Andersen Levelers Boo Boo

[NewGuy]

Had a bit of a harrowing experience at the RV park today. Had to relocate my trailer to a new spot and was curious if I would need to use my new Andersen Levelers. After backing in, I checked for level and indeed had to bring one side up a bit. I placed the levelers at the front of the two tires and up she went. Figured all was good, except… I forgot to chock behind the tires. I’m sure you can guess what comes next…

As I’m raising the jack to unhitch the trailer, everything is looking fine. I use one of those little camco cones, rather than just the foot that comes with the jack. I have a Husky Centerline hitch which requires you to raise the trailer high enough to release the sway bars. One side comes off without an issue, but I had to wrestle with the other side a bit as my truck was not quite straight to the trailer (I know this is a mistake). Once unhooked, I continue to lift the trailer off the ball when, all of a sudden, my trailer lurches backwards, the cone kicks out, and my trailer slams straight down onto the pavement, stopping on the partially extended jack shaft. (Ironically, I think having the cone prevented the jack from dragging, which probably would have bent the shaft)

In hindsight, the trailer simply rolled back off the levelers after being unhitched. After about a ten minute panic, I collected my thoughts and rehitched the trailer, starting the process over, making sure to chock both sides of my trailer before releasing the hitch off my truck.

If this happened at a campsite with soft earth, I would have been dead meat. That shaft surely would have dug down deep enough to make recovery difficult or impossible.

Related or not, I think I’ve seen enough with this Husky hitch. It’s a pain in the butt to handle and I’m just not comfortable with it. Operator error was clearly the issue here, but lack of confidence with my equipment contributed some. Curious if all the hitches out there are as cumbersome to use.

Probably will never chock my tires enough to feel 100% confident, but I will chock, chock, chock, from now on.

Jim

 

[triplethreat]

Lessons learned.....we've all had them. Just be thankful no real damage done. Can you imagine being park on a sloped site and the trailer starts rolling backwards towards an immovable object like a tree....or maybe into a creek behind your camping spot.......or even another truck or trailer. It certainly could have been a lot worse!

 

[Ynot4me2]

Glad things turned out for the best. Mishaps happens to many of us. Your exact same situation almost happen to me just this past summer. Quick last minutes weekend get away after a rough 2 weeks at work. Wife got a nice spot at a cg with a pond right behind our lot. Wasn't even pull in and our neighbor was out wanting to help but was mostly just looking for new friends to share his family history, medical situation, career path..... you know the type. As I got the trailer to where I wanted he was quick to point out the obvious that our site stopped towards the pond and then continued yapping. As I was unhitching and trying my very best to ignore him and concentrate on what I was doing, removed both bars of our Center Line, lowered, unclipped the hitch and the realized that I wasn't choked. Came real close. I then promised myself never to get distracted ever again. Scared the bejesus out of me.

I don't like our Husky Centerline as I find to noisy. It works as advertised for distribution and sway but it's just noisy. We turn heads when pulling in and out of places. But with most if not all wdh you'll have to raise and lower to remove either bars or chains.

Sent from my SM-P610 using Tapatalk

 

[WhittleBurner]

Ever since our first trailer (Aliner pop up) started to roll on us once the chocks are the first thing that happens after we park before we unhitch. Even if we are on level ground. IF we ever upgrade to auto level it still will be the first thing on the set up list.

 

[Hoopy Frood]

Ever since our first trailer (Aliner pop up) started to roll on us once the chocks are the first thing that happens after we park before we unhitch. Even if we are on level ground. IF we ever upgrade to auto level it still will be the first thing on the set up list.

Autolevel would have no bearing on needing to chock the wheels or not. You have to disconnect from the truck before you engage autolevel, so if it's going to roll, it will.

 

[tfgd21bhe]

I don't like our Husky Centerline as I find to noisy. It works as advertised for distribution and sway but it's just noisy. We turn heads when pulling in and out of places. But with most if not all wdh you'll have to raise and lower to remove either bars or chains.

