Load Leveling hitch for my Casita 17?

[Mike Magee]

I hope you weighed your trailer tongue with the trailer in ready-to-camp state. If it's more than 400 lbs, you could ruin the Fastway. Have a look at the hitch weights of 17' Casitas in this thread: http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...rld-43010.html I see some at 480 lbs and 560 lbs, for example. You really need to know what yours weighs with the battery, LP, water and gear loaded up.

The Fastway is a good unit. If I had read this thread sooner, I would have suggested the 6000/600 lb unit. Progress Mfg told me over the phone that there's no harm in going with heavier-than-necessary bars.

Any WD hitch should help smooth out your ride quite a bit on bumpy highways. I have had both an Equal-i-zer and an Andersen No-Sway, and I liked both but the Andersen seemed more pleasant to hook up and unhook IMO... light weight chains versus heavy bars.

[John in Santa Cruz]

for what its worth, my WDH is a 600lb version, with bent flat bars. I used way too much grease when I assembled it, and my grease gun had black moly grease in it, so its way messy around the spring bar pivots, I probably should take it apart and clean it, then use a light coat of white lithium or green marine grease next time.

"Eaz-Lift 48051 600 lbs Elite Bent Bar Weight Distributing Hitch with Adjustable Ball Mount and Shank" hmmm, one site says 75 lbs, but that may be including the saddles.

[TomE11]

I had a 600 lb easy lift in my hands, and I do believe the 75 pound number. It had a 2 5/8 ball and due to the way it was built, no way to change that, so I returned it.

The head assembly itself was rated at 14,000 pounds, which explanes the weight. I guess they just change the bars for different tongue weight ratings.

[TomE11]

Originally Posted by Rzrbrn

You may want to consider an Andersen WDH. Easy to work with and makes a difference, although I make certain I abide by the rules as stated above.

Well, the local Camping World seems to have issues. After selling me a unusable hitch (returned, no problem), then on attempt two, letting two weeks pass with them unable to tell me when the Fastway E2 hitch was going to arrive, I canceled the order. Bummer.

But in the meantime, based on Rzrbrn's recommendation I got to looking at the Anderson Weight Distribution Hitch. Earlier this week, I called the factory with a few questions, ordered the hitch from a recommended supplier in Hood River Or, and two days later, the hitch showed up at my front door.

I installed it today and drove around just in my street with it. As far as I can tell, this is a truly superior solution. Very light weight. No noise at all. I can adjust my various heights with a few turns of the two bolts. Right now, the trailer is within 3/4 inch of level, my truck's back wheel well is down 3/4 inch, and the front wheel well is down 1/2 inch! The truck and trailer are both within 3/4 inch of level. Good weight transfer, and it could be more if I was willing to let the front of the trailer come up a bit.

No noise at all. I can turn and back up freely. The hitch assembly is fairly light, I have not weighed it, but I can carry it with one hand, though I will use both hands to maneuver it. And I admit, I have a weakness for polished aluminum. :-)

I did take some pains with the installation. I cut the unused parts of the trailer frame clamps off so that I could get my propane tank covers back on. I did shorten the chains by three links. (They say I can shorten the chain up to 4 links.) It does hook up and remove easily, particularly since I have an electric jack on this trailer.

Color me happy!

I will let you guys know how it goes on our first trip in a couple of weeks.

Next task, hooking up the brakes and the trailer battery charging system.

[alan H]

Sounds like you got it working ... not sure if it is same on all leveling hitches
But on my dist hitch it clearly stated “ Do Not Backup “ with it attached
I don’t remember the name as I’ve sold the trailer

[Rzrbrn]

The Andersen says it is ok to back up. I welded mine on. I really should saw off the portion that sticks above the frame but it does not really hinder anything.

I also installed the Overtank Platform (Orbital Machine Works) and put a 3000 watt generator on top. I then had to install a side winding A Frame jack and a Jack-E-Up so I can drop my tail gate when hooked up.

The last time I weighed my tongue it was 435 lbs. But I really need to do it again after I load up the trailer. I can't believe it does not weight more than that. Maybe I read the scales wrong.

