Hensley Arrow: How does it REALLY work?
There have been several discussions on this hitch that have become somewhat 'controversial'. I am NOT trying to stir this controversy/bashing back up. Instead, I'd like to see a good, intelligent di...
Forum Discussion
bryanl wrote:
Perhaps the best way to understand what is going on would be to put together a scale model and do a little bit of 'experimenting' with it. The model only needs to be 2 dimensional. You could do this easily enough with a few small sticks and some glue (and a hitch and rig to measure).
I was actually thinking the same thing, except going to a bit more detail. Perhaps if you could find/build a scale model of a good size TT, and a truck/tow vehicle, then hitch them up with something similar to the 4 bar linkage. You could make the linkage with just 4 sticks like you mentioned here. Then, you could do things like 'push' on the side of the trailer to simulate crosswinds, etc, and see how any pivoting it does, affects the truck. My bet is you'd find that the whole combination would be pushed to the side as one unit, and that the trailer could NOT induce any pivoting. That would answer the question of where the pivot point is, from the trailer's perspective.
Of course, who has the time to do all that? lol! :B
Ron has the best analysis of this I have seen so far. But the other talk about 'eliminating sway' and other absolutes should raise the skeptic meter. The hyperbole should always be a warning that something is missing.
I agree, Ron has a great analysis. And, I also agree that something is missing - from Ron's analysis. His analysis does a great job of showing where the pivot point is from the tow vehicle's perspective, but I can't help but wonder if from the trailer's perspective, that 'virtual pivot point' may be at a different place.
Will
