light weight WDH

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Unnamed Reader

Some of our camping trips would be just two middle aged females, so weight is a factor.

Please recommended which hitch would be easiest to manage for two ladies who can't lift 100 pounds.

Are you towing with a pickup truck or SUV?

If a pickup truck consider one of these that mounts in the corner of the pickup bed:



To lift the hitch you'd need to leave the tailgate up and when removed from hitch the "boom" could be swung back, tailgate lowered, then raise the boom high enough to put hitch in pickup bed if desired.

$100 at Northern tool. It also comes in handy if you have a generator to move back and forth from the Pickup as well as lifting Propane tanks if you have 30# tanks.

I'm well past middle age and recently had Open Heart Surgery so I don't lift heavy stuff anymore. This "Crane" collapses down to a fairly short boom and swings to the side of the bed kind of "nesting" under the top rail of the bed and over the wheel well hump.

Lifting effort on the individual's part is no more than what is required to pump the hydraulic jack that operates the crane.

To "rig" the hitch for lifting and maneuvering, nylon tie down straps work well.

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by thebrakeman

Madmaxmutt:
You said it transferred "plenty of weight". Please confirm that you either measured front axle weights (before and after attaching/engaging), or measured front wheel well height (before and after).

Yes, weighed several times and measured a hundred times with the F150. My seat-o-the-pants feeling is that it worked better after applying the 2" welds to the trailer frame.

Originally Posted by thebrakeman

Most have found that when you are pulling a trailer much more than half the capacity of the truck (or more specifically, pushing significantly into the rear GAWR), the Andersen runs out of ability to return lost weight to the front wheels.

I feel like this is an over assertion. "Most" have probably not found anything. "Most" owners I have met love theirs. I cannot speak for the smaller SUV, but it always moved the required weight and leveled the F150 with a max of 6500 lbs trailer. That is way above 1/2 the capacity of my old truck.

The F350 needs no help at all, but it also puts the wheel wells back where they belong on Super Duty

Originally Posted by thebrakeman

. . .

No it doesn't work like an equalizer, but it also doesn't weigh 150 lbs, which was the point to the OP. I think analogies and comparisons don't work well because the technology is simply different. Compare coil springs to leafs to bags . . .

This hitch still uses a twisting motion from pulling instead of a twisting motion from lifting. Both types twist the head to lift the truck. In the Andersen case, the chains pull the bottom of the head back, forcing the top of the ball forward. That twist is what lifts the hitch.

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

Are you towing with a pickup truck or SUV?

If a pickup truck consider one of these that mounts in the corner of the pickup bed:



To lift the hitch you'd need to leave the tailgate up and when removed from hitch the "boom" could be swung back, tailgate lowered, then raise the boom high enough to put hitch in pickup bed if desired.

$100 at Northern tool. It also comes in handy if you have a generator to move back and forth from the Pickup as well as lifting Propane tanks if you have 30# tanks.

I'm well past middle age and recently had Open Heart Surgery so I don't lift heavy stuff anymore. This "Crane" collapses down to a fairly short boom and swings to the side of the bed kind of "nesting" under the top rail of the bed and over the wheel well hump.

Lifting effort on the individual's part is no more than what is required to pump the hydraulic jack that operates the crane.

To "rig" the hitch for lifting and maneuvering, nylon tie down straps work well.

Lighter trucks have finite amount of payload. That is always a topic on here. I wouldn't want to waste that limited payload on a crane if I didn't have to.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by madmaxmutt

Lighter trucks have finite amount of payload. That is always a topic on here. I wouldn't want to waste that limited payload on a crane if I didn't have to.

I've solved that issue with my truck. Even though it has more than enouch "payload" I don't carry as much unnecessary stuff as I used to.

This "crane" weighs all of 60 lbs which is quite acceptable. I think I pulled that much weight out from beneath the rear seat when I put my truck on a diet.

Only things in the bed of my truck when towing now are generator, a couple 6 gallon gas "cans", a couple 20# propane tanks, and a bin with a mix of security cables, extension cords, and some rope.

My truck has more reserve capacity than my aging body thus the 60# crane

[mopwr4me2003]

The Blue Ox sway pro is one of the lighter ones on the market and pretty easy for setup.

Also I would recommend the hitch grip tool like what was recommended in a previous post. I use it and love it and my wife likes it cause she can also lift it and stay pretty clean.

Tim

[VernDiesel]

I use the Andersen also, relatively light quiet great sway control clean & backs well. I can return the steer axle weight as proven on scales but can’t seem to get more than that. If you have a half ton & more than say a 6,500 TT you might like more WT. OP will likely be happy with it. I’ve been happy with mine except I know I could get better WT from another set up when I have 1,000 plus pounds on the tongue.