Andersen hitch again

[madmaxmutt]

True. If you look at my picture that battery box bracket is what really stopped it from moving forward.

[northstar1960]

Originally Posted by madmaxmutt

Here is a pic of my trailer frame after the 2" welds were done. The brackets had walked forward a 1/2" over time. They will not move again. I would recommend the welds to everyone.
Attachment 77234

unit will be parked for four months now that i'm in west yellowstone . living in it but won't be towing it till fall . then on my way back to Co or if my son comes out for a visit i'll have him bring my mig welder it's small enough to haul along and I should have just brought it with me .

[madmaxmutt]

That sounds like the perfect plan since, you know your brackets are perfectly placed right now

[WolfWhistle]

I don't have the Andersen, but why, I wonder, if a couple of SDST metal screws through bracket / into frame would work?

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by WolfWhistle

I don't have the Andersen, but why, I wonder, if a couple of SDST metal screws through bracket / into frame would work?

That is probably a choice an owner could make. There are set screws that help keep the brackets in place that come with the hitch. Those seemed to have just indented a little path in my frame. There is one option to drill the set screw into the trailer frame. After seeing how mine had moved, I feel much more comfortable with the other option of small welds.

[hbillsmith]

On my old trailer I was getting some creaking noise that was associated with the condition of the ball chamber at the A frame nose. I bought a can of "SLIP" and sprayed it up into the ball chamber. It dries overnight and adds a dry lithium coating such that it removes ball contact friction. Find "SLIP" on Amazon.

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by hbillsmith

On my old trailer I was getting some creaking noise that was associated with the condition of the ball chamber at the A frame nose. I bought a can of "SLIP" and sprayed it up into the ball chamber. It dries overnight and adds a dry lithium coating such that it removes ball contact friction. Find "SLIP" on Amazon.

It is my understanding from the manual that NO lubricant should be on the ball or coupler opening for an Andersen, as that would negate your anti-sway. I do lubricate the moving parts of the coupler, but not the ball chamber.

OP:
Back to the original issue of "creaking real bad", did Andersen give you a real reason they thought this was happening?

We are just back from our Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Custer SP, trip. I also had some severe creaking from the Andersen hitch when we were leaving Yellowstone. I had left the triangle attached to the trailer while we were there. Rain had splattered dirt up onto the triangle. We wiped out inside of the ring and the bottom of the ball attachment with a towel because it was pretty dirty. No more squeak. I am pretty sure it was just the dirt.

I do also lubricate the 1/2" pin that secures the triangle.

[mark0224]

Must have got mine tight enough didn't move a bit

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by mark0224

Must have got mine tight enough didn't move a bit

I would wait a little while before you make that statement. . . I though you only had this hitch for about a month? Wait till next year and check again.

[mark0224]

Torqued it up good and can't move more than 1/2 screws and plate from old hitch still there

[Play Harder]

I had very bad squeaking noise on my third use of hitch - called Anderson and they sent me a new liner - used twice now seemed to cure squeak

[madmaxmutt]

I want to run down what I have experienced with my Andersen recently. So, I have had my Andersen for about a year. I now have over 8,000 miles on it. At about 4,500 miles on my Andersen I began to have a great deal of noise (like what an Equal-I-zer does normally) which is not normal for an Andersen hitch. I read about the OP with a similar noise, but I cannot tell if this is the same cause. I cleaned the triangle, pin and the bottom of the ball where the triangle connects. That seemed to get rid of the problem for each of several short trips.

This last trip (3600 miles) started fine other than the light rain, but after the first night's stop the hitch got noisy again when it dried up the next day. I felt like the anti-sway was less than normal in the wind. When we got to our first real stop with internet, I contacted Andersen. I sent them photos of what the ball looked like and explained my situation.

Andersen, for their part as they have with every question I have sent, responded quickly. They told me to remove/clean and reinstall the ball cone assuming my anti-sway material was black and not red. I told them that mine is red.
They then said they would send me new anti-sway material and indicated they may just send a new hitch head. All under warranty. It seems they use a different material now and that the red material isn’t current. I was moving too often and didn't want to chance missing the fedex shipment. I also didn’t have access to all of my tools, so it was my decision to wait until I got home to work on this.

Now at home and looking closely at my anti-sway material, there is a gap between the material and the metal. That gap is about a quarter way around the ball cone. . I assume (hate doing it) that there is dirt in that gap. That cannot help anti-sway or the material. There is also what appears to be a tear of the material. The tear was not there when I sent the previous messages to Andersen. I have again contacted Andersen CS and asked what they want to do. This seems like a simple replacement of material if you have the red stuff and this problem.

[madmaxmutt]

Update from my previous post: Andersen is sending the new anti-sway material along with new smaller red springs. Both items sound like they have been replaced in the manufacturing process from the versions that I have.

[northstar1960]

Originally Posted by madmaxmutt

Update from my previous post: Andersen is sending the new anti-sway material along with new smaller red springs. Both items sound like they have been replaced in the manufacturing process from the versions that I have.

seems they are getting the bugs worked out . i have not used mine much since visiting Andersen as i'm camped at west Yellowstone and will be here a couple more months . the th is working great so far and will have some long hauls come fall

[Play Harder]

I've used mine at least 8 times now - no more noise after I change out liner - works great in high wind - go through the Columbia gorge for kite boarding often 35-50mph + winds is common


Get out and Play Harder😛

2016 XLR Hyper Lite 29hsf - loaded picked up 3-24-2015😊
2008 Can Am Spyder
Kite Boarding is my Addiction - GOT WIND!

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by Play Harder

I've used mine at least 8 times now - no more noise after I change out liner - works great in high wind - go through the Columbia gorge for kite boarding often 35-50mph + winds is common


Get out and Play Harder😛

2016 XLR Hyper Lite 29hsf - loaded picked up 3-24-2015😊
2008 Can Am Spyder
Kite Boarding is my Addiction - GOT WIND!

Big Brown truck is due here today. I will let you know in a few days, if it fixes my issues. I do hope this material lasts longer than 8K miles and a little over a year, though.

[madmaxmutt]

All put back together. I had to remove the last chain link because of the new springs. Big difference in length . . .


The new washers are really much larger and thicker also.

Ball cone when I took it off with the red anti-sway cleaned up with alcohol and 3M pad.
Before



After





But I always get new tools when I do projects

[breezyhillfarm]

I always get new tools for a project too. Then generally misplace them and have to buy them again for the next project.

[madmaxmutt]

YES! New anti-sway and springs (free and under lifetime warranty) and the hitch is better than new. Silent and rock solid!

[hbillsmith]

I changed from Travel Trailer to Fifth Wheel and went with the Andersen Ultimate Fifth. Now my reliable but used Andersen WDH is for sale. I am in Dallas but will ship if need be. PM me if your interested. I'd like to get half the original cost back.