Anyone broken a Hensley?

Good thing that it did not let go on the highway. Something to be Thankful for this weekend.

Isn't there a lifetime warranty with Hensley?

I've heard nothing but great reviews or the HA. I wouldn't jump to conclusion it's $2500 piece o scrap metal without even going them a call.

If you mean that you just broke the lower hitch head, the black part that houses the lower two bearings and the spring bar ends then yeah, I broke one too. I bought my HA used for cheap and made a small weld repair when I had it apart for refurbishment, 2 years and 15,000 miles later I noticed that the area I had welded was recracked (tube that holds the spring bar bushings where it mates to the bottom plate) and there was some more cracking on the tubes themselves. I bought a new lower head unit for about $750 or so from Hensley, if you are the original owner or have bought it used and purchesed a lifetime warranty from them you should be covered. Fairly easy to remove and replace too, just disassembly of 2 bearing sets then 2 new seals and reassemble the bearings. My new unit also came with new overcenter latch assemblies.

I did get the hitch brand new from Hensley and I will be calling them on Monday.I broke the lower hitch head in the same spot as WE3Zs did, I also bent and cracked a strut rod and looks like bent the mounting point of the strut rod to the upper unit. I'm not exactly sure of the chain of events, if that was the start of my problem or the end of my problem. I think what happened was the unit cracked and sagged and jammed the upper and lower unit against each other, then I turned and since it was jammed, it pushed on the strut rod, sheared the bolt on the rear strut rod bracket sliding it back. Then when it pivoted the other way, the strut rod fell apart. Then the whole thing pivoted and bent/cracked the other strut rod. Luckily this was actually 3 houses from my house, so I just limped up the street and took it off and grabbed a regular hitch head out of my garage.
Here's the break.

There are wear parts on the Hensley that need periodic replacement, specifically the spring bar links and U bracket bolts. If they worn down until they broke, it could cause the failure you describe.

I hope Hensley is easy to work with and they replace it. I echo that you are lucky it didn't happen on the road and you could limp it home (all 3 houses away). Keep us informed.

Glad it didn't happen on the highway, I once saw a wreck on I-15 where the Hensley had failed. I don't know if the wreck caused the failure or the failure caused the wreck....

Was this stored near salt water? Looks like the heavy corrosion I had on a boat trailer in Delaware. Hensley may not be happy with it.

I have had 2 HA. Each broke the black part where the hitch bars go. I use 14,000 lb bars. I had a local shop re-weld them and add a reenforcement metal part. I have looked at other HA that other campers have and have noticed one more that was cracked. I suggested that he repair his HA before it broke all the way.

Jim Cindy wrote:
Was this stored near salt water? Looks like the heavy corrosion I had on a boat trailer in Delaware. Hensley may not be happy with it.

I'm no where near salt water. But the unit is 9 years old and has always been stored outside on the camper and never been repainted.