Tuning Andersen WDH + 2019 Expy Max XLT

[Joey Smith]

The 8 thread allocated the appropriate weight to the front. If you add more items in the future, additional adjustments may be needed. Safe travels!

Thx!


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[Joey Smith]

I ended up going to the cat scale again with my water tank empty, gas tank full and tried tightening up the tension further (almost 9 threads).

Numbers look better based on the feedback provided by people here.

I did have a minor question about how I am measuring the TV only though. Should I be measuring with the hitch ball removed from the TV? I had been leaving it on after disconnecting the TT and just leaving the sway chains and connector with the trailer but I was not removing my hitch ball from the truck (~25 lbs).

My new weights are:

TV Only
Steer Axle: 3140
Drive Axle: 3360
Trailer Axle: 0
Total Axle: 6500

TV + TT (No WDH)
Steer Axle: 2820
Drive Axle: 4300
Trailer Axle: 4900
Total Axle: 12020

TV + TT (8.75 threads)
Steer Axle: 3020
Drive Axle: 4100
Trailer Axle: 4960
Total Axle: 12080

I had been thinking my tongue weight was:
(2820+4300) - 6500 = 620lbs but now I am thinking it should be more like 645lbs if I should have weighed my TV only without the 25lb hitch ball.


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[JasonH]

Tongue weight is slightly high, around 115 lbs. Is there anything stored in the front of the trailer? If so, move it above the trailer axle. Or go up one hole on the ball.

You can leave the hitch on. It's not heavy enough to make a difference.

How is the handling?

 

[Joey Smith]

Tongue weight is slightly high, around 115 lbs. Is there anything stored in the front of the trailer? If so, move it above the trailer axle. Or go up one hole on the ball.

You can leave the hitch on. It's not heavy enough to make a difference.

How is the handling?

I may be computing the tongue weight incorrectly but I had thought it would be:

TT(NoWDH).(DriveAxle+SteerAxle) minus
TVonly.(DriveAxle+SteerAxle):
(7120 - 6500) = 620 lbs.

You mentioned 115lbs. What was that referring to?

Assuming the above is correct (and please correct me if I did this wrong), the tongue weight to trailer weight ratio seemed ok:
620/5520 = 11.23%
(Actually I was wondering if the % should be higher)...

I took the family on a camping trip recently and drove it for about 60-70 miles (some mildly windy roads and not steep). It drove well. When I had it not as tightened up, the front felt a little bit floaty at times. After tightening it up, it seemed to drive well. I did not get any sense of sway but I also have not towed much before.

In terms of weight distribution, I did not position heavy items in the trailer towards the front. I kept the heavier items either in the rear storage compartment or above the axle inside. The heavy items at the front are the 2 propane tanks and the batteries.

I am interested in knowing if the setup is ok because my hitch cannot be tightened up any further it seems on this Andersen no sway hitch.

Thanks for any comments/suggestions.


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[JasonH]

You're correct on the tongue weigh calc. I was using my phone and computed it incorrectly using just the rear axle change. Glad to hear it's handling much better. Safe travels!

 

[Joey Smith]

Thx!


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[shane_th_ee]

I ended up going to the cat scale again with my water tank empty, gas tank full and tried tightening up the tension further (almost 9 threads).

Numbers look better based on the feedback provided by people here.

I did have a minor question about how I am measuring the TV only though. Should I be measuring with the hitch ball removed from the TV? I had been leaving it on after disconnecting the TT and just leaving the sway chains and connector with the trailer but I was not removing my hitch ball from the truck (~25 lbs).

My new weights are:

TV Only
Steer Axle: 3140
Drive Axle: 3360
Trailer Axle: 0
Total Axle: 6500

TV + TT (No WDH)
Steer Axle: 2820
Drive Axle: 4300
Trailer Axle: 4900
Total Axle: 12020

TV + TT (8.75 threads)
Steer Axle: 3020
Drive Axle: 4100
Trailer Axle: 4960
Total Axle: 12080

I had been thinking my tongue weight was:
(2820+4300) - 6500 = 620lbs but now I am thinking it should be more like 645lbs if I should have weighed my TV only without the 25lb hitch ball.

