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Andersen WDH Ball Hitch Pin has rotated out of proper alignment with Triangle Plate Pin Holes


SNY SD UP

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I believe i have seen this addressed before; however search does not reveal key words.  So if someone knows when where it was addressed, that would be fine.

We have been on the road, on our way down to LGSP, to meet up with all of you.

Along the way, I have made some rather elementary 3-point turn arounds, when I did not listen/understand the Navigator… but nothing really tight like 90° Truck vs. Ollie…

When hitching up at our last stop, I noticed that the Andersen triangle plate holes were not aligning with the hole at the bottom of the ball hitch. 

I have attached a pic, to show.  Note the hitch is in the receiver upside-down  to better show my issue.  You can see how much it has turned.  It may have even turned more since I first discovered my issue.

I am able to hitch up, but only if I come in at an angle. 

I have not made any adjustments to the ball hitch itself, and will not, until I know that is the proper way to correct.  And I have not taken a “breaker-bar” inserted it into the pin hole and tried to turn it back to center.

After you stop R-O-F-L’g, please let me know how to correct.

 

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Maggie & Bryan | Arnegard, ND | 2020 LE II "Twins" Hull #665 | 2021 RAM 2500  6.4L HEMI Gasser  4dr  6.5' bed

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The angle that the “pin” in your photo is cocked at the angle that the camper was at in relationship to you TV when you unhooked it....

you can either back up to the trailer so the front of the Camper is “square” in relationship to that pin, or remove the pin, insert something ( I think the handle that can be used to lower the jacks if the fuse blows can work) in that hole and spin it til it’s back parallel with your tailgate... then back into hitch up as straight as possible. 

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Mark & Deb..2020 Elite II..Dearie..Hull #685..2016 Tundra

 

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SNY - 

Imagine (if you will) what you are looking at in the picture above is the bottom of a shaft.  The other end of that shaft is the ball.  This shaft rotates inside of the "housing" that is the other silver colored part that then, in turn, is attached to the dark grey/black part that goes into your receiver.  This shaft virtually constantly rotates inside this shaft as you go down the road and the Ollie swings one way and the other as you make turns with your tow vehicle.

So, there are several ways of "correcting" this issue but the simplest is to re-attach the tow vehicle and the Ollie at the same angle that you detached them.  If that is not possible then simply detach the Andersen chain from the Oliver (wrap it around the tongue area for the time being)  that will not "stretch" enough to allow you to fit the triangle plate to the bottom of the "shaft".  Drive the tow vehicle a short distance turning such that the one chain is now tight and then re-attach the other chain.  Or, you can use the "breaker-bar" method you mentioned.

HERE is the Andersen You Tube video on this subject.

Bill

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2023 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5EB FX4 Max Towing, Max Payload, 2016 Oliver Elite II - Hull #117 "Twist"

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Hitching up to a heavy trailer with the tow vehicle at a severe angle will ALWAYS be very frustrating, because instead of worrying about just one axis (front to back) you have to struggle with a second one (side to side).

When you reverse the TV straight back, the side to side part becomes irrelevant, or at least very small. Move back, when the ball is under the coupler,  lower the coupler, make a little front to back adjustment with the TV, maybe kick the hitch or tongue slightly to shift it, clunk, it falls into place.

At a severe angle, the slightest motion throws the ball out of alignment in TWO directions. The ball won’t drop down, or else the arm will not latch in place, and the slightest movement of the TV throws it all out of whack again. I spent fifteen minutes hooking up at the last site, which was a very short pull-through with a really tight curve. If I cannot avoid such a site in the future I will remove the whaletail and let it dangle from a 12” bungee cord while I maneuver into position, so the pin hole does not get cocked. When hitching, straighten out the rig and install the whaletail.

I hope that made sense. What I described is true for any hitch, but the Andersen with its rotating pin makes things ten times worse. It can be a very frustrating piece of equipment even for somebody who has used one for years. I hate it.

John Davies

Spokane WA

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SOLD 07/23 "Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 32” LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel, Maggiolina Grand Tour 360 Carbon RTT.

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To all who commented; THANK  YOU.  i thought i was pretty straight when i unhooked.  will do as suggested, starting with least aggressive.  We leave a really nice HH (New Berlin, IL)  site in the morning.  we will share more later.  then onto KY for a couple of days, then LGSP.  looking fwd to placing names with faces. 

 

Maggie (SNYSDUP) & Bryan (Scrambled...) . 

Maggie & Bryan | Arnegard, ND | 2020 LE II "Twins" Hull #665 | 2021 RAM 2500  6.4L HEMI Gasser  4dr  6.5' bed

ABBCMBNBNTNSONPEQCSKYTALARCTDEFLGAILINIAKSKYLAMEMDMAMIMNMSMONENHNJNYNCNDOHOKPARISCSDTNTXVTVAWVWIxlg.jpg.d41b39fcf844ad1935d35acdc8a6c203.jpg

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When this has happened to me, I have used a monkey wrench connected to where the whaletail connects and straighten out the position of the hitch pin.

2018 Oliver Elite II, Twin Bed, Hull #354 

2024 RAM 1500, 4 x 4; Gas. 5.7L V8 Hemi MDS VVT Torque; 3.21 rear axle ratio

Maine 

 

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11 hours ago, dewdev said:

I have used a monkey wrench connected to where the whaletail connects and straighten out the position of the hitch pin

Be a bit careful with that "monkey wrench" in that you don't want to bugger up either the shaft or the pin or the housing while you're monkeying around down there.

The lug wrench that was supplied by Oliver at delivery almost perfectly fits into the whale tail pin hole and can be used to rotate the shaft into the position you need it.

Bill

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2023 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5EB FX4 Max Towing, Max Payload, 2016 Oliver Elite II - Hull #117 "Twist"

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I think the Andersen ball mount would greatly benefit from a steel 1/2” square drive receptacle embedded in the very bottom of the lower part, because you could insert the tool you use for tightening the nuts or a long breaker bar…. Using a steel wrench or (poorly fitting) bar through the pin hole will likely cause the soft aluminum to become scarred or distorted after a while. If you do this, it would be prudent to bring along a big coarse file to fix the damage.

OK, this is too funny, I am using my iPhone now and the spell checker changed “wrench” to “weird RV”, then when I fixed that it changed it again to “nacho”…. I turned that feature off on my iPad LONG ago but it has much bigger letters on its virtual keyboard. I think hitting the space bar instead of one of the lower letters really confuses it. I should just forget about the phone for posting, except as source for party jokes. Have a nice day. 

John Davies

Spokane WA

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SOLD 07/23 "Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 32” LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel, Maggiolina Grand Tour 360 Carbon RTT.

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