Andersen No-Sway Review: Strong Sway Control, Modest Weight Transfer

For a travel trailer that sits comfortably inside your truck's ratings, the Andersen No-Sway is our pick when sway control matters more to you than moving a lot of weight, and when you're done lifting spring bars. Andersen now sells it under the plain name Weight Distribution Hitch. In place of steel bars it uses two chains, a triangular sway plate and a tapered ball seated in a friction cone. The trailer's tongue weight presses the ball into that cone, and the friction resists the trailer swinging side to side. The hitch weighs under 60 lb by Andersen's figure, nothing needs grease, and it tows quietly.

It's a better sway damper than a weight mover, and Andersen says as much. Its own support page says the hitch leaves more tongue weight on the truck than some spring-bar systems, and in its 900 lb example it moves roughly 30% of that weight forward. With a heavy tongue on a half-ton or midsize truck, that can leave the front end lighter than you'd like, and owners who needed more weight moved forward tend to leave it for a spring-bar hitch. Hooking up takes practice too: the sway plate has to sit square to the trailer, and the chains need even tension.

The short version

What works:

• Sway control: the friction cone is always working, it scales with tongue weight, and it's the part owners praise most.
• Light and clean: under 60 lb for the hitch per Andersen, no spring bars to carry, no grease on the ball.
• Quiet: no popping or groaning from bars in tight campground turns.
• Easy to adjust: a tension nut on each chain changes how much weight it moves, so a load change takes a ratchet and a few minutes.
• Sold by Andersen on Amazon: at our check, every listing we found was sold by Andersen Hitches itself, and Andersen's warranty requires buying from Andersen or an authorized dealer.

What to watch:

• Modest weight transfer: about 30% of tongue weight in Andersen's own example. Heavy tongues on lighter trucks may need more.
• Hookup alignment: unhook at an angle and the sway plate won't line up next time without a few minutes of work.
• Chain tension: some owners find one chain looser than the other after a drive.
• Conflicting ratings: Andersen's pages print 14,000 lb and 16,000 lb trailer ratings for the same hitch.
• Hard limits: no surge brakes, four Atwood coupler models to avoid, and an Andersen warning about some trucks' electronic sway control.

Which trucks and receivers it fits

A weight distribution hitch fits your receiver and your heights, not your truck's model name. Andersen builds this one by shank size (2, 2-1/2 or 3 in), drop or rise (4, 6 or 8 in), ball (2 or 2-5/16 in) and the size of the trailer frame brackets (3 in through 8 in). The right combination depends on your truck's receiver, its ride height and your trailer, so we haven't matched a version to any truck. Every truck row in the fitment table is a search link with the same checklist.

• Shank: match it to your receiver opening. Check the receiver itself or the owner's manual rather than assuming.
• Drop: park the loaded trailer level and measure to the top of the coupler. Andersen's manual sets the top of the ball 1 to 2 in above the coupler, and 2 in for half-ton trucks with heavier trailers. Buy the drop that reaches that height from your receiver.
• Brackets: measure the height of the trailer's A-frame rails. Most Amazon listings ship the universal 3/4/5/6 in brackets; 4-3/8 in and 7/8 in sets exist too.
• Obstructions: propane tanks or a battery box in the chains' path can block the install. Andersen's manual allows removing up to two links or adding links, the same on both chains.
• Coupler and brakes: Andersen says not to use it with surge brakes and lists four Atwood couplers (88007, 88010, 88555 and 88600) that can come unlatched with weight distribution.

On Amazon, Andersen lists each version separately. Here's what the listing titles and bullets say, checked October 20, 2026; our link goes to the 2 in shank with a 4 in drop and universal brackets:

Read those as the seller's labels, not your towing limit. The next two sections explain why the hitch's rating is only one number in the chain.

The ratings and specs that matter

Treat 1,400 lb of tongue weight and 14,000 lb of trailer as the most this hitch is rated for, not as what your truck can tow. The support page gives both of those figures and the installation manual gives the 1,400 lb tongue rating; the manual allows 1,600 lb only with the 2-5/16 in ball on a 3 in shank. The Amazon listings call the 2-1/2 in versions 16,000 lb hitches, which neither document supports. If you're counting on the higher number, get Andersen's answer in writing for your exact shank, drop and ball before you buy.

Your truck may well run out of rating before the hitch does, and that's the point of the arithmetic. Take Andersen's own example: a 900 lb tongue with about 30% transferred forward moves roughly 270 lb and leaves about 630 lb on the rear of the truck. Nothing about that changes your truck's payload. The full tongue weight and the hitch itself both count against the payload on the door-jamb label, along with everyone in the cab and everything in the bed.

