Praise for ProPride 3P
Wanted to offer my experience with the Pro-Pride 3P.
My truck: 2016 F-150 with a 3.5 L Eco Boost, 3.55 rear end, max towing package and a 145 inch wheel base. It has a curb weight of 4890 lb, towing capacity of 11,600 lb and a GCWR of 16,900. Truck is stock other than Air Lift ride control air bags.
My trailer: 2017 Jayco 338 RETS. Dry weight 9130 lb. GVWR 11250. 40 ft from tongue to bumper. 12 ft high.
When I bought the trailer I knew I would be pushing my truck to the maximum capabilities. I wasn't concerned about the weigh as one search of You Tube will show videos of similar trucks pulling 14k loads up steep grades without difficulty. My concern of trailer sway. With the trailer outweighing the truck better than 2:1 when fully loaded, the large surface area inherent in a TT and my short wheel base I knew sway could be a huge issue.
After a lot of research and reading the endless debates on forums I decided the 3P was right for me. I placed my order and had boxes on my door step in just a few days.
From this point it was a comedy of errors on my part. Being mechanically inclined I casually read the directions and got to work. Install was a breeze with simple hand tools (though I did have to borrow a torque wrench).
(Below assumes you have a working knowledge of the hitch components)
Because I am pushing my truck to capacity I had to apply a lot of force to the weight distribution bars to distribute weight properly. Because I had installed my stinger level with the ground the force of the WB bars caused the pivoting portion of the hitch (hitch head from here on out) to be nose down. I did not notice this detail before my first test drive.
Thinking I was good to go I took the truck and trailer for a drive. The sway was HORRIBLE. Because the hitch head was not level with the ground it wanted to ride at either extreme of its range of motion. When driving the force of the truck's forward motion kept the hitch head in the proper place but if a gust of wind hit the hitch head would move to one side then when pulled back to the center would over compensate to the opposite side because it wasn't level. This had a pendulum like effect and made the truck nearly undriveable. Additionally when turning at low speeds I heard a loud clunking coming from the hitch. (More on this later.)
I got home from the first drive think the 3P was utter **** and my wife was going to kill me when I told her we needed to buy a diesel pick up. However I remembered from all the forum reading I had done all the praise heaped on Shawn at ProPride for his customer service. I call, left a message and had a call back in 20 minutes. He immediately knew what the issue was and said I needed to lower the angle of my stinger so that once I applied force with the WD bars the hitch head would be level.
I did as instructed and ran into my second problem. When coupling the truck to the trailer the hitch head must be at the same angle as the stinger. To accomplish this you raise or lower the WD bars to achieve the proper hitch head angle. In my case this was not possible. My trailer has a 6 inch frame and the ball coupler is mounted to the bottom of the frame so even using the top hole of the linkage bars and lowering the jacks all the way down I was unable to get the proper angle to hook up. I disconnected the WD bars from the linkage bars and was able to get the proper angle for coupling by manually manipulating them. I took another test drive with the hitch head riding level and all trailer sway was completely eliminated. However I still had the clunking noise coming from the hitch when making low speed turns.
After getting home from test drive two I turned my attention to the clunking. This was when I noticed I had installed the yoke upside down. (Yes, I'm an idiot) The hitch head would knock against the upside down yoke when making turns. The damage to the yoke was significant. Fortunately the hitch head suffered only cosmetic damage. By this point it was late in the day so rather than call I emailed Shawn. I told him about my problems coupling the truck and trailer as well as my yoke damage. Shawn replied early the next day. He said he would make longer linkage bars to help me get the proper angle while coupling and would send out new yoke arms. He charged me only his cost for these pieces and I was thrilled.
Again the parts arrived in a few days. I installed them and was able to hook up the truck and trailer without difficulty. There was one final piece of drama when my WD jack broke. It would turn freely without raising or lowering. A final call to Shawn (which he answered immediately) and he told me I sheared a pin in the jack. Turns out using an impact gun to raise the jack is a bad idea. One trip to Lowe's and 59¢ later the problem was fixed.
I then took a 4 hour trip to Louisiana which was my first time to use the hitch with it working as intended. As others have said the hitch does eliminate sway but it doesn't put you on rales. I was still moved around a bit by wind gusts and passing 18 wheelers but at no point did I ever feel out of control of my vehicle. I was driving on a very windy day and the best description I have is it was like minor airplane turbulence. Wind gusts would move the truck and trailer in tandem and at first it was a bit nerve wracking because I kept waiting for tail-wag-the-dog sway. But it never came. After 15-20 ministers of driving I became used to the new feeling of my vehicle towing with the 3P and it was a pleasure.
Conclusion:
Most of the forums I read agreed the 3P is a superior hitch to the Reese Dual Cam and Equal-i-zer. After all the 3P eliminates sway whereas the others only dampen it. The debate revolves around whether the 3P is enough better to justify the cost. Whether the 3P is worth the cost will vary depending on your tow vehicle and trailer though if you have the funds I would recommended it under any circumstances.
What I can say with confidence is in my case I couldn't have towed my trailer without a 3P. As manufacturers keep increasing the towing rating of half ton trucks situations like mine will became more and more common. To anyone trying to maximize the ability of their half ton to tow a travel trailer a 3P is a must.
