I'm currently doing a LOT of homework on the Hensley and Propride and one question I've got is the tongue rating for both. My Jayco sits a 1350# on the tongue already (without LP when weighed). Add the hitch itself and full propane and I'll be a good bit over the 1400# rating. Of course reps from both companies say I'll be fine but I would to hear from 'actual owners' who are towing heavy with these. Something about spending that kind of coin and be over the ratings on day one doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy.

NC, I don't think the weight of the hitch itself factors into it's own rating. The dry hitch weight of your rig is listed as 870 lbs by Jayco...you really added a lot of weight up front. Is there any way to re-distribute weight and pack some some stuff behind the axles of the TT? Maybe store some lighter stuff under the front bed and move some heavier items to the rear?I extended the frame of our TT and added a storage box for the Honda 2000 and some other stuff:The good news is that both of these hitches are indifferent to tongue weight...in other words a heavy tongue is not needed to manage sway, the hitch uses the 4-bar linkage to keep the TT from swaying. The hitch won't allow the TT to sway regardless of how light the tongue is.There have been a few reported issues of a busted Hensley...one was from member carringb who blew his up towing a very heavy toy hauler with his van. When I say blew it up, it broke in half IIRC....here's the thread here on the forum discussing this about a year ago.My HA is only rated for 1200 lbs, they didn't certify it for a higher weight and make 1400 lb bars available till a few years after I got mine (mine is a 2002). Last time I calculated my tongue weight it was about 1200 lbs and I'm running 1200 lb bars on mine.The HA is designed with a bronze bushing in the hitch head where the spring bars insert. This bushing wears over time, and the closer to the limit you run, the faster it wears. I'm on my 3rd one right now. When it wears, the spring bar holes elongate and you have to crank the bars up more to get the same level of weight distribution. The good news is that this sacrificial bushing is easy to change and prevents damage to the hitch itself. I'm not sure if the PP has the same (or maybe a better) design.Off the top of my head I don't think that you would have issues running either hitch at your current tongue weight...but since the heavy tongue is what's causing the ride issues in the truck, I would look for ways to lighten the tongue. As I said, either hitch does not allow the TT to sway regardless of how light the tongue is.On edit, I found the thread on the wear bushings.

CampingN.C. wrote:...snip.... Of course reps from both companies say I'll be fine but I would to hear from 'actual owners' who are towing heavy with these. ....snip........Those "reps" might be related to the ones who told me that a certain trailer was "half ton towable". Anything to make a sale. Why have ratings at all?

snip"The dry hitch weight of your rig is listed as 870 lbs by Jayco...you really added a lot of weight up front. "Funny, that's the same thing Sean at ProPride said too. Jayco isn't even in the ball park with the numbers they have online. The yellow shipping/unloaded sticker is 8200#. That's 1000# over UL weight online. Over on the Jayco forum people have posted seeing published tongue weights around 1100# years ago, and nothing has changed on the floor plan at all over the years. All I have up front is some decking boards, sewer/water gear etc, can't really see changing much. When I hit the scales I was a 8500#, that's only 300 over the shipping weight sticker, very little in camper. It's just that heavy.

I towed my previous RV with a Hensley hitch. I had a platform on the rear similar to what Burbman posted. I arranged my cargo to keep my TW in the 1250-1300# area.I used 1400# bars and never had any issues.After reading CarringB post I was careful to keep my TW in check.In your case your TW is awfully heavy. I would be concerned about the hitch.If you still have the OEM hitch receiver on the truck I would be concerned about it as well.GM trucks of that era had notoriously weak hitches.In the end I would verify the rating on the trucks hitch and if it is the OEM original I would get an aftermarket hitch.I would also keep the Hensley within its 1400# rating. I don't believe the sky will fall if you exceed 1400 pounds just a bit. But I would not ignore the 14000 rating altogether.

Good point from Lantley, I just re read your original post and the 1350 doesnt include propane so you really are close or over the 1400 lb rating.If I understand the issue you are having, heavy tongue weight causes the bad ride in the truck, and offloading tongue weight via the WD hitch then makes the TT want to sway. It sounds like you need to find a way to lighten hthe tongue, then use either the HA or PP to ensure that it doesnt sway. But using the HA or PP requires that you lighten the tongue anyway to stay within the ratings of the hitch. Kind of demonstartes what I said in that other thad about sway control, not every TT is designed with the best interests of weight and balance in mind. Ideally you could install a storage box or something at the rear of the TT to offload the tongue some.