Sent from my SM-P610 using Tapatalk

A light coat of vaseline on the bottom and sides of the bars and on the flat of the frame brackets will reduce wear and eliminate most of the noise. My hitch dealer (not the GD dealer) recommended the use of vaseline when I bought the hitch.

 

[dkayak]

A light coat of vaseline on the bottom and sides of the bars and on the flat of the frame brackets will reduce wear and eliminate most of the noise. My hitch dealer (not the GD dealer) recommended the use of vaseline when I bought the hitch.

True, but the same friction that causes the noise and wear is also what inhibits sway. Noisy bars go hand in hand with anti-sway.

 

[tfgd21bhe]

True, but the same friction that causes the noise and wear is also what inhibits sway. Noisy bars go hand in hand with anti-sway.

I haven't experienced any sway with my 21bhe towed with my Chevy Colorado even though I've been using vaseline on the bars.

Husky manual states not to lubricate top and bottom plates and trunnions as they are responsible for anti sway feature.

The manual also states:

Keep lift brackets clean, and using a light lubrication on the lift bracket support surfaces to keep rust to a minimum is acceptable.

 

[Najataagihe]

I'm puzzled.

The Andersen levelers come with a little wedge that is supposed to secure the long, curved part.

Is it these you forgot to install or the regular chocks on the other side of the trailer?

 

[BigSam]

Had a bit of a harrowing experience at the RV park today. Had to relocate my trailer to a new spot and was curious if I would need to use my new Andersen Levelers. After backing in, I checked for level and indeed had to bring one side up a bit. I placed the levelers at the front of the two tires and up she went. Figured all was good, except… I forgot to chock behind the tires. I’m sure you can guess what comes next…

As I’m raising the jack to unhitch the trailer, everything is looking fine. I use one of those little camco cones, rather than just the foot that comes with the jack. I have a Husky Centerline hitch which requires you to raise the trailer high enough to release the sway bars. One side comes off without an issue, but I had to wrestle with the other side a bit as my truck was not quite straight to the trailer (I know this is a mistake). Once unhooked, I continue to lift the trailer off the ball when, all of a sudden, my trailer lurches backwards, the cone kicks out, and my trailer slams straight down onto the pavement, stopping on the partially extended jack shaft. (Ironically, I think having the cone prevented the jack from dragging, which probably would have bent the shaft)

In hindsight, the trailer simply rolled back off the levelers after being unhitched. After about a ten minute panic, I collected my thoughts and rehitched the trailer, starting the process over, making sure to chock both sides of my trailer before releasing the hitch off my truck.

If this happened at a campsite with soft earth, I would have been dead meat. That shaft surely would have dug down deep enough to make recovery difficult or impossible.

Related or not, I think I’ve seen enough with this Husky hitch. It’s a pain in the butt to handle and I’m just not comfortable with it. Operator error was clearly the issue here, but lack of confidence with my equipment contributed some. Curious if all the hitches out there are as cumbersome to use.

Probably will never chock my tires enough to feel 100% confident, but I will chock, chock, chock, from now on.

Jim

You have to remember to use the small wedges that came with the Andersons as a chock on the Anderson’s to keep the trailer from rolling off the Anderson’s when you unhitch. Same for Beech Lane. And yes Chock the tires too. I always use a scissor chock between my tires before I unhitch, at least on one side.

 

[adaycj]

This summer we were in a campground it Indiana and we went for a stroll around the loops. We saw a 32+ foot TT parked crooked at the bottom of a hill. The next day we saw a recovery team of sorts trying to hook to the trailer. We asked, and learned that the owner had unhooked without chocks and the trailer had rolled away all the way into a site on the other side of the loop. Sadly the owner was seriously injured, had been taken away by ambulance, and was not expected to return.

I'm glad your mistake was easily corrected and no one was hurt.

