Andersen weigh in

[tpaulus]

I wanted to share the results of my recent trip to the scale.

I have a 2004 Chevy Tahoe 5.3l tow vehicle, Cherokee Grey Wolf 26DBH trailer and the Andersen weight distributing hitch. The trailer weight is 6200 lbs, tongue weight is 920 lbs.

This rig is new to me and I've read countless debates on many forums regarding the effectiveness of the Andersen hitch. So I wanted to hit the scales and see for myself what was happening in my specific situation.

A spreadsheet of my results can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...kE&output=html

The summary is that with 1/2" urethane bushing compression, I can transfer ~340 lbs off the drive axle, 260 to the front axle and 80 to the trailer axles. I say ABOUT 340 lbs because there is a 20 lbs discrepancy between the two scale readings so it's somewhere between 320 and 340. My steer axle is still 200 lbs lighter than when unloaded.

I sent these results to Andersen today asking for advice on whether I should tighten the bushings further. I'd like to get the steer axle weight closer to where it is when unloaded.

I may also look for opportunities to reduce the tongue weight a little, I'm doing very little discretionary storage forward of the axles though so it may not change much.

[tpaulus]

I received a reply from Andersen, they are recommending max urethane compression of 1/2".

We do not recommend compressing the urethane spring more than 1/2" as it can cause failure of the spring by splitting it. Often to get to 1/2" compression our washer will bend to some degree, if you are experiencing that please use an additional washer to prevent the washer from ripping the spring.

As far as getting more weight to the front of the tow vehicle I am afraid you have about maxed out our abilities. Some people will raise the ball in the shank another set of holes and that can help to some degree. The hitch definitely can handle the loads you are putting on it but to distribute the full amount of weight you would like does not seem possible.

My rig is fairly level when towing, I'll measure it the next time I'm towing and have a flat surface to see if raising the ball is possible.