Finally, not enough can be said for Shawn, his patience, responsiveness and customer service.
My truck: 2016 F-150 with a 3.5 L Eco Boost, 3.55 rear end, max towing package and a 145 inch wheel base. It has a curb weight of 4890 lb, towing capacity of 11,600 lb and a GCWR of 16,900. Truck is stock other than Air Lift ride control air bags.
My trailer: 2017 Jayco 338 RETS. Dry weight 9130 lb. GVWR 11250. 40 ft from tongue to bumper. 12 ft high.
When I bought the trailer I knew I would be pushing my truck to the maximum capabilities. I wasn't concerned about the weigh as one search of You Tube will show videos of similar trucks pulling 14k loads up steep grades without difficulty. My concern of trailer sway. With the trailer outweighing the truck better than 2:1 when fully loaded, the large surface area inherent in a TT and my short wheel base I knew sway could be a huge issue.
After a lot of research and reading the endless debates on forums I decided the 3P was right for me. I placed my order and had boxes on my door step in just a few days.
From this point it was a comedy of errors on my part. Being mechanically inclined I casually read the directions and got to work. Install was a breeze with simple hand tools (though I did have to borrow a torque wrench).
(Below assumes you have a working knowledge of the hitch components)
Because I am pushing my truck to capacity I had to apply a lot of force to the weight distribution bars to distribute weight properly. Because I had installed my stinger level with the ground the force of the WB bars caused the pivoting portion of the hitch (hitch head from here on out) to be nose down. I did not notice this detail before my first test drive.
Thinking I was good to go I took the truck and trailer for a drive. The sway was HORRIBLE. Because the hitch head was not level with the ground it wanted to ride at either extreme of its range of motion. When driving the force of the truck's forward motion kept the hitch head in the proper place but if a gust of wind hit the hitch head would move to one side then when pulled back to the center would over compensate to the opposite side because it wasn't level. This had a pendulum like effect and made the truck nearly undriveable. Additionally when turning at low speeds I heard a loud clunking coming from the hitch. (More on this later.)
I got home from the first drive think the 3P was utter **** and my wife was going to kill me when I told her we needed to buy a diesel pick up. However I remembered from all the forum reading I had done all the praise heaped on Shawn at ProPride for his customer service. I call, left a message and had a call back in 20 minutes. He immediately knew what the issue was and said I needed to lower the angle of my stinger so that once I applied force with the WD bars the hitch head would be level.
I did as instructed and ran into my second problem. When coupling the truck to the trailer the hitch head must be at the same angle as the stinger. To accomplish this you raise or lower the WD bars to achieve the proper hitch head angle. In my case this was not possible. My trailer has a 6 inch frame and the ball coupler is mounted to the bottom of the frame so even using the top hole of the linkage bars and lowering the jacks all the way down I was unable to get the proper angle to hook up. I disconnected the WD bars from the linkage bars and was able to get the proper angle for coupling by manually manipulating them. I took another test drive with the hitch head riding level and all trailer sway was completely eliminated. However I still had the clunking noise coming from the hitch when making low speed turns.
After getting home from test drive two I turned my attention to the clunking. This was when I noticed I had installed the yoke upside down. (Yes, I'm an idiot) The hitch head would knock against the upside down yoke when making turns. The damage to the yoke was significant. Fortunately the hitch head suffered only cosmetic damage. By this point it was late in the day so rather than call I emailed Shawn. I told him about my problems coupling the truck and trailer as well as my yoke damage. Shawn replied early the next day. He said he would make longer linkage bars to help me get the proper angle while coupling and would send out new yoke arms. He charged me only his cost for these pieces and I was thrilled.
Again the parts arrived in a few days. I installed them and was able to hook up the truck and trailer without difficulty. There was one final piece of drama when my WD jack broke. It would turn freely without raising or lowering. A final call to Shawn (which he answered immediately) and he told me I sheared a pin in the jack. Turns out using an impact gun to raise the jack is a bad idea. One trip to Lowe's and 59¢ later the problem was fixed.
I then took a 4 hour trip to Louisiana which was my first time to use the hitch with it working as intended. As others have said the hitch does eliminate sway but it doesn't put you on rales. I was still moved around a bit by wind gusts and passing 18 wheelers but at no point did I ever feel out of control of my vehicle. I was driving on a very windy day and the best description I have is it was like minor airplane turbulence. Wind gusts would move the truck and trailer in tandem and at first it was a bit nerve wracking because I kept waiting for tail-wag-the-dog sway. But it never came. After 15-20 ministers of driving I became used to the new feeling of my vehicle towing with the 3P and it was a pleasure.
Conclusion:
Most of the forums I read agreed the 3P is a superior hitch to the Reese Dual Cam and Equal-i-zer. After all the 3P eliminates sway whereas the others only dampen it. The debate revolves around whether the 3P is enough better to justify the cost. Whether the 3P is worth the cost will vary depending on your tow vehicle and trailer though if you have the funds I would recommended it under any circumstances.
What I can say with confidence is in my case I couldn't have towed my trailer without a 3P. As manufacturers keep increasing the towing rating of half ton trucks situations like mine will became more and more common. To anyone trying to maximize the ability of their half ton to tow a travel trailer a 3P is a must.
Finally, not enough can be said for Shawn, his patience, responsiveness and customer service.
