Hensley Arrow: How does it REALLY work?

drfife wrote:
Ron:

Have you studied a Hensley hitch in person? I think you would benefit to see how it is engineered and functions if you did.

Look around the campground for a trailer with a Hensley. I can just about promise you that the owner would let you look at it and play with it to your hearts content.

Russell,

Thanks for the advice. I am always on the lookout for a HA-equipped TT, but they're a little hard to find. In the past five years, I've spotted four of them. In fact, I followed one of them for 20 miles on I-10 (can't remember if it was NM or AZ) until he pulled into a rest area. I talked to the owner about his HA, mentioning that the rear of the TT seemed to be moving side-to-side in the cross wind. He said the movement was not uncommon; but he did not feel it in the the truck.

All four owners seemed to be quite happy with their HAs. One stated he did not feel it was much of an improvement over his Dual-Cam. One expressed displeasure with the difficulty of the hitch-up process (perhaps he needs one of your mirrors).

As far as learning about how the HA works from these four owners, I got nothing more than what I can read in the Hensley marketing materials. Their experiences and impressions were remarkably similar. All said that the HA actually eliminates sway; whereas other hitches only control sway.

When I asked them how the hitch works, I received a variety of answers. One said that the HA contains "cams" which lock when towing straight ahead and unlock for sharp corners and backing. One said the HA makes the rig "act and think like a straight truck". A couple said something to the effect that the hitch could only be controlled by the TV and not by the TT. One said he knew that the HA "used geometry" to eliminate sway, but was not sure how. They all suggested I should request a copy of the Hensley video if I really want to know how the hitch works.

After talking with these owners, I felt that I could get much more information from the Hensley Patent Documents and from photos and videos such as the one posted by Tim showing how freely the rear unit moves relative to the front unit when not attached to a TT.

It might be difficult for non-engineers to understand diagrams and photos; but I feel quite confident that I know how the HA does and does not work based on the patent papers. One exception is that the patent document describes the struts as "turnbuckles" and does not say if they are used in tension or compression. I assumed tension; and the truth is otherwise. Fortunately, as far as operation of the hitch is concerned, it makes no difference as long as both are tight.

I'll keep looking for HAs and, on the rare occasion when I spot one, I'll impose on the owner to tell me how the hitch works. Hopefully, one day I'll find one who knows.

Ron