Towing 270RKS or similar weight trailer

[RainyDaze]

Originally Posted by Onetigger725

We have the 270RKS and tow with a 2016 GMC 2500 Duramax. We travel light and get close to the 10,000 lb. mark when we take fresh water aboard. To offset tongue weight, we put the gennies on a receiver rack on the trailer and leave the rear grey water tank about half full while moving around. Have a great WDH, Husky, with 1400 lb. bars. Never have found a hill that the beast cannot climb and stay in 5th gear, (unless the curves make us slow down). Keep her in tow haul mode and 5th gear. Love it. Average 57 mph in Calif. and 62 where it loves to be on open states.

Same setup I'll have. Great report. Thank you.

How high did your tongue weight get that you felt you needed to offset with rear gray water and gennies on the on hitch?

I was going to try an Andersen WDH because it looks so easy. They are rated for 1,400lbs. If it doesn't work out because the tongue weight is too high and I get excessive sag I'll return it and get a more traditional setup with bars.

[LVRVer]

Thank you!

Originally Posted by ModestMonk

BTW.

[Onetigger725]

I actually haven't checked the tongue weight yet, still looking for a reliable scale. It was a precautionary measure to help keep the trailer level while towing, get the gennies out of the bed to where they can stay and be used without constantly moving them, all helped keep the tongue weight under the limit until i got a scale. My wife really likes the front closet and i didn't like how much stuff there was forward of the axles. Guessing now with the gennies in the back of the trailer we can dump the grey tank and not need the ballast. Got any ideas for a reliable scale?

[RainyDaze]

Originally Posted by Onetigger725

Got any ideas for a reliable scale?

There is this method: Measuring trailer tongue weight with a bathroom scale which is probably good if you're in the driveway shifting around stuff and experimenting with your packing strategy.

I'll load her up and go to some nearby truck scales to see how close I am before I go to that much trouble. Weigh each axle with and without the trailer and you'll see exactly what's going on.

[Randy the sly old fox]

Welcome to the family! I tow a 25RDS with a 17 2500HD with the DMax - been over the coast range several times and even up Cabbage Hill outside of Pendleton. Never lack power, have been able to pull every grade at 55-60 with very little sweat.

Again enjoy your new truck and TT.

[RainyDaze]

Pulled her home today the Duramax towed it wonderfully! Power is going to be just fine.

I spent some time at the scales near my house to get a baseline on weights before I started loading her up and was a bit shocked at the results. I may be over the limits of this Andersen hitch, however both the truck and trailer are level and it felt great on the road.

The tongue weight on this trailer is spec'd at 1,100lbs, so I thought I had some headroom with the WDH being rated for 1400lbs. Well, the tongue weight without the WDH engaged is 1720 and with it engaged 1520. What happens when I start loading up the pass through and wardrobe?!?

The trailer is weighing in at 8880lbs (500lbs more than they spec). The propane tanks are mounted but empty and two 12v batteries are installed. All the water tanks are empty, but there is left over water in the lines and hot water heater.

My first run through the scales still had about 1/2 tank of water the dealer put in for delivery, 360lbs worth. Good to note, draining it didn't change anything on the tow vehicle axle weights. That tank must be right over the axles.

I'm hoping once we load the rear kitchen on this thing that my tongue weight will come down. I could also do what Onetigger mentioned and keep some water in the rear gray tank.

Here's some scale results for anyone interested:

Truck only - F: 4780 R: 3300
Plus trailer, WDH not engaged - F: 4280 R: 5020
Plus trailer, WDH engaged - F: 4420 R: 4820

Truck's axle limits: F: 4800 R: 6200

From reviews I read I didn't expect the Andersen to distribute much weight. Some people claim it didn't distribute anything, but clearly it did. I hope I can make it work out because it towed great and I'll never have to mess with heavy tow bars and grease again!

[PRT]

Originally Posted by RainyDaze

Pulled her home today the Duramax towed it wonderfully! Power is going to be just fine.

I spent some time at the scales near my house to get a baseline on weights before I started loading her up and was a bit shocked at the results. I may be over the limits of this Andersen hitch, however both the truck and trailer are level and it felt great on the road.

The tongue weight on this trailer is spec'd at 1,100lbs, so I thought I had some headroom with the WDH being rated for 1400lbs. Well, the tongue weight without the WDH engaged is 1720 and with it engaged 1520. What happens when I start loading up the pass through and wardrobe?!?

The trailer is weighing in at 8880lbs (500lbs more than they spec). The propane tanks are mounted but empty and two 12v batteries are installed. All the water tanks are empty, but there is left over water in the lines and hot water heater.

My first run through the scales still had about 1/2 tank of water the dealer put in for delivery, 360lbs worth. Good to note, draining it didn't change anything on the tow vehicle axle weights. That tank must be right over the axles.

I'm hoping once we load the rear kitchen on this thing that my tongue weight will come down. I could also do what Onetigger mentioned and keep some water in the rear gray tank.

Here's some scale results for anyone interested:

Truck only - F: 4780 R: 3300
Plus trailer, WDH not engaged - F: 4280 R: 5020
Plus trailer, WDH engaged - F: 4420 R: 4820

Truck's axle limits: F: 4800 R: 6200

From reviews I read I didn't expect the Andersen to distribute much weight. Some people claim it didn't distribute anything, but clearly it did. I hope I can make it work out because it towed great and I'll never have to mess with heavy tow bars and grease again!