I made a mistake when outfitting my TV. I put on a fiberglass cap and a bed slide. The problem is they weight a lot, consequently I have little residual payload capacity. The minimum I take puts me at 450 lbs over my payload capacity, after I hitch up. I drive a 2011 Tundra 4x4 with tow package, 5.7L engine.

If I buy a replacement TV, I may just use an aluminum cap because of the light weight and no bed slide, as much as I like it.

I am thinking the best place to carry the generator is in the bed of the TV. One reason is weather protection. I am really leery of running the generator in the rain. But this would force me to buy one of those big 3/4 or 1 ton trucks, which I don't really want, or afford.

[John in Santa Cruz]

weight distributing hitches aren't a problem backing up. friction based sway control bars *can* be a problem, back up around a turn, and you can break it or seriously tweak things, somewhat before you jack-knife the rig

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by Rzrbrn

I am thinking the best place to carry the generator is in the bed of the TV. One reason is weather protection. I am really leery of running the generator in the rain.

The company I retired from had many trucks with Honda 3500s mounted on the tops of the service bed side boxes or in the beds out in the open and used with no problems in all kinds of weather. Of course no one really cared that they weren't shinny, only worked. Think the one in my truck was 20 years old and never missed a lick .

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Borrego Dave

The company I retired from had many trucks with Honda 3500s mounted on the tops of the service bed side boxes or in the beds out in the open and used with no problems in all kinds of weather. Of course no one really cared that they weren't shinny, only worked. Think the one in my truck was 20 years old and never missed a lick .

were those inverter generators? HUGE difference is loudness of the old conventional gens and the DC inverter gens.

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

were those inverter generators? HUGE difference is loudness of the old conventional gens and the DC inverter gens.

Nope, no inverters and the sound level wasn't an issue.

[k0wtz]

john I buy used stihl backpack blowers off ebay. first thing I ask do you have compression from the owners. if they answer yes I buy them in non-running condition either the magneto has rust on it or the electronics is fried that is cheap.


the reason for this if you watch is those lawn guys leave their stuff on trucks 24/7 usualy rain and snow on them. nothing can hold up to this I do a little work on them and resell them.


bob

[TomE11]

Ok, I got to wondering about that Anderson load leveling hitch. Specifically, I was wondering just how hard, exactly, it makes the coupler press forward on the hitch ball.

Here is a link, if you have not seen one before, it will make it a bit clearer where my head is going:

https://andersenhitches.com/Catalog/...ion-hitch.aspx

I have heard that some people are concerned about this, and with a heavy trailer, perhaps rightly.

So my first thought was "What else causes trailers to press forward on the hitch ball?" and I realized that there are two cases:

• When the TV brakes and the trailer has no brakes
• Any trailer with a surge brake during braking

So couplers, by design, must be able to take some of that "pressing forward on the hitch ball" stress.

Ok, then just how hard does the Anderson WD hitch make that coupler press forward? After some thought, and an experiment in my garage, I found that the up force on the coupler/ball combination is exactly equal to the "pull forward" force on the trailer generated by the leveling chains. In other words, if I have 400 pounds of tongue weight (for example) and I tighten the chains to bring the ball back to the unhitched height (400 pounds of up force) the chains have 400 pounds of tension, or 200 pounds each. In other words, the back part of the coupler, the part that moves when you latch it onto the ball, has 400 pounds of forward pressure when driving at a steady speed, or even when just sitting there in a parking lot.

Compared to braking stress, that's not a lot. It also explains why the chain's tightening nuts can be tightened by hand.

There, I feel a lot better now! :-) I hope you don't mind my long winded discussion!

[JB Mitt]

Here’s our vote in favor of the Fastway E2.

It does well to overcome a couple shortcomings of our ’09 Explorer— (1) it’s short wheelbase, and (2) because of it’s goofy rear struts, there’s basically no way to bolster the rear suspension for load leveling. There are no airbags or springs available.

