Question for Hensley hitch owners

[tvfrfireman]

I just towed for the first time today with our air ride TS 3(only 5 miles) and noticed a clunk when starting and another clunk when I stopped. Any ideas? This hitch is brand new. I found the grease fitting and lubed it but am unclear where to use the spray grease mentioned in the manual. The pictures are black and white and hard to see exactly where to spray just under the plate that swivels. Thanks for any help. David

[Cummins12V98]

pcm1959 wrote:

golf_bears wrote:
tvfrfireman, thanks for getting back to us.

I had the same problem and I had a Teflon disc between the hitch head and the pin box. Found out I needed more than the standard thickness (1/4" or 3/16" ??) thickness on the Teflon plate. I ended up putting two Teflon plates in, one older one slightly worn down and a new one. Solved the problem for me.

I think Hensley sells a thicker Teflon plate to deal with this problem. Call and ask them.

Also, as suggested, make sure the rail bolts are torque up properly, I think 75 ft-lbs is the right number.

Actually, Hensley sells a THINNER Teflon disc due to the tighter tolerances. Most people have difficulty being able to use a standard thickness Teflon disc, if at all, with the Holland heads. p

Bought one for my B&W it makes it easier to see when the pressure is off the hitch.

[Pete_k]

Mine also has no issue. But if you just sit the hitch down on the rails without going by the Manual it could happen. As in put the hitch in the rails without the legs on the hitch being tightened down. Then after hitch is on the rails Torque the bolts down?
Pete

[mr176]

I also have a TS3. I had no noise for the first year and a half. Last season I developed a similar clunk. I would check to see if the hitch is moving in the rails (I have the Hensley Ford adaptor). With the trailer disconnected, get in the bed and push/pull the hitch back and forth to see if you can duplicate the clunk. I ended up using a thin plastic shim between the rail and hitch "tab" to stop the movement.

If your hitch is all tight there, hook up the trailer, engage the trailer brakes and slowly rock the truck back and forth. Check for movement of the kingpin inside of the hitch head. I believe Hensley now makes their own hitch head as they advertise "Holland-Binkley style hitch head". I think the new style leaves a little more room to make it easier to hitch. If you have play in the hitch head itself I think you'll have to contact Hensley for assistance.

[lakeside013104]

We have a TS3 with 8,000 miles on it and NO clunking noises to date. I use 1/8" thick Teflon disc I purchased from Aaron at Hensley. Give him a call and I am sure he will be more than happy to assist you. Good luck and keep us posted.

Lakeside

[pcm1959]

Ditto! I did a lot of research, as well, including a number of calls to Hensley. I will say that their willingness to answer questions, their availability to be of service, and promise of satisfaction is to be commended. All of the before mentioned a rarity these days. Hensley has assured me of my satisfaction....that is comforting and all I have to know. Phillip

[JTrac]

crcr wrote:

pcm1959 wrote:
I have been going through the same issue ever since I've owned the Hensley BD3. I just installed a completely new head that they sent me. I can't see any difference in the head.
However, I believe that the clunking is from the slight bit of play at the pivot point of the hitch head to the hitch frame itself. There is a large, about an inch in diameter bolt, that actually holds the entire hitch head to the frame and allows it to pivot side to side.
If you grasp the hitch head and push/pull it fore/aft, even though it is slight, the movement creates a clunk.
So today while installing the new hitch head Hensley sent me, I installed a bushing that took the gap out of the area where the play. I greased it up, slipped it in and there is NO more fore/aft play.
I feel confident that this was the problem as I've never such an issue prior to this set-up.
Good Luck, Phillip

Sounds like it may be necessary to re-engineer what is I believe a fairly pricey hitch. So far I'm not impressed with what I've been reading on this thread and elsewhere about this Hensley hitch.

I did a lot of research before I got the BD 3 and any air ride hitch is pricey. The BD3 is not as bad comparatively speaking. I did not find much in the way of "bad press" on any of the air hitches but there is always going to be problems with mechanical things. I got mine this spring and have put about 8K miles on it. My opinion is it is as easy to use or even easier to use than the B&W I replaced it with. Hook up is always positive and solid. With the jaws locking automatically like they do there is little to no chance of dropping the trailer on the bed, which is a feature I really liked on the B&W.

Where it makes its money in the towing. We did a 6 week, 4800 mile trip this fall and hit some amazingly bad roads. Watching the truck and trailer move independently of each other and not feeling the trailer movements made my wife a happy camper. I set the pressure in the bags before we left home and never had to make any adjustments on the entire trip.