 

[GeoffnCheri]

Had a bit of a harrowing experience at the RV park today. Had to relocate my trailer to a new spot and was curious if I would need to use my new Andersen Levelers. After backing in, I checked for level and indeed had to bring one side up a bit. I placed the levelers at the front of the two tires and up she went. Figured all was good, except… I forgot to chock behind the tires. I’m sure you can guess what comes next…

As I’m raising the jack to unhitch the trailer, everything is looking fine. I use one of those little camco cones, rather than just the foot that comes with the jack. I have a Husky Centerline hitch which requires you to raise the trailer high enough to release the sway bars. One side comes off without an issue, but I had to wrestle with the other side a bit as my truck was not quite straight to the trailer (I know this is a mistake). Once unhooked, I continue to lift the trailer off the ball when, all of a sudden, my trailer lurches backwards, the cone kicks out, and my trailer slams straight down onto the pavement, stopping on the partially extended jack shaft. (Ironically, I think having the cone prevented the jack from dragging, which probably would have bent the shaft)

In hindsight, the trailer simply rolled back off the levelers after being unhitched. After about a ten minute panic, I collected my thoughts and rehitched the trailer, starting the process over, making sure to chock both sides of my trailer before releasing the hitch off my truck.

If this happened at a campsite with soft earth, I would have been dead meat. That shaft surely would have dug down deep enough to make recovery difficult or impossible.

Related or not, I think I’ve seen enough with this Husky hitch. It’s a pain in the butt to handle and I’m just not comfortable with it. Operator error was clearly the issue here, but lack of confidence with my equipment contributed some. Curious if all the hitches out there are as cumbersome to use.

Probably will never chock my tires enough to feel 100% confident, but I will chock, chock, chock, from now on.

Jim

Welcome to the forum and sharing you learning experiences. We have all been there!!

 

[IBEW Sparky]

[MENTION=42275]NewGuy[/MENTION]

Had the same thing happen to us years ago with our pop-up camper... Luckily it was at a buddies property and it didn't get to far before the tongue jack finally dug itself into the ground and stopped it.... and thankfully I didn't have a campground full of spectators to witness anything.

Last year I had a full blue Rhino tote tank come off the hitch on my truck on the way to the dump station and roll down an embankment and flip over in a State Park... that was another adventure!

 

[Overtaxed]

I had a rented boom lift at the house once to paint the exterior. Moved it around (it was on a trailer) with my ATV for a few days, then, moved it to a spot where I could hook up the truck to take it back. It had a wheel on the jack and I just wasn't thinking, I start jacking it up, comes off the ball, and starts right down the hill. I credit myself one smart action in this, I jumped on the thing and put the stabilizers down to stop it. No harm, no foul, although I was white after the whole experience. It was a 30K piece of equipment, and this was as clearly "my fault" as anything could be, just dumb. That would have been a VERY expensive lesson if that thing had wound up at the bottom of the hill.

That said, you guys did get me thinking, I never chock my wheels when we setup; never had a problem, but, just thinking about it, it's certainly possible for the weight of the trailer to pull back before all the jacks come down. I'd think the site would have to be way out of level to overcome the massive amount of friction between the jack and the gravel surface though, right?

 

[Hoopy Frood]

"Massive amount of friction", maybe not massive enough. I never unhook from the truck without chocking the wheels first. If you've never done that and never had any issues, you must stay in really level spots. I put down chocks even when the trailer is perfectly level, just so I don't get out of the habit of doing it. All those times of never having any need can be canceled out with just one Murphy moment.

 

[Overtaxed]

"Massive amount of friction", maybe not massive enough. I never unhook from the truck without chocking the wheels first. If you've never done that and never had any issues, you must stay in really level spots. I put down chocks even when the trailer is perfectly level, just so I don't get out of the habit of doing it. All those times of never having any need can be canceled out with just one Murphy moment.

I just ordered a set of chocks.

Never really thought about it before, but this thread may have saved me a really bad trip! I just got 4 of the triangle shaped chocks, I just want something easy I can jam under there; as you said, I do stay in really level spots, but for 50 bucks, seems like real cheap insurance. It's one of those things where the insurance cost vs the possible damage is totally out of whack, it's so cheap to avoid, and so expensive if you do have the trailer roll down the hill or into your truck, no brainer.

Thanks!

 

[Capt Bob]

I have the Beech levelers but I also use an X chock on both sides. Not so much that i'm paranoid that the trailer will roll away but rather stability. Seems to "wobble" less when we are moving around inside.