We pull an Escape 19. Very stable pulling with the E2 (600# trunnion), even with 50 mph side gusts in the Texas panhandle and getting passed by 85 mph semis.

[Rzrbrn]

Thanks for the analysis Tom, very interesting.

Tha Andersen also takes care of sway, although my Tundra has trailer sway control, so hard to tell which is dominate.

Also, I have not used anything else so can't compare it to any other type of WDH. It is just that I notice a difference when it is hooked up.

When I had a blowout on the trailer it was so stable that my wife had to tell me the tire was gone. I first thought it was a gunshot.

[TomE11]

Rzrbrn,

Do you notice any wear on the coupler or ball?

[Rzrbrn]

Tom,
I just went out to look at it. I do not see any wearing of the ball, although the backside (closest to the trailer) does have a little rust on it. It has been sitting since about mid Nov. I would say the front side looks polished. I keep it greased.

But then I have only towed the Casita about 15,000 miles or so, mostly in the
Rockies. I live in TN.

[TomE11]

Henry,

Thanks. 15,000 miles with no significant wear, towing a Casita, well, that pretty much answers my questions. Whatever the analysis, it works and is reasonably durable.

It is easy to hitch up, I can tell you that. I have bad memories of my parent's heavy EasyLift hitch. The manual crank on my parent's trailer tongue did not help things either!

I think this will work a lot better.

Tom

[MC1]

Originally Posted by TomE11

My wife and I are the proud new owners of a 2002 Casita 17, with a lot of bells and whistles. It seems to have all the goodies.

I am towing it with my 2012 Toyota Tacoma X-Runner, Toyota's sport truck version of the Tacoma. Tom

Re WDH for your rig. Don't leave home without one.

PS.. Be sure the WDH and the rest of the connection hardware is set up and installed correctly.

[Dorrps]

Originally Posted by TomE11

Well, the local Camping World seems to have issues. After selling me a unusable hitch (returned, no problem), then on attempt two, letting two weeks pass with them unable to tell me when the Fastway E2 hitch was going to arrive, I canceled the order. Bummer.

But in the meantime, based on Rzrbrn's recommendation I got to looking at the Anderson Weight Distribution Hitch. Earlier this week, I called the factory with a few questions, ordered the hitch from a recommended supplier in Hood River Or, and two days later, the hitch showed up at my front door.

I installed it today and drove around just in my street with it. As far as I can tell, this is a truly superior solution. Very light weight. No noise at all. I can adjust my various heights with a few turns of the two bolts. Right now, the trailer is within 3/4 inch of level, my truck's back wheel well is down 3/4 inch, and the front wheel well is down 1/2 inch! The truck and trailer are both within 3/4 inch of level. Good weight transfer, and it could be more if I was willing to let the front of the trailer come up a bit.

No noise at all. I can turn and back up freely. The hitch assembly is fairly light, I have not weighed it, but I can carry it with one hand, though I will use both hands to maneuver it. And I admit, I have a weakness for polished aluminum. :-)

I did take some pains with the installation. I cut the unused parts of the trailer frame clamps off so that I could get my propane tank covers back on. I did shorten the chains by three links. (They say I can shorten the chain up to 4 links.) It does hook up and remove easily, particularly since I have an electric jack on this trailer.

Color me happy!

I will let you guys know how it goes on our first trip in a couple of weeks.

Next task, hooking up the brakes and the trailer battery charging system.

It sounds like you installed the frame clamps in front of the tanks. Is there a problem with the clamps sliding? This looks like an easy system for DIY. My local RV place told me my Casita would need to have the tank bracket removed, raised and rewelded.
Do you have photos of your installation?
Thanks.

17’ Casita, 2017

[Rzrbrn]

I welded my Andersen on behind the tanks and lengthened the chains. Andersen guy said that is ok to do and the longer the chain the better, up to a point.

However I read that Mr. Andersen and his family defaced Corona Arch by carving their name into it, so I won't buy their products anymore. Unfortunately it it welded on so I will continue to use it. Won't put it on the next trailer I buy however.