The warranty needs the same care. Andersen's 2026 warranty policy lists the Weight Distribution Hitch under lifetime coverage, but the warranty table in the current installation manual still reads one year on the hitch and lifetime on the friction cone, and the support page gives the urethane springs one year. The 2026 policy requires registration within 60 days, and the policy and manual both require a purchase from Andersen or an authorized dealer. On Amazon at our check, the seller was Andersen Hitches. Confirm the seller name at checkout and register the hitch the day it arrives.

Before you hook up: the limits that govern

The lowest rating in the chain decides what you can tow, and the hitch is rarely the lowest. Andersen's warranty policy puts it plainly: do not exceed the limits of the lowest rated component in your towing setup. That list includes your truck's tow rating for its exact configuration, its payload and rear axle ratings, its tongue-weight limit with and without weight distribution, the receiver's rating, the hitch, the ball, the trailer's coupler and the tires. We don't print any truck's ratings: they change with cab, bed, engine, axle ratio and package, and they live in your owner's manual, the towing guide for your model year and the label on the driver's door jamb.

• Weight distribution itself: your owner's manual says whether your truck maker allows a weight distribution hitch on your truck, whether it calls for one at your trailer and tongue weight, and what the receiver is rated for with and without it. Follow it, then Andersen's manual, then your state's rules.
• Trailer brakes: whether you need them, and which brake controller, follows your truck maker, your trailer maker and state law. Andersen says no weight distribution hitch works with surge brakes, because the hitch's forward pressure keeps them engaged.
• Payload: one 2024 Canyon owner did this math before a long trip. About 650 lb of people and gear plus about 625 lb at the ball used roughly 1,275 lb of the 1,485 lb on that truck's label, leaving about 200 lb. Your label will be different; do the same sum with your numbers, and count the hitch's own weight too.
• Electronic trailer sway control: Andersen's manual warns that some newer trucks' electronic sway systems, the kind that use the truck's brakes to control sway, can misread the hitch's own sway control and work against it, which can cause sway. It says the problem is most likely on 2011 and newer Ford, GMC, Dodge and Chevy trucks, and that if you see it you'll need to turn the truck's system off to tow with this hitch. We wouldn't switch off any safety system on Andersen's word alone: check your owner's manual and ask your truck maker whether it can be turned off for towing. If it can't, or your truck maker says not to, pick a different hitch.
• The coupler: if the coupler touches the top of the ball housing, Andersen says not to tow until it's fixed.

Sway, bounce and weight transfer on the road

Sway control is the reason to buy it. Once coupled, the tapered ball is locked into the friction cone by the tongue weight, so the trailer can only swing by turning the whole ball assembly against that friction. There's nothing to switch on, nothing to remember before a rainstorm, and the hitch can stay connected when you back up, which Andersen confirms and owners like. On a level, well-loaded trailer, owners describe semis passing and crosswinds that barely register.

When it does sway, look at the trailer and the setup before the hitch. Andersen lists the usual causes: a trailer that goes light on the tongue (often a toy hauler loaded heavy at the back), a nose-high trailer that lets wind under it, and chains that aren't tight enough. Andersen wants the trailer level to within about an inch, cargo weighted roughly 60% toward the front of the trailer and 40% toward the back, and tire pressures checked on truck and trailer. One F-150 owner still felt a weird sway on certain road surfaces after trying the ball high, low and level, and a couple of owners left for spring-bar hitches over sway in wind. Andersen's manual says no hitch setup can guarantee that sway is avoided altogether, and that adjusting equipment and driving to the conditions is the driver's job.

Bounce is mostly a strength. The red urethane springs at the chain ends soak up the hop over expansion joints, and owners coming from spring-bar hitches often call the ride smoother. It isn't universal: a few owners on rough highways found the up-and-down motion harsher than they wanted, and two of them switched.

Weight transfer is where the design gives ground. Andersen means to leave more tongue weight on the rear axle than some bar hitches do, for traction, and one owner who weighed the rig measured about a quarter of a 680 lb tongue moved forward. Don't chase a perfectly level truck: Andersen's manual says the truck only needs to be close to level, and you adjust in small steps at the tension nuts, as the manual describes. If the front still feels light after that, this hitch may not move enough weight for your truck and trailer. Andersen's support page says some customers in that spot add airbags or other suspension upgrades; those can level the truck, but they don't raise any of its ratings.