Looking at your scale numbers you look to be about right. I get WDH not engaged at 1220 lbs and WDH engaged at 1160 lbs. To figure out tongue weight you have to add both frt and rear axles together and compare same when hooked up to trailer. Hope this helps.
Pete

[Cumminsfan]

Andersen WDH are worthless for that heavy of a TT. They just simply don't transfer enough weight back to the front end of the tow vehicle. There's been many threads about them on RV forums. They're great for light weight TT's or medium weights with stiff trucks like 2500+ and diesels where the heavy diesel keeps the front of the truck down more when hitching.
For that heavy of a TW you really need a stronger WDH.

[RainyDaze]

Originally Posted by Cumminsfan

Andersen WDH are worthless for that heavy of a TT. They just simply don't transfer enough weight back to the front end of the tow vehicle. There's been many threads about them on RV forums. They're great for light weight TT's or medium weights with stiff trucks like 2500+ and diesels where the heavy diesel keeps the front of the truck down more when hitching.
For that heavy of a TW you really need a stronger WDH.

You think I need to transfer more weight to the front? Without the WDH engaged it took 360lbs off the front axle, 7.5% of original weight. The rear axle still has 1380lbs available until it's limit The truck is still raked forward slightly. The distance from tire to wheel well is 1.25" bigger in the back.

It seems like the Andersen could work, depending on my loading and it doesn't explode being over their weight limit.

[RainyDaze]

Thanks Pete! Haha, bad logic on my math! I was just comparing rear axle weights. Whew.....

I redid the numbers and you are correct. Thank you!

[RainyDaze]

Originally Posted by RainyDaze

You think I need to transfer more weight to the front? Without the WDH engaged it took 360lbs off the front axle, 7.5% of original weight. The rear axle still has 1380lbs available until it's limit The truck is still raked forward slightly. The distance from tire to wheel well is 1.25" bigger in the back.

It seems like the Andersen could work, depending on my loading and it doesn't explode being over their weight limit.

With the Andersen engaged I got 140lbs back on the front axle so now it is only 220lbs lighter, or 4.6%

Based on Pete straightening out my math, the tongue weight is in spec with Andersen's ratings.

My ride home was smoother with this setup than with my 4100lb Lance I had prior. Lots of variables there but I think the Andersen is a go.

[TyCreek]

Let the fun begin!

The Andersen is an interesting hitch For me, the positives have outweigh the negatives. Certainly I have a different TT with freakish TW

However ... I would in no way consider the distribution properties to be anything comparable to a conventional bar type design. IMO... They work completely different. Does the Andersen distribute weight? Yes, some, but you likely want to limit how much because the distribution leverage point becomes your coupler jaw vs. the ball to socket of a spring bar style.

My take on the Andersen is "do not" use it for high percent weight transfer. Use it for everything else it's good at Just enough tension to ensure ball to coupler lock e.g. turn as one. If it hops it's too tight and the ball is likely hammering the coupler jaw. If it porpoises bring the ball down a notch to dial in the load/unload characteristic.

Visualize the forces at play ... those tension chains are just a few inches down from the A frame to ball/coupler line. That means the coupler is effectively being pulled forward (horizontal) against the ball vs. down (vertical) against the ball like conventional spring bar forces.

Next, the change of horizontal angle adds tension as the deflection from center goes down and offloads as it rises. This same characteristic is present with spring bar styles though it seems amplified with the Andersen. I find a little nose down works best.

[Cumminsfan]

I've used the Andersen with a 950 lbs TW and a Ram 2500 CTD. When I dropped the coupler on the ball it only raised the front of my truck 3/8-1/2" After hitching up with the Andersen I hardly returned any of that back to the front. The rear dropped 2". It towed just fine. In fact it was smoother than the EQ 1200 lb 4pt sway I used prior.
It's common knowledge that the Andersen can't return front weight on lightly sprung trucks or SUV's when the TW is heavy (700+lbs).
If you have 1500 lbds on the tongue empty then you're over the Andersens limit. You really need to get a conventional type WDH rated to at least 1700 lbs.
It's a great design But IMO it's only good for HD trucks with medium weight TT's or low weight tongues and lighter tow vehicles like F150/SUV or something like a Tacoma and an R-Pod type TT.
JMO but I'd be opting for something like a Blue Ox https://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Dist...x/BXW2000.html

[RainyDaze]

Originally Posted by Cumminsfan

I've used the Andersen with a 950 lbs TW and a Ram 2500 CTD. When I dropped the coupler on the ball it only raised the front of my truck 3/8-1/2" After hitching up with the Andersen I hardly returned any of that back to the front. The rear dropped 2". It towed just fine. In fact it was smoother than the EQ 1200 lb 4pt sway I used prior.
It's common knowledge that the Andersen can't return front weight on lightly sprung trucks or SUV's when the TW is heavy (700+lbs).
If you have 1500 lbds on the tongue empty then you're over the Andersens limit. You really need to get a conventional type WDH rated to at least 1700 lbs.
It's a great design But IMO it's only good for HD trucks with medium weight TT's or low weight tongues and lighter tow vehicles like F150/SUV or something like a Tacoma and an R-Pod type TT.
JMO but I'd be opting for something like a Blue Ox https://www.etrailer.com/Weight-Dist...x/BXW2000.html

Had a bad tongue weight calculation, it's under 1200lbs so I'm okay there.

I could see it being a disaster on a 1/2 ton, but my 3/4 seems balanced out quite well.