p5zY007THzc/VVnsRMwmnFI/AAAAAAAAS8U/Z-EO-hMRa_Q/s640/upload_-1.jpg"]


[img style="" style="max-width:100%;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YV7xqgUr80U/VVnsR5CCWEI/AAAAAAAAS8c/eoO8w6MTxAY/s640/upload_-1.jpg"]

[djsamuel]

Is everybody getting black cones?  Mine is red.  I wonder if it is a different material.

[jerrybeaird]

Hi Surfsup....thanks for posting these pictures of the cone....great to use for comparison in the future!

[jtelles3993]

Is everybody getting black cones?  Mine is red.  I wonder if it is a different material.

I was wondering the same, all I see online are red ones?