WDH - wife friendly
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Forum Name: I need HELP!!!
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URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=14461
Printed Date: 08 Jun 2025 at 9:29am
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Topic: WDH - wife friendly
Posted By: deanj
Subject: WDH - wife friendly
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2021 at 9:52am
O.K this is a tough one. We settled on the Blue Ox system, until my wife saw how you had to but the bars on, not comfortable with doing it, same as a few others. So we are now looking at the Andeson system, any one using that can give input. She does not mind using a wrench and tape measure. And not comfortable using the tongue jack. 2019 F150 V8 tow package, 2021 180
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S y D
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Replies:
Posted By: EchoGale
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2021 at 12:05pm
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I use the Anderson for exactly these reasons. I had one rule when I bought the camper. There would be nothing that I could not do by myself. The Anderson was more expensive than other choices but it was chosen under that rule.
First, it's lighter than most. The hitch itself is still heavy and I don't put it in the receiver when there is someone else to do it...but I can. After that there really aren't tools involved and it's all pretty easy. A few things were done when it was first set up but don't have to be done every time (like positioning the brackets that hold the chains. A few things I found difficult at first got easier with practice (like putting the plate in place is easier if you raise the lift and create play in the chains.
One thing that is tricky is that if you detach the trailer at an angle to the TV you either need to reattach it at the same angle (I think the easiest solution) or you'll need to straighten the plate before you can attach both chains. There are good videos on how to do this.
I have an electric tongue jack. Buy her one for early Christmas. :)
Happy to answer an specific questions you have.
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Julie
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Posted By: Skip
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2021 at 1:55pm
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Love our Anderson for the easy on/ off, more money but worth it
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Camper owner 47 years, 2 tents, 6 trailers seem to think I’ve seen it all!
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Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2021 at 3:15pm
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The fastway E2 goes on with absolutely no force at all. The biggest problem with these systems is knowing how to use them. The E2 is installed as follows. Once you have lowered the tongue onto the ball, and locked it in, you should now begin jacking it back up. You will actually start lifting the tow vehicle (the body will raise up, not the tires). This will first of all, tell you that you are absolutely locked onto the hitch. And secondly, it will make it so the spring bars simply just drop onto the cleats on the tongue. That easy, no lie. You will have room to lift the bar a 1/4 of an inch above the cleat and let it drop onto it. I use the square spring bars, not sure if the round bars work this way. I have never ever had to force a spring bar on, or off. Good luck with whatever decision you make.
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2017.5 Rp-172
2020 R-pod 195
2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl
I'll be rpodding
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Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2021 at 3:49pm
+1 to mjlpod. Our round bar works the same.
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2021 at 8:21pm
Any wdh will have the load off the tensioning system when you raise the connected hitch enough. That is after all the purpose of the wdh, to raise the hitch by creating tension somewhere. OTOH there is no way to connect a trailer and tow vehicle without operating the Jack.
So +1 to EchoGale, get an electric jack and see if your wife can become comfortable using it. If she can then probably any wdh will work for her.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: SC for Huskers
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2021 at 8:42pm
+1 electric jack, first then the WDH.
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Happy Traveling,
Tom
2017 172pod
2011 F150 STX
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Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2021 at 11:25am
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+6
If you have an electric tongue jack, installing the WDH requires virtually no effort.
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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Posted By: EchoGale
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2021 at 11:31am
Friendly disagree, GlueGuy. Small hands mean every part is hard to handle. I definitely bang myself up with cuts (if I forget gloves) and sometimes bruises. If I'm making a short trip on secondary roads I skip it because it's easier.
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Julie
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Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2021 at 11:34am
Then I am going to speculate that you're doing something wrong. When done properly all it takes is the pinky finger of your left hand to rotate the bar into place. No tools required.
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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Posted By: EchoGale
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2021 at 12:00pm
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There are no "bars" so I don't know what you are referring to but I am saying the whole process of using my WDH is harder for me than you might believe.
Carrying the hitch itself from my garage to the receiver on my SUV is an ordeal. It is heavy. Holding it exactly right to put it into the receiver is hard because it is heavy and I have to lean into an awkward position to see if it's lined up. The plate and the chains are heavy. And every part of this definitely takes both of my hands. It's not always easy to get the plate holes and the hitch holes lined up to be able to easily get the pin inserted because I have to hold multiple things at once, each of which you might be able to easily hold with one hand but I cannot.
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Julie
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Posted By: deanj
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2021 at 12:46pm
Have electric tongue jack. My concern was weight in general. She was fine towing our 5th wheel with our F350 dually. We have always had a rule that if anything happened to me she could at least get home, knowing the fundamentals, this applied to our boats as well.
