Thread: Anyone use an Anderson Weight Distribution Hitch

I feel the most important thing to do when towing, is make sure the van and car are setup to tow first, before considering any device to assist when towing.

98% of van manufacturers have no clue or desire to make their vans remotely good to tow, wheels to small, drawbars not at the correct length, axels in the wrong place and so on and so on.

Then there's to towee, he just just hooks up the van and off he goes, cause olmate van manufacturer tells him yeah just hook her up and go, no heavier springs, air bags for levelling the car, no adjusting air pressures or even if the car will tow it, yeah she'll be fine, it can tow 3500kg, there see, it's in the manual

I cringe every time I see people happily towing down the highway, with the car dragging it's arse on the ground, blissfully unaware of anything other than getting to where they are, going at 80kph with 10ks of traffic behind them, cause they can't go any faster or the car will wobble off the road.

Baz.

That's for sure... Some people have no idea about weight distribution and towed loads.

The Andersen hitch is very, very smart. I'm itching to try one.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRoQ_yQZQwQ[/ame]

Have a look. It's not just the bush dampened leveling, the hitch clamps to your ball so it can't rotate on it ... and the entire ball rotates inside the andersen hitch. The heavier the tongue load, the more force applied to the friction bush in the hitch, so it's much more difficult to rotate (helping prevent sway).

seeya,
Shane L.

People are free to make choices sometimes they make bad ones.

On a Discovery 4 a correctly set up van and D4 combo does not require any additional help. But the problem comes from poor van design or poor setup by the owner. That "setup" can be many things from tyre pressure through to how the van is loaded.

If you tow with a setup that does not meet the vehicle manufactures recommendation and something goes wrong you "may" have issues with any claim.

I have many 1000's of klms with a 3500kg van attached to my D4 not once have I ever thought that I needed anything to transfer weight back to front wheels.

My van in travel trim full of water has a 320kg ball weight. I have zero problems with how the van tows.

If you are having problems a band aid solution is only masking the issues. Fix the problem don't add to problem by using gear that is not recommend.

Originally Posted by mowog

People are free to make choices sometimes they make bad ones.

On a Discovery 4 a correctly set up van and D4 combo does not require any additional help. But the problem comes from poor van design or poor setup by the owner. That "setup" can be many things from tyre pressure through to how the van is loaded.

If you tow with a setup that does not meet the vehicle manufactures recommendation and something goes wrong you "may" have issues with any claim.

I have many 1000's of klms with a 3500kg van attached to my D4 not once have I ever thought that I needed anything to transfer weight back to front wheels.

My van in travel trim full of water has a 320kg ball weight. I have zero problems with how the van tows.

If you are having problems a band aid solution is only masking the issues. Fix the problem don't add to problem by using gear that is not recommend.

SPOT ON!!!!!!

What frustrates me is if you then raise the issue with some van manufacturers they will tell you to fit a "masking" solution...

It is very good that some folk can find a set up that gives them zero problems. But what about the others? I guess this is a problem for a forum, ask a question, ask it with a view that you don't want to start a war and that you are wanting a relatively specific answer, and you get all sorts of answers. Just how it is I guess.

Thanks everyone for your inputs but I reckon if there is no further actual experience with the Andersen system then it might be time to put it to bed.

Thanks, Simmo

Simon, it's exactly the reasons you give.

A badly engineered Van (load) is the problem.
A correctly engineered Van (load) will not induce problems for anyone...

Sticking a band-aid onto a vehicle not designed to have such a system fitted is not the optimum.

I would not want to be the one testing the legality of the phrase "not recommended" vs "recommended".

Do you have a van that is causing concerns when you are towing?

Interesting read , given the max load for a discovery or rrs is (don't quote me) about 6-700 kg from memory , so when someone sticks 350 on the towball are they then reducing their vehicle load to compensate , I have seen some huge vans getting towed by some well and truly loaded landys .


IMHO 350kg is a lot of weight to swing of the arse of any of the larger 4w4 vehicles and would be more suited to F350 or light truck me thinks , but each to there own , happy towing .

It's nothing to do with the land rover self levelling ... weight distribution simply distributes the load across both front and rear axle. Which will always be better ( even better again.... is a 5th wheeler where the towball is slightly forward of the rear axle, so spreads it's load over both axles).

The andersen hitch I reckon is a brilliant idea... If you just want the friction/anti-sway .... don't tension the chains .... I bet with the chains tensioned so more weight is applied to the front axle tows way better though.

Good caravan design doesn't mean they won't sway one day. though with the land rover trailer assist

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy4vfcX_BrU[/ame]

and the caravan anti-sway fitted to european caravans these days, your pretty safe.

is this the ultimate anti-sway ?

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FsRXjI8W6o[/ame]

scroll forward to 2:10 and see the demonstration.

seeya,
Shane L.