Forum Discussion
Wes_Tausend
Jul 27, 2014Explorer
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I had an Eaz-Lift 1000# WD hitch that came with my last 30' TT, and it worked reasonably well without the addition of any friction sway-bar. I do believe the Dual Cam is slightly more stable than the Eaz-Lift, but the economical $200 Eaz-Lift is a "handling" match to any other, more expensive, normal WD hitch.
At first I towed with a tiny, anemic V-6 Mazda (Ford Ranger) truck locally, then eventually went to a more interstate suitable 3/4 ton V-10 SUV for high speed highway use. I bought a used Hensley with the intent to go back to a 1/2 ton V-8 someday, to replace both the puny Mazda and HD Excursion. But I never bothered to install the Hensley for several years.
Even with the Excursion, without the Hensley, strong winds on interstate caused some minor sway, and major alertness. I never experienced any winds with the mini-truck and seldom went over 45 mph anyway. But my feeling was I would definately want the Hensley with the mini-truck in any brisk wind, at any speed.
We bought another 30' TT and continued to use the Eaz-Lift until I sold it with the previous TT. Now I had to install the Hensley, or buy something else. They do take slightly more time to install.
With the Hensley installed, sidewinds no longer mattered except for the typical worse fuel economy. These hitches do everything they say they will... track straight as an arrow. You will not ever experience, "a lot of sway" nor need to be, "on high alert" as you did in your last trip. High winds feel more like a good handling one-piece motorhome... everything moves as a solid unit, or not at all.
The Hensley downside? For me there is less clearance in my driveway dip because the Hensley (and P3) rides lower. There is also about one foot of extra length that dis-allows full-rig street parking between driveways in front of my house. Finally, the hitch does take more care, therefore time, to couple on uneven ground. For practice, try disconnecting from your TT by lining both rigs up level and pulling the pin on the receiver to drive away. Then try re-connecting to your Dual Cam by carefully lining up the square bar with the receiver, with the hitch-head, bars etc, still hanging on the ball. The Hensley style procedures are very similar. Watch your fingers, all tensions must be neutral both disconnecting and connecting. I have done this with the Eaz-Lift prior to installing my Hensley, so I know it works.
Other advantages? Besides the obvious handling issue, my pick-up tailgate clears to full drop, there are no exposed messy bars or ball (they stay on) and the Hensley turns sharper (nearly 90 degrees) than conventional hitches. My Excursion tailgate doors cleared either type hitch.
Wes
...
I had an Eaz-Lift 1000# WD hitch that came with my last 30' TT, and it worked reasonably well without the addition of any friction sway-bar. I do believe the Dual Cam is slightly more stable than the Eaz-Lift, but the economical $200 Eaz-Lift is a "handling" match to any other, more expensive, normal WD hitch.
At first I towed with a tiny, anemic V-6 Mazda (Ford Ranger) truck locally, then eventually went to a more interstate suitable 3/4 ton V-10 SUV for high speed highway use. I bought a used Hensley with the intent to go back to a 1/2 ton V-8 someday, to replace both the puny Mazda and HD Excursion. But I never bothered to install the Hensley for several years.
Even with the Excursion, without the Hensley, strong winds on interstate caused some minor sway, and major alertness. I never experienced any winds with the mini-truck and seldom went over 45 mph anyway. But my feeling was I would definately want the Hensley with the mini-truck in any brisk wind, at any speed.
We bought another 30' TT and continued to use the Eaz-Lift until I sold it with the previous TT. Now I had to install the Hensley, or buy something else. They do take slightly more time to install.
With the Hensley installed, sidewinds no longer mattered except for the typical worse fuel economy. These hitches do everything they say they will... track straight as an arrow. You will not ever experience, "a lot of sway" nor need to be, "on high alert" as you did in your last trip. High winds feel more like a good handling one-piece motorhome... everything moves as a solid unit, or not at all.
The Hensley downside? For me there is less clearance in my driveway dip because the Hensley (and P3) rides lower. There is also about one foot of extra length that dis-allows full-rig street parking between driveways in front of my house. Finally, the hitch does take more care, therefore time, to couple on uneven ground. For practice, try disconnecting from your TT by lining both rigs up level and pulling the pin on the receiver to drive away. Then try re-connecting to your Dual Cam by carefully lining up the square bar with the receiver, with the hitch-head, bars etc, still hanging on the ball. The Hensley style procedures are very similar. Watch your fingers, all tensions must be neutral both disconnecting and connecting. I have done this with the Eaz-Lift prior to installing my Hensley, so I know it works.
Other advantages? Besides the obvious handling issue, my pick-up tailgate clears to full drop, there are no exposed messy bars or ball (they stay on) and the Hensley turns sharper (nearly 90 degrees) than conventional hitches. My Excursion tailgate doors cleared either type hitch.
Wes
...
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