First Time with ProPride

hddecker wrote:

93Cobra2771 wrote:
Wes - I'm glad you remembered to check, as I 100% totally forgot to. And yes, it was the foot that was the issue.

I too, had an issue where I was at a fairly extreme angle, and where I had backed up the hitch head had shifted to one side. I ended up pulling the pin on the foot, dropping the jack, then putting the foot back on. This was on my old manual tongue jack.

The new jack has a round foot and doesn't go up as high as the old one. Just high enough to catch the WD bars.

Regarding the bump - I have felt it. I think it is more easily felt with 1/2 ton trucks and heavier TT combos. I can also feel the hitch head swing from side to side in the case of a slow "S" turn. Part of the route on our regular campground is through the Smoky Mountains, and the road has quite a few low speed turns as well as off throttle coasting. If you aren't on your brakes, you will feel the bump as the HH head pivots to one side or the other. You can trail brake lightly with your controller and it won't happen.

Am I missing something, I paid good money for my Hensley and I don't get a bump.

I did manage to bend a strut bar once and that caused a lot more than a bump. I check my strut bars at every stop and if there is the least bit of wiggle, I give the adjuster a quarter turn and no wiggle.

I have leaned the rear bumper right up against the A-frame and have never felt anything out of the ordinary.

No, you are not missing something. A majorly bent strut will cause severe "swivel" of the assembly on the TT ball and probably feels immediately undrivable. Or does it? What was your experience?

A slightly bent bar may not be immediately noticed without visually checking, and will allow the surprise "bump", since it means the strut is no longer tightly extended until it is screwed (adjusted, extended) snug again. The actual "bump" does not seem to occur unless one makes a turn (or an S turn) under braking. Because of the mechanical link advantage (like the greater travel of the long side of a lever compared to the short side), any minute slack already allows the arms to pivot an inch or two, from one side to the other, much further than the tiny slack-length of the loose strut. The arms do just that, swivel from one side to the other during the turn and stop with an over-center-feeling cushioned crunch... the "bump".

As an example, any Hensley owner could artificially induce the "bump" by loosening a strut about 1/16 or 1/8 inch. Then drive slowly (5-10 mph) in a safe area and perform an "S" curve while braking. The operator will get the "bump" and thereafter be experienced in the feeling. I don't seriously advocate this unless there is reason to demonstrate it for interested bystanders (If the "bump" ever does naturally occur, it is disconcerting and quite obvious what it is to the owner). Technically the "bump" cannot occur unless something is loose, the "dip-angle" has drastically changed, the receiver is loose-fitting, or mounted quite springy. Neither of my truck receivers (Excursion, F-250) allow it if all else is tight.

What bent your strut, if I may ask? I have inadvertently stressed the struts enough to barely loosen the brackets by turning too sharp, and wonder if that is a likely cause of the struts to bend.

EDIT:
I see most of my questions have been answered while I typed.

Wes
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