Keep the ball and hitch installed in the truck for calculating the tongue weight.* Those numbers look a lot better to me, and it sounds like tows better, too! The only thing that gives me a little pause is the tongue weight is closer to 11% than the recommended 12-15%. Did you drive it on the interstate with lots of semi trucks and such at relatively high speeds?

*It counts against receiver weight (white sticker on the Expedition's receiver), but it's not part of the trailer tongue weight.

 

[Joey Smith]

Thanks for the input.

I also am wondering if the ~11% would be an issue. I have driven on the freeways but no interstate travel. Some trucks going by but I normally drive quite slow (55mph on freeways) so this may be part of why I have not observed issues much yet.

Is the primary problem with the 11% that sway may become more of a risk when driving faster?

I did recently try filling up my fresh water water tank (39 gallons - 323 lbs) and made sure both propane tanks were full (previously 1 was full and the other was 1/2 full) to see how it shifts and changes my weight measurements. I found that it had a surprisingly big effect on messing everything up.

After filling the water tank:

(For TV alone I used my slightly adjusted previous numbers as the only difference was the removal of a 45lb stove from the back of the Expy):
Steer Axle: 3140
Drive Axle: 3315
Total Axle: 6455

TV+TT (no WDH)
Steer Axle: 2880
Drive Axle: 4360
Trailer Axle: 5140
Total Axle: 12380

Without the water (but also with a little more food in the RV) the total was about 12020 so the difference roughly makes sense (360 lbs) due to my filled water tank and maybe some of the propane.

The tongue weight went up much more than I thought it would: 620 -> 780lbs.

I assume this means that my water tank is such that the weight is much more in the front as the ~320 pounds is causing my tongue weight to increase from 620 to 780 (160lbs!). It is still < 900 but I have not been able to tighten up the hitch to shift more weight to the front so far. I want to do that to bring the front down (and also give some more margin on the rear to open up some payload).

TV+TT (with WDH 8.75 threads):
Steer Axle: 2920
Drive Axle: 4280
Trailer Axle: 5160
Total Axle: 12360

After seeing this I started draining the fresh water tank to get the numbers back to where they were.

I re-read the instructions on adjusting the WDH (and spoke to Andersen). I realized that I needed to remove a few links from the chains in order to enable tightening up the tension further to shift the weight.

Just got the equipment to make adjustments to my tension but have not been able to try it and do a reweigh.

I am hoping the additional adjustments to the WDH will help redistribute the weight better.

Otherwise, I may need to keep the water tanks closer to empty when traveling. We have been just going to places with hookups recently so that might be alright until I figure out these adjustments...


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[JasonH]

I rarely travel with water in the tanks. Sometimes just a small amount so we can pee and flush. But we only camp with hookups because we're in the south and it's hot everywhere nearby. Water is heavy and will definitely change your tongue weight, as will full propane tanks. At 11%, you were at the lower end of that 10 - 15% tongue range before, so the water probably wouldn't push you out of that zone. But watch your payload, as the margins are small when you have a full load.

As an aside, I'm camping in Mora Valley, M right now. I pulled the trailer solo while my wife and daughter drove the car behind (we're leaving the car with my daughter). I drove around 65 - 70 the entire way, but the trailer was very stable up to 75+ when I passed on a couple of occasions. I salute you for trying to get the weights right. It makes a big difference.

 

[Joey Smith]

I rarely travel with water in the tanks. Sometimes just a small amount so we can pee and flush. But we only camp with hookups because we're in the south and it's hot everywhere nearby. Water is heavy and will definitely change your tongue weight, as will full propane tanks. At 11%, you were at the lower end of that 10 - 15% tongue range before, so the water probably wouldn't push you out of that zone. But watch your payload, as the margins are small when you have a full load.

As an aside, I'm camping in Mora Valley, M right now. I pulled the trailer solo while my wife and daughter drove the car behind (we're leaving the car with my daughter). I drove around 65 - 70 the entire way, but the trailer was very stable up to 75+ when I passed on a couple of occasions. I salute you for trying to get the weights right. It makes a big difference.

Thx!

Am curious to know your setup and weights if info is available (or maybe a pointer to a previous thread).

Thx again for the tips.


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