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
willald wrote: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.
I have the Hensley video where they use an actual hitch for demonstration purposes. They show that when the TV tries to create an angle with the TT there is no resistance and the angle is easily created. Then they demonstrate that applying strong lateral forces to the TT side of the hitch results in no angle being created - Yes, the combo moves as a single unit. I don't know that that answers where the pivot point is so well, but it sure addresses the concern with TT induced sway.
By the way, I'm not a Hensley owner - just a mechanical engineer who is impressed with how cleverly the Hensley addresses trailer-swinging induced sway. For the price, you'd think they'd be able to do it with a little less added weight by using more titanium parts.
Tim
