Hitch Concerns

[Tony192]

Hello, I am the new kid here. I just bought the 2021 Bigfoot 25 RT with front box and the new Theater Seats. The dealer installed a Equalizer 14,000 lb. hitch. I find it HEAVY and LOUD and overall hard to deal with. I hate that thing. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the Andersen Hitch. It looks very simple and easy to use. Any help at all is greatly appreciated. So, Thank You for helping.

[Tony192]

I forgot to say Ford F-150 4x4 3.5 ecoboost tow pkg.

[AC0GV]

Originally Posted by Tony192

Hello, I am the new kid here. I just bought the 2021 Bigfoot 25 RT with front box and the new Theater Seats. The dealer installed a Equalizer 14,000 lb. hitch. I find it HEAVY and LOUD and overall hard to deal with. I hate that thing. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the Andersen Hitch. It looks very simple and easy to use. Any help at all is greatly appreciated. So, Thank You for helping.

What Anderson hitch? Any are a good product. What is the weight of the RV? I would guess 8 – 9 K. While over kill you have a good safety margin. If towing in the mountains, you will like that. Around Indiana you could go lighter. Also, do you have a lot of “sag” when you hook up? My f150 rides better than my Lincoln, but the hitch sags a couple of inches when I hook up.

[Tony192]

No sag. My truck and trailer are pretty level.

[Raspy]

An Anderson came with my Oliver, and I refused to use the ridiculous thing. I just don't like the design.

Some use and like them, but many of those have Olivers, and the Anderson is the only one that fits without cutting fiberglass. That attribute doesn't mean it is a good functional design, only that it fits.

Others complain about how tedious they are to hook up.

[Tony192]

What do you use now?

[Raspy]

I don’t use one. And sometimes air bags are a better choice than a WDH. Fortunately, my truck can handle the trailer tongue weight.

[redbarron55]

I don't know what exactly was delivered, but the bars need to be matched to your trailer. It sounds like the hitch is plenty heavy, but what about the bars?

[Tony192]

I can only say that they are so heavy I have trouble lifting them out of my truck.

[redbarron55]

I have no idea what the requirements for the Bigfoot might be and calling the manufacturer may be in order.
If they delivered bars for that full 15K lbs then they are way too stiff.
The highest hitch weight (average) is 610 lbs.
Here is a link to the Equal-i-zer web site to calculate the hitch you need.
When you say dealer are you talking about the Bigfoot dealer or truck dealer?
Either way I think you have the wrong hitch for your setup, but I could not say for sure.

[Tony192]

The hitch came from the camper dealer.

[Bruce Olive]

Camped a bunch with some friends who had an Andersen on their Oliver. He was always in the dirt adjusting things to get it hooked up. Looked like a total PITA to me. I have an Equalizer on my Bigfoot. Tongue weight on CAT scales is 1,24O# , which is typical. 1400# bars seem a little heavy to me. Adds about a minute to hookup or disconnect once you get the hang of it.

[Tony192]

Thank You, I admit that I am new to this. I’m sure that once I use it a few times it will get better.........I hope.

[redbarron55]

If you hook up the ball and then jack the front of the trailer to ease the hook up that will help. Make sure that you don't park the rig where the front of the truck is uphill as well as the rear of the trailer as this will make hooking up difficult.
You should also do some research on adjusting the bars for the proper setup for your trailer as evidently your dealer failed to do the proper thing and spend some time with you to get everything right after he had the check.

[Kevin A]

I don’t know if you can return the hitch and get a refund, but the ProPride hitch is the absolutely best WDH/sway hitch on the market. Pricey, yes, but you just purchased an expensive trailer. The ProPride will help you enjoy it, without having to lift heavy bars out of your truck all the time.

[Phil and Julie]

Have an Andersen and wouldn't use anything else. I had to have something light. Bought one for my Casita. When I switched up to a 19 ft Escape, an Andersen was already bolted on and I was thrilled.
Do a search on the Escape and Casita forums if there isn't much here. I know they have tons of threads on the Andersen. People I respect on both forums use and like the Andersen.
Anderson has a loyal following. Lightweight and quiet.
People have strong opinions abt their WDH's. Some customers can't stand them and others wouldn't use anything else. I'm in the latter category.

[tractors1]

2014 Escape 21 with a tongue of 440 lbs; absolutely love the Anderson over my last one with the bars.



Takes a few trips to learn the nuances of hooking up. I always raise my trailer to the top of the jack as that creates some slack in the chains, spin the nuts under the tongue to the rearmost to create more slack, then drop onto the ball and hand tighten the nuts back. Usually no more than a turn or two with a socket wrench needed to get 6 threads showing in my case.


Then I raise the tongue back up until I pick up the rear of my truck a bit - if not secure, the tongue will pop off the ball while I'm still parked. Much safer to KNOW you've done it right!


No heavy bars and no grease.............

[Tony192]

Thank You

[Lauren in Colorado]

Originally Posted by Bruce Olive

I have an Equalizer on my Bigfoot. Tongue weight on CAT scales is 1,24O# , which is typical. 1400# bars seem a little heavy to me. Adds about a minute to hookup or disconnect once you get the hang of it.

Ditto on this. We had a Curt WDH on our previous trailer that was a complete PITA with chains over bars and having a separate sway bar - I had a really hard time with it & usually relied on my other half to get it hooked up. And having to remove the sway bar whenever we backed up? Ugh.

On our 25RQ, we have the Equalizer E2 (can't remember what our bars are rated for - but we did ask them to upgrade from the 600 or 800 lb bars since we knew so many people were reporting 1000-1200 tongue weights on the 25RQ's with front storage boxes) and it's night & day for us. I could easily hook up/unhook this one on my own if I had to. And is so much faster. And no removing a sway bar when backing up! :-)

[Carol and Mike]

Originally Posted by tractors1

2014 Escape 21 with a tongue of 440 lbs; absolutely love the Anderson over my last one with the bars.

Takes a few trips to learn the nuances of hooking up. I always raise my trailer to the top of the jack as that creates some slack in the chains, spin the nuts under the tongue to the rearmost to create more slack, then drop onto the ball and hand tighten the nuts back.

I agree with Charlie on this one. I’ve been using the Andersen for almost 5 years. It only takes a minute or two to hook up once you understand how it works. Mike