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S y D
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Posted By: lostagain
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2021 at 12:51pm
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EchoGale, you may want to take a look at the Fastway e2. Though the head is heavy and awkward to lift, the bars weigh 11 pounds and are easy to manage, as opposed to plates and chains. My solution to the heavy head is to leave it on the truck during camping season with a locking retainer pin [I'm not sure of the technical name] so someone doesn't borrow it. The bars are pretty easy to lift into position and are held in by a little flat retainer spring that you lift to release with one finger, while holding onto the bar with the other hand. To put the bars into position to effortlessly set them on the L brackets on the trailer tongue, you use an electric jack to lift the tongue until the bars clear the brackets, then drop in and lock the bar retainer thingies. My wife, who is just a tad over 100 lbs. can easily hook up the Fastway e2. Also, there are after market bar retainers that have a clip that is spring loaded that locks them onto the L bracket.
The hitch comes with a lever bar to use to place the spring bars, but it is not really needed if you use your tongue jack properly.
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
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Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2021 at 5:00pm
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For any of the hitches that have a heavy hitch head, look into getting a Hitch Grip. It will make things a whole lot easier.
https://smile.amazon.com/HitchGrip-HG712-Hitch-Coupling-Trailers/dp/B00HSO37B0/ - https://smile.amazon.com/HitchGrip-HG712-Hitch-Coupling-Trailers/dp/B00HSO37B0/
It worked great with the Equal-i-zer hitch. I gave it to my daughter when I gave her the hitch. I got another one to help with the Hensley Cub hitch, although it does not work quite so well because of the articulation which throws the balance off. However, it does work well enough to still be very useful.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...
http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2021 at 5:22pm
EchoGale, all wdh’s have to have some spring action, if it lifted the tongue and rear axle of your TV without being able to flex it would put a huge stress on your trailer and tv frame (and itself) when you went through a low spot or went over a bump. Most wdh’s do this with flexing spring bars that are under tension once installed. In the case of your Andersen wdh this is accomplished by urethane springs which compress to allow the chains to take the stresses.
One thing you might want to do is just leave the hitch in your receiver so you don’t have to take it on and off all the time. I agree they are heavy. Mine is on my Highlander most of the time because it seems I’m dragging around one of my trailers every few days. I got tired of constantly taking it on and off. It’s really not in the way of anything because I never need to parallel park in my area.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: EchoGale
Date Posted: 15 Mar 2021 at 10:27am
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Thanks for all the suggestions! I think I have it managed now with practice (and I do have someone put the hitch in the receiver for me and leave it there locked).
I was merely explaining why it's harder (for us little people) and OP's wife is reasonable to care about the choice.
As always though, appreciate the helpful ideas.
It's completely doable but it is the hardest part for me but practice has helped a lot.
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Julie
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Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 15 Mar 2021 at 1:03pm
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Sorry you're having such a time with your WDH. I was speaking specifically about our fastway E2, and how easy it is to hook up. Except for the hitch head, which I think will be a common issue for any WDH. But putting the bars on and off is really, (really) easy.
Which hitch are you using? It would be helpful for the rest of us to know.
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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Posted By: deanj
Date Posted: 15 Mar 2021 at 8:17pm
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[QUOTE=GlueGuy]Sorry you're having such a time with your WDH. I was speaking specifically about our fastway E2, and how easy it is to hook up. Except for the hitch head, which I think will be a common issue for any WDH. But putting the bars on and off is really, (really) easy.
Which hitch are you using? It would be helpful for the rest of us to know.
Who are you directing the question too ? The original poster (me) or Julie ?
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S y D
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Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 16 Mar 2021 at 10:33am
Originally posted by Echogale
Thanks for all the suggestions! I think I have it managed now with practice (and I do have someone put the hitch in the receiver for me and leave it there locked).
I was merely explaining why it's harder (for us little people) and OP's wife is reasonable to care about the choice.
As always though, appreciate the helpful ideas.
It's completely doable but it is the hardest part for me but practice has helped a lot. |
Originally posted by GlueGuy
Sorry you're having such a time with your WDH. I was speaking specifically about our fastway E2, and how easy it is to hook up. Except for the hitch head, which I think will be a common issue for any WDH. But putting the bars on and off is really, (really) easy.
Which hitch are you using? It would be helpful for the rest of us to know. |
Originally posted by deanj
Who are you directing the question too ? The original poster (me) or Julie ? |
I was speaking to EchoGale (AKA Julie)
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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Posted By: EchoGale
Date Posted: 16 Mar 2021 at 10:47am
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Hi GlueGuy, I'm not really having trouble.
The OP asked about the Anderson, which I use (see the beginning of the thread). I shared some of the plusses and minuses and when you suggested that the difficulties were a result of me just not doing it right I tried to explain that that's not the case.
As I understand it, the Anderson is the lightest of them and, with practice, I've been able to learn to use it effectively though there are still aspects that are hard.
Thanks for trying to help, though.
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Julie
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