Hensley/Propride over tongue weight ratings. | Good Sam Community

62 Replies

carringb
Explorer
Jan 04, 2015
BurbMan wrote:

There have been a few reported issues of a busted Hensley...one was from member carringb who blew his up towing a very heavy toy hauler with his van. When I say blew it up, it broke in half IIRC....here's the thread here on the forum discussing this about a year ago.
.

Sorry I'm late to the thread. Thanks for linking to my original post.

The only think I would like to emphasize is Hensley also told me "you'll be fine". Twice. The 2nd time after I finally got my trailer. 1500 miles later (halfway through the maiden voyage), the Hensley was toast.

That said... I was much heavier than the OP. i can't even guess where the "breaking point" might actually be.
BurbMan
Explorer II
Jan 04, 2015
Some additional info....the yellow bumper in Turk's picture is not a bump stop that we commonly see in coil or leaf spring suspensions...it is designed to rest on the control arm at all times and is a specifically engineered damper that works in conjunction with the torsion bars to control torsion bar movement. Agreed that front suspension loading should remain as static as possible but don't try to get that bumper off of the control arm unless you have the truck on a lift...

Stock tires on these trucks are 245's, hence the 6084 RR GAWR, it's 2 x the 3042 lb rating of the LT245-75-16E tire. The axle itself is rated at 10k+ in other applications, so going to a LT265-75-16E tire with a load rating of 3415 effectively raises you RR axle capacity to 6870. However, I agree with JBarca that 265's should not be mounted on the stock 16x 6.5" rims, it creates too much sidewall flex when towing. I went to 16x8" rims when I went with 265 tires.

John, you didn't mention what issue Joe had with the tires on his X?

I think CampingN.C. is in the same place that Joe and I got to....at some point you get tired of diddling with the variables while trying to solve the equation and so you just write the check for the HA or PP and you're done. Wrinkle here is that heavy tongue on this TT is marginally over what the HA is rated for....
Community Alumni
Jan 04, 2015
CampingN.C. wrote:
snip.....John, it just rides rough, very rough, you wouldn't be able to drink from a glass another words. I feel every bump......snip

JBarca (John) e-mailed yesterday in respect to your thread because I have a similar TV/TT combination....., some of my e-mail response comments to John were:

One possibility may be that you are bottoming out against the 2500HD's front rubber suspension stops..., been there, done it. It doesn't take much spring bar "over-adjustment" to come into contact with the suspension stops creating an awful "pounding" ride experience. Also, the underrated 1,200lb spring bars may be allowing the weight on the front suspension to fluctuate while in tow, thus creating contact with the stops.... just thinking out loud here.

I have a similar TV/TT combination as yours, and my loaded TT weights are similar as well. My loaded TT weight is just under 8,500lbs and I have a 1,300lb loaded tongue weight. I upgraded my 1,200lb bars to 1,500lb bars a couple of years ago, and IMO it was easier acquiring/maintaining my TV's front suspension weight distribution with the 1,500lb bars.

I have not had any TV handling issues with my TT since installing my Reese HP Dual Cam system about eight years ago...., and during my recent trip from Michigan to Texas I dealt with some nasty head/cross winds and my TV/TT combination preformed well.

I did start to experience difficulty keeping one of my Reese mounting bracket screws torqued into the A-frame two years ago, so I went with thru-bolting with a backer plate...., did the same to my snap-up brackets years ago.

I don't carry much cargo in my TV box, maybe 200lbs - 300lbs maximum.

Bob :)
Bob_Olallawa
Explorer
Jan 04, 2015
Are you getting the vibration type up and down shaking just on one section of highway or every where you travel? Years ago I used a section of highway not far from the house to check my weight distribution. If the road beat the heck out of me I had it right. Thankfully the road departments are doing more and more grinding of the road surface and pinning the concrete panels to help keep a smoother ride.
JBarca
Nomad II
Jan 04, 2015
CampingN.C. wrote:
If it dries out enough I'm going to get it out tomorrow and start fooling with it. I'll post measurements and pics if possible. It's been parked since Oct.
Going to the RV show today, may just bring home a 5er and be done! lol

Yes, get fender heights, front and rear:

- Truck loaded but not hitched
- Truck hitched but no WD engaged(just unhook the snap ups)
- Truck hitched with WD engaged. on 5 links and on 6 links

Measure like this. Straight up through center of axle, ground to inside fender. Measure all 4 wheels or just stick to one side of the truck front and rear. Odds are high all 4 wheels will be different. The truck is not build even or load even plus it is on "springs".