Build quality and living with it

The hardware lasts. Owners report seven years and tens of thousands of miles across several trailers and tow vehicles, and the design has few parts to wear. These are the ones to watch:

• Friction cone: Andersen calls it a wear item. Inspect it before each tow; Andersen says to replace it if the ball sinks more than 1/8 in or sway control fades, and covers the cone for life. Red shavings and a liner that creeps up in the first several hundred miles are normal by Andersen's account.
• Urethane springs: one-year coverage on Andersen's support page, which says they generally don't wear out. Leave out the washer and the tension nut cuts into the spring and splits it.
• Noise: a squeak or creak from the housing usually means a dirty or worn cone. Andersen's first fix is cleaning the cone and housing with rubbing alcohol; if the housing still squeals, Andersen says the friction material is worn and the cone needs replacing.
• Brackets: set screws keep them from sliding on the A-frame. Andersen's manual warns that lighter frames can compress if the bracket bolts are over-tightened, and some marking of the frame under the brackets is normal.

The other recurring gripe is chain tension. After a drive, some owners find one chain slack and the other tight. Andersen's first answer is bracket spacing: measure from the center of the coupler to each bracket and make the two equal, and make sure the set screws are in. A strip of painter's tape or a mark on the frame at each bracket shows you whether they've moved.

Andersen's support gets more praise than blame, with owners describing quick, knowledgeable answers by phone. Not every case ends well, and two owners felt brushed off.

How it compares

The other weight distribution hitch we've reviewed is the Equal-i-zer 4-point, a spring-bar design, and Andersen draws the line between the two types itself. Its support page says spring-bar systems generally excel at moving a large amount of weight forward and can be the better option when you want a lot of tongue weight off the rear axle, while its own hitch leaves more on the truck for traction and sway control. Owners who have run both mostly describe the Andersen as lighter to carry, quieter and free of grease, and the bar hitches as moving more weight.

If your trailer's tongue is heavy for your truck and you need most of that weight back on the front axle, a spring-bar hitch suits the job better, and that's where most owners who left the Andersen went, usually to an Equal-i-zer, which our review covers in full. If your tongue weight sits comfortably inside your truck's limits and your priorities are sway control, a quiet ride and a light hitch, the Andersen is the easier one to live with.

Installing it and hooking up

Plan an afternoon for the first install and follow Andersen's installation manual step by step. It tells you which wrench sizes to use and where a torque wrench is needed, and gives the values; follow those, not a forum post or this page. Start with the truck and trailer loaded the way you'll travel and parked on level ground, and turn off any auto-leveling system on the trailer.

• Set the height: level the trailer, slide the rack into the receiver, and bolt the ball housing so the top of the ball sits 1 to 2 in above the top of the coupler.
• Couple with almost no weight on the ball: latch the coupler, pin the sway plate under the ball, and get the plate close to square with the trailer.
• Mount the brackets: attach the chains to the outside brackets with the spring, nylon washer and metal washer in order, pull the chains tight, clamp the brackets angled on the frame, then seat the set screws.
• Tension the chains: hand-tight first, then the wrench turns the manual specifies, until the red springs bulge slightly. Lower the trailer and check that it sits level and the truck close to level.

Hooking up later takes a few minutes once you have the routine. Before unhooking, park the truck and trailer as straight as you can; the sway plate stays where you leave it, and an angled plate is the most common hookup complaint. If it is out of line, Andersen's manual walks you through attaching one chain and driving forward to pull the plate square. Don't hit it with a metal hammer; the manual says that chips the powder coat. Any time the load in the truck or trailer changes, recheck how level the rig sits, and check every nut, bolt, pin and clip before each trip.

On frames where the set screws won't hold, the manual describes pre-drilling for them or welding the outside brackets. The same manual also warns against modifying the hitch outside its recommendations and names welding as an example, so call Andersen before you drill or weld anything.

Who should buy the Andersen

The Andersen No-Sway earns its place when your trailer's tongue weight sits well inside your truck's limits, sway control and a quiet, clean hitch matter most, and you'd rather carry a hitch under 60 lb than a set of bars. It suits half-ton and midsize owners towing moderate travel trailers, provided the truck's ratings, not the hitch's, set the limit. Buy it from Andersen, register it, and keep a copy of the warranty terms.

Skip it if you need to move a lot of tongue weight back to the front axle, if your trailer has surge brakes, or if you'd rather never think about squaring a sway plate. For a heavy tongue near your truck's limits, look at a spring-bar hitch and weigh the rig first: no hitch raises your truck's tow, payload or tongue-weight ratings.