Bow Shackle on Anderson Hitch Goes Bye Bye

[Cort]

I pulled into a spot outside of Vegas and was surprised to see the right chain of the Anderson hitch lying on the ground! The bow shackle holding the triangle plate to the chain had disappeared. Not seeing any scoring on the chain I thought it might have dropped off on the dirt road. Sure enough there the shackle without the pain on an incline coming up from a severe dip in the road. It was bent open pretty nicely. (Never found the pin.)

Could I have tightened the Anderson hitch too far down or did it just happen? The hitch is 5 years old. 

I was able to find some bow shackles on Amazon. 

Edited May 13 by Cort

[Geronimo John]

9 minutes ago, Cort said:

Could I have tightened the Anderson hitch too far down or did it just happen? The hitch is 5 years old. 

Cort:

Yes possibly.  

• How many threads do you travel with on your chain end "studs" and nuts?  
• Has the Anderson chain anchors been moved from that which was set up by OTT?

For a less capable tow vehicle I used for a year (2005 Toyota Sequoia with truck frame), I need 7 threads of tightness from the OTT setup.  When I went into rough conditions, I always loosened them up to 2-3 threads.  Reason was that in a dip, the geometry of the Anderson will significantly tighten to an extreme level if I did not. 

You likely are experiencing the same situation, but well beyond my incident. 

GJ

For 

GJ

[Mike and Carol]

It’s been a few years since I used an Andersen with my Oliver, but I remember once, at a stop, noticing that the pin on the shackle had come unscrewed.  It was still partially in the shackle and had not fallen off.  Once screwed back in all was well.  The other pin was not fully screwed in.  I made it a habit to regularly check that those pins were securely screwed into the shackle.  Mike

[Cort]

Thanks - Good idea. 

[Cort]

1 hour ago, Geronimo John said:

Cort:

Yes possibly.  

• How many threads do you travel with on your chain end "studs" and nuts?  
• Has the Anderson chain anchors been moved from that which was set up by OTT?

For a less capable tow vehicle I used for a year (2005 Toyota Sequoia with truck frame), I need 7 threads of tightness from the OTT setup.  When I went into rough conditions, I always loosened them up to 2-3 threads.  Reason was that in a dip, the geometry of the Anderson will significantly tighten to an extreme level if I did not. 

You likely are experiencing the same situation, but well beyond my incident. 

GJ

For 

GJ

there have been times when the plate was at an angle that one side had more threads than the other. I probably should have checked that after I drove a bit and readjusted.  I think it was probably tighter than usual this trip. 

[Steph and Dud B]

We don't have an Anderson, but we do use bow shackles on the truck for the safety chains. Not sure how yours were installed but at the start of every season I give our pins a quick little torque with a pair of pliers. I don't think finger tight is good enough to keep the pins in.

[Jim and Chris Neuman]

A little anti-sieze compound in the threads will make checking the shackle pins easier in the future as well as protect from corrosion.  Follow that up by siezing shackle pin to the shackle with a bit of light stainless wire and the potential for having this happen again in the future will be eliminated.  Shackle pins can and will back out given the opportunity unless lashed in place.  Even better is monel wire as it can be re-used more readily than stainless.

[Geronimo John]

5 hours ago, Mike and Carol said:

It’s been a few years since I used an Andersen with my Oliver, but I remember once, at a stop, noticing that the pin on the shackle had come unscrewed.  It was still partially in the shackle and had not fallen off.  Once screwed back in all was well.  The other pin was not fully screwed in.  I made it a habit to regularly check that those pins were securely screwed into the shackle.

For sure.  Also tie a strong string thru the pin , shackle body and chain.  If it falls out, you'll at least have the pin and shackle tied to your moving rig.

[SNY SD UP]

I had a  'looseness' one time, the pin was at least a full turn out, but still there.
I ran 'Bailing Wire' thru the eye of the pin, and then did a wrap around above the threaded end of the Pin & Shackle with the wire.

We now tow with a 3/4 T. and w/o the Anderson.  

B~Out,

 

[jd1923]

It may be the photo, but the shackle looks bent. If so, perhaps that side was overtightened.

BTW, number of threads will vary rig to rig and even left to right, since for them to be exactly the same, the installation point of the rear brackets must be identical which likely is not the case.

I always check the tension a few blocks down the road. Drive exactly straight for a say 100 yards, stop and check. You want the tension to feel tight, not overly tight. I kick each side and watch the vibration, and even listen to the pitch of each chain (must have good ears). Like a guitar string, shorter vibration stroke or higher pitch is tighter. Try to even out the tension regardless of number of threads, but once you get it down you should know how many threads works for you on each side. 

[Geronimo John]

14 hours ago, jd1923 said:

It may be the photo, but the shackle looks bent. If so, perhaps that side was overtightened.

CH says maybe not.

14 hours ago, jd1923 said:

Try to even out the tension regardless of number of threads, but once you get it down you should know how many threads works for you on each side. 

CH says that the whale plate is part of the ball shaft that is part of the ball.  The assembly is not fixed to the Anderson receiver as it turn in a white material that is a friction cone.  This friction cone is what some people need for sway.

As such, Nope.  You can tighten one side 7 threads and the other 1 thread and the friction cone will average the forces on the two chains.  

CH 

[Geronimo John]

1 minute ago, Geronimo John said:

As such, Nope.  You can tighten one side 7 threads and the other 1 thread and the friction cone will average the forces on the two chains. 

For newer Anderson users:  Let's assume you know what your target threads are to get the load transfer you need.  The number is your number, what ever it is.  I'll call it Z threads on each side.

By now you probably know that If you back Ollie in at an angle to your site, getting the Anderson hooked back up can be a PITA.  But some times you have no choice.  Un hook with no worries.    You will notice that your whale plate will be at an angle to the TV.

When leaving, raise you Bulldog by raising it using your front jack which you have put some blocks under the jack foot. 

Then hook up one or both of your chains if you can.  Do not worry about thread counts.  But if you can get one side tightened to Z threads that would be grand.  If only one, secure the loose chain.

Depart the camp site for a larger stress free area.  Then turn your TV so as to have the tight chain pull the whale plate around far enough that you can get the other chain hooked up.

Then adjust the big nuts to Z on both sides.  

Ideally you do want both chains to be Z. This lets you do very hard right and left turns.  If not reasonably close to Z, you will put the system into a bind and hopefully you only break the Shackle. Also, if going into difficult terrain be sure to loosen both nuts to allow the trailer and TV to ride over big humps/dips without causing damage.

Hope this is helpful

GJ 

 

[Cort]

On 5/13/2024 at 5:41 PM, Steph and Dud B said:

We don't have an Anderson, but we do use bow shackles on the truck for the safety chains. Not sure how yours were installed but at the start of every season I give our pins a quick little torque with a pair of pliers. I don't think finger tight is good enough to keep the pins in.

Good idea! Never would have thought of that. 

[Cort]

17 hours ago, jd1923 said:

It may be the photo, but the shackle looks bent. If so, perhaps that side was overtightened.

BTW, number of threads will vary rig to rig and even left to right, since for them to be exactly the same, the installation point of the rear brackets must be identical which likely is not the case.

I always check the tension a few blocks down the road. Drive exactly straight for a say 100 yards, stop and check. You want the tension to feel tight, not overly tight. I kick each side and watch the vibration, and even listen to the pitch of each chain (must have good ears). Like a guitar string, shorter vibration stroke or higher pitch is tighter. Try to even out the tension regardless of number of threads, but once you get it down you should know how many threads works for you on each side. 

Thanks! That's my experience as well - the two sides of the chain do not match up - thanks for the suggestion 🙂