Hensley Arrow: How does it REALLY work?

tluxon wrote:

BurbMan wrote:
...Of course, the same wind is applying its force to an infinite number of points along the same side of the TV also, so does that produce a series of counter moments?

Dealing with the wind effect on the TV is a much more complex issue due to the fact that the front axle has turning wheels attached, but the TV is not affected nearly as much by the wind as the TT. You want to break the problem down to the simplest terms possible, so I would think it sufficient to concentrate on the lateral force the TV needs to adequately react to a given lateral force from the TT.

I want to make sure it doesn't sound like I'm diminishing the importance of the tow vehicle here. It's my opinion that the TV is the most important part of the equation when using a conventional sway control hitch. Based on many years of towing trailers from hay wagons and combines behind a tractor to RVs behind a truck, I'm convinced that the worst sway events are not the fault of the initial swing of the TT, but of the way the TV reacts to it. With a conventional hitch where the TV's lever to the coupling point is anywhere from 3 to 6 or more feet long, there is almost a springback, or lateral bouncing, effect. Soft, spongey tires compound the problem. If that's not bad enough, the natural reaction of the driver is to correct for the change in course they sense in the TV. What would otherwise (without a trailer) be a normal course correction can then exacerbate the situation, much like pushing someone on a swing when they're already going as high as they feel comfortable. Experienced tow-ers learn to undercorrect to help dampen the swing of the TV's lever to the coupling point.

Now just as driving a car solo requires regular course correction just to stay between the lines on the road, there is a continual need also to keep a TV/TT combination in line and between the lines. For a less experienced driver or a less than ideal TV/TT setup, this task becomes increasingly uncomfortable and tiring and there is a greater chance of too strong a correction, perhaps leading up to a dangerous building sway event. As a driver's experience increases, the more natural these corrections will become to the point that they may barely notice any difference from driving a car solo (I feel this way with our HP Dual Cam). Nevertheless, those corrections are still there.

Here's where the Hensley comes in again. By shortening the TV's lever to the coupling point and reducing the lateral force the TT imparts to that coupling point due to the longer lever from the TT's axles, that "bounce" I characterized above never really happens with the Hensley, and the correcting of the TV to stay between the lines should feel no different than when driving the TV solo. I haven't experienced this myself yet, but I'd bet I'm pretty close.