Hensley Arrow: How does it REALLY work?

sfdon wrote:
There are a bunch of questions.

Instructions say to tighten u-bolt fasteners to 45 ft. lbs. What force on the struts would cause the brackets to slide on the frame?

To answer this, one needs to know the U-bolt diameter and thread pitch.

What is the shear strength of the (2) shear bolts, resulting in a total resisting force to prevent the sliding to occur?

Assuming the bolts are Grade-5 and 5/16" diameter, the ultimate shear capacity per bolt is about 5700 lbs.

Finally, what event could occur that would cause the shear bolts to shear and the bracket to slide?

Let's assume the TV is turning to the right and the TT is pushing on the hitch. The thrust from the TT will tend to rotate both of the HA's side links CW about their front pins. The TT must apply a CW torque to the HA's rear unit to prevent the HA's linkage from "collapsing".

The only way for the TT to apply the torque is via the struts. If a frame bracket slips, the torque will not be sufficient to prevent the collapse. Once a frame bracket slips rearward, there is no way for the strut to apply a tension to pull the bracket forward. That probably explains why both brackets were moved rearward.

Question: is there any evidence that Hensley-Arrow monitors these treads and responds to them? I would hope they would be actively involved as I believe it would help their sales efforts.

I once was told that, if a manufacturer tries to explain the workings of a complex device to a customer, the customer will only be confused, and a confused customer will not buy a $3,000 device.

Ron