First Time with ProPride
So we just made our first drive with the ProPride hitch. Although it was only about 25 miles, it included hills (up and down), curves at freeway speeds, and a bit of breezy weather. This hitch is ...
Forum Discussion
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The head assembly of either the Pro-Pride, or the Hensley Arrow does pivot in all directions on the ball except rotation of the Y-axis (standard hitch rig steering process). The Hensley head is locked from turning by the struts and the Pro-Pride accomplishes the same Y-axis lock by the one-piece yoke. The hitch head on both can tilt forward and back (X-axis), against the springy WD bars when going through a severe dip, and/or the head can twist axially with the truck/TT rig (Z-axis) with little resulting resistance (bar tensions, one up-one down, cancel one another).
The only caveat in going through a large dip is that both WD bars resist the rig bending in that shape. The WD setting tightening effect tends to "bend" the hitch ball joint up and remove weight from the rear truck axle by lifting it. There have been off-road cases where the WD bars kept the truck/TT so straight in an extreme dip that the rear truck tires lost traction as the rear tires lifted and got too light. The solution is to release the bar tension in this case and re-tighten later on level ground for normal travel.
(TRIVIA: Someone once demonstrated a 1960's front-wheel-drive Oldsmobile Toronado, without any rear wheels, hooked to a TT. The unyielding WD bars held the rig level in suspension and they moved it a few feet for fun. Of course it couldn't really be driven far because it would quickly jack-knife without the rear tires to keep it in a straight line.)
I would recommend against leaving the jack foot down below the WD bars on a Hensley. The Hensley hitch is capable of turning so sharp (I'm not sure about the Pro-Pride), that under some tight-turn conditions a bar will side-swipe the jack shaft and cause a severe bind. Keeping the foot up and clear and, if necessary, straightening the hitch head by straightening out the rig angle is the preferred method to be able to lower the jack for parking. The Hensley can turn significantly sharper than standard hitches because the extra stinger length provides extra clearance so that the truck bumper does not strike the A-framed TT tongue so far back where it is still wide. A Hensley is about one foot longer than a standard hitch, and in my case as an advantage, allows my tailgate to drop fully down clear. I can't say that about the new Eaz-Lift I bought (The tailgate hits my power jack head just past half open).
These ingenious 4-Link Hensley designed hitches do exactly as they state. They provide a sway-free, safe towing experience, even in extreme adverse conditions, and no other TT hitch type (other than a Pull-Rite) can perform as well. That is why I am keeping mine, even if I don't use it all the time.
I do a lot of local camping where I don't need an anti-sway "highway" hitch.
Wes
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The head assembly of either the Pro-Pride, or the Hensley Arrow does pivot in all directions on the ball except rotation of the Y-axis (standard hitch rig steering process). The Hensley head is locked from turning by the struts and the Pro-Pride accomplishes the same Y-axis lock by the one-piece yoke. The hitch head on both can tilt forward and back (X-axis), against the springy WD bars when going through a severe dip, and/or the head can twist axially with the truck/TT rig (Z-axis) with little resulting resistance (bar tensions, one up-one down, cancel one another).
The only caveat in going through a large dip is that both WD bars resist the rig bending in that shape. The WD setting tightening effect tends to "bend" the hitch ball joint up and remove weight from the rear truck axle by lifting it. There have been off-road cases where the WD bars kept the truck/TT so straight in an extreme dip that the rear truck tires lost traction as the rear tires lifted and got too light. The solution is to release the bar tension in this case and re-tighten later on level ground for normal travel.
(TRIVIA: Someone once demonstrated a 1960's front-wheel-drive Oldsmobile Toronado, without any rear wheels, hooked to a TT. The unyielding WD bars held the rig level in suspension and they moved it a few feet for fun. Of course it couldn't really be driven far because it would quickly jack-knife without the rear tires to keep it in a straight line.)
I would recommend against leaving the jack foot down below the WD bars on a Hensley. The Hensley hitch is capable of turning so sharp (I'm not sure about the Pro-Pride), that under some tight-turn conditions a bar will side-swipe the jack shaft and cause a severe bind. Keeping the foot up and clear and, if necessary, straightening the hitch head by straightening out the rig angle is the preferred method to be able to lower the jack for parking. The Hensley can turn significantly sharper than standard hitches because the extra stinger length provides extra clearance so that the truck bumper does not strike the A-framed TT tongue so far back where it is still wide. A Hensley is about one foot longer than a standard hitch, and in my case as an advantage, allows my tailgate to drop fully down clear. I can't say that about the new Eaz-Lift I bought (The tailgate hits my power jack head just past half open).
These ingenious 4-Link Hensley designed hitches do exactly as they state. They provide a sway-free, safe towing experience, even in extreme adverse conditions, and no other TT hitch type (other than a Pull-Rite) can perform as well. That is why I am keeping mine, even if I don't use it all the time.
I do a lot of local camping where I don't need an anti-sway "highway" hitch.
Wes
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