[crcr]

pcm1959 wrote:
I have been going through the same issue ever since I've owned the Hensley BD3. I just installed a completely new head that they sent me. I can't see any difference in the head.
However, I believe that the clunking is from the slight bit of play at the pivot point of the hitch head to the hitch frame itself. There is a large, about an inch in diameter bolt, that actually holds the entire hitch head to the frame and allows it to pivot side to side.
If you grasp the hitch head and push/pull it fore/aft, even though it is slight, the movement creates a clunk.
So today while installing the new hitch head Hensley sent me, I installed a bushing that took the gap out of the area where the play. I greased it up, slipped it in and there is NO more fore/aft play.
I feel confident that this was the problem as I've never such an issue prior to this set-up.
Good Luck, Phillip

Sounds like it may be necessary to re-engineer what is I believe a fairly pricey hitch. So far I'm not impressed with what I've been reading on this thread and elsewhere about this Hensley hitch.

[JTrac]

pcm1959 wrote:
I have been going through the same issue ever since I've owned the Hensley BD3. I just installed a completely new head that they sent me. I can't see any difference in the head.
However, I believe that the clunking is from the slight bit of play at the pivot point of the hitch head to the hitch frame itself. There is a large, about an inch, in diameter bolt that actually hold the entire hitch head to the frame and allows it to pivot side to side.
If you grasp the hitch head and push/pull it fore/aft, even thought it is slight, the movement creates a clunk.
So today while installing the new hitch head Hensley sent me, I installed a bushing that took the gap out of the area where the play is. I greased it up, slipped it in and there is NOo more fore/aft play.
I feel confident that this was the problem as I've never such an issue prior to this set-up.
Good Luck, Phillip

Thanks for posting this. It gives me something I need to check. I did replace the bushings in my Demco Glide Ride pin box today as it had a lot of play in all directions. The new bushings made it solid but it will March before I will hook up again so I won't if that fixed it or if the BD3 is the problem.

[pcm1959]

I have been going through the same issue ever since I've owned the Hensley BD3. I just installed a completely new head that they sent me. I can't see any difference in the head.
However, I believe that the clunking is from the slight bit of play at the pivot point of the hitch head to the hitch frame itself. There is a large, about an inch in diameter bolt, that actually holds the entire hitch head to the frame and allows it to pivot side to side.
If you grasp the hitch head and push/pull it fore/aft, even though it is slight, the movement creates a clunk.
So today while installing the new hitch head Hensley sent me, I installed a bushing that took the gap out of the area where the play. I greased it up, slipped it in and there is NO more fore/aft play.
I feel confident that this was the problem as I've never such an issue prior to this set-up.
Good Luck, Phillip

[Jandsa]

.

[pcm1959]

golf_bears wrote:
tvfrfireman, thanks for getting back to us.

I had the same problem and I had a Teflon disc between the hitch head and the pin box. Found out I needed more than the standard thickness (1/4" or 3/16" ??) thickness on the Teflon plate. I ended up putting two Teflon plates in, one older one slightly worn down and a new one. Solved the problem for me.

I think Hensley sells a thicker Teflon plate to deal with this problem. Call and ask them.

Also, as suggested, make sure the rail bolts are torque up properly, I think 75 ft-lbs is the right number.

Actually, Hensley sells a THINNER Teflon disc due to the tighter tolerances. Most people have difficulty being able to use a standard thickness Teflon disc, if at all, with the Holland heads. p

[goducks10]

Any chance it could be a loose connection with the 4 pins that hold the hitch to the rails. I have old rails and a new B&W Patriot and if I don't shim between the rails and hitch it will clunk on stop and start. I guess if you rails and hitch are both new then that probably should be the issue.

[golf_bears]

tvfrfireman, thanks for getting back to us.

I had the same problem and I had a Teflon disc between the hitch head and the pin box. Found out I needed more than the standard thickness (1/4" or 3/16" ??) thickness on the Teflon plate. I ended up putting two Teflon plates in, one older one slightly worn down and a new one. Solved the problem for me.

I think Hensley sells a thicker Teflon plate to deal with this problem. Call and ask them.

Also, as suggested, make sure the rail bolts are torque up properly, I think 75 ft-lbs is the right number.

[aruba5er]

I can't think of anything that would clunk other than the rails too loose? the hitch head doesn't leave any (or little) slop and if you are aired right so the bags don't go all the way down (or up) should be no noise or slack anywhere. My hitch is from 2004 and have no clunking. Call Hensley and ask the experts, the people that built the thing rather than a bunch of us that are guessing 800-410-6580 or maybe you have a bowling ball in the bed.