If you get the 5'er, then you can start all over again on the learning curve.... New hitch, different way to back up, do I need air bags... The only way to get simple in camping is a backpack and a tent... I use to only carry 50# on my back and had every thing I needed. Now I haul just under 10K including the kitchen sink... and still enjoy it...:B It can just be more "work" to get it all set up.

Have a good show

John
CampingN_C_
Explorer
Jan 04, 2015
If it dries out enough I'm going to get it out tomorrow and start fooling with it. I'll post measurements and pics if possible. It's been parked since Oct.
Going to the RV show today, may just bring home a 5er and be done! lol
CampingN_C_
Explorer
Jan 04, 2015
JBarca wrote:
Also do you have fender dimensions of the truck front and rear unhitched, and then on 5 links and then on 6 links? When I originally set it up I didn't keep the measurements. On 6 links the front was within 3/4 if I recall. I didn't remeasure after going to 5 links. Although it was a noticeable difference in the rear, no squat at all on 5 links.

I sent a note to my other GM/Jayco/DC buddy he may drop in here and comment. His rig and yours are close.

Try again to describe the rough ride, is it both left to right shifting and up and down bucking at the same time or can be both at different times? and what changes with 5 and then 6 links? Different things in the truck suspension cause left to right as opposed to front to back bucking.
Not really any left to right feelings to speak of, just 'bumpy' for lack of a better word.
My beer belly is at a constant jiggle !
Thanks

John
JBarca
Nomad II
Jan 04, 2015
BurbMan wrote:
JBarca wrote:
This points to the camper maybe not balanced just right yet, truck tires being an issue and WD not set correct followed by possibly a nose high camper.

While we haven't talked specifically about levelness of the rig, I don't think nose-high is the problem. Reason I say that is because the TT tows better when the OP tightens the DC. At 6 links it tows terrible but tows better at 5 links...taking that extra link raises the nose of the TT which in turn improves towing characteristics, so therefore nose-high shouldn't be what's causing the sway.

I agree that the camper is not balanced just right, but the question is whether it's even possible to get this particular unit balanced so that it tows right. What's amazing to me is how heavy the tongue is even with all that weight of the double slide and outside kitchen behind the axles. How did Joe manage his tongue weight to keep it under 1250?

Hi Don,

I agree right now, nose high is not a major piece of this but when running the DC trying to control a camper 35.5 ft long, heavy TW everything has to be optimized.

1. Camper has to be balanced right. He has 15% TW, now the truck has to handle it.
2. Tire pressures and side wall stiffness have to be right. Front tire Pressure helped him but he has a rim width issue. It is hard to pin point this as the brand/type of tire plays in this too.
3. WD settings and WB bars loading the truck suspension have to be optimized. This is still on going.
4. The truck also has to be up to the task. His 2500HD while close on pulling capacity has a lot of load capacity left so he is not fighting suspension capacity.
5. DC has to be setup correct. This can help the sway but should not be part of the bucking.
6. Trailer stance needs to be in line. Level is best, next best slight nose down. High nose up can in some cases aggravate sway.

All 6 have to be dialed in so no interactions are created from them. When your on a witch hunt, don't rule any piece out. It was like when I had the Michelin LTX tire issue on my 2500 Burb.... Everything was right and then I changed tires...

Joe and his Ex on his older 32BHDS, his did not have the rear outside kitchen and it was about 1.5 feet shorter. I remember he had to shift things inside to help lighting up the tongue to keep it at 1,250. And he did not have a 86 gallon fresh tank. He put a lot of stuff in the back of the EX. He had to add the Helwig sway bar and the RAS rear suspension to the EX to deal with the EX soft springs. He almost had the DC setup solved but gave up as he felt to close to the edge. Then later he learned about his rear tires even with the Hensley that they may have made a difference when he was on the DC.

I sent Bob an email to see if he can chime in. His rig and NC's are really close.

John
JBarca
Nomad II
Jan 04, 2015
Also do you have fender dimensions of the truck front and rear unhitched, and then on 5 links and then on 6 links?

I sent a note to my other GM/Jayco/DC buddy he may drop in here and comment. His rig and yours are close.

Try again to describe the rough ride, is it both left to right shifting and up and down bucking at the same time or can be both at different times? and what changes with 5 and then 6 links? Different things in the truck suspension cause left to right as opposed to front to back bucking.

Thanks

John
JBarca
Nomad II
Jan 04, 2015
Any chance you have a pic of the WD hitch setup with the truck and camper hitched?

Thanks for the other info. Thinking more on this.

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Hensley/Propride over tongue weight ratings.

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