Switching From Hensley To SwayPro

[Roadtech]

Has anyone switched from a Hensley design hitch (Hensley Arrow or ProPride) to a Blue Ox SwayPro or other non-Hensley design hitch in order to simplify hitching and unhitching. I understand that the sway elimination may be compromised somewhat, but it would sure make life easier not to have to line up those angles to get the stinger to seat into or disengage from the hitch box, especially when you are dealing with uneven ground and severe angles when backing into tight spaces.

[LVJJJ]

Good grief, reading about all the hassles of Hensley etc., sure makes me appreciate my Equal-I-zer, a rather simple answer.

[llr]

I can't compare the 2 hitches but I am very happy with the Blue Ox sway pro with a 35' overall trailer. It took a few time to get it right but I don't notice any sway, wind,trucks moves the truck and trailer together.

it is very quite unlike the Equalizer 4pt. Easy to hook and unhook, you do need to raise the tongue to connect and disconnect so I consider a power tongue jack a requirement. Easy to hook up and if you needed to move to straighten up I don't see an issue unless your tongue weight is way higher then you non WDH hitch rating.

[Ralph_Cramden]

IdaD wrote:
A 7500 lb Airstream behind a HD truck? While I don't know the specifics of OPs truck, if it was my truck I'd drop the trailer on a ball hitch and see how it did.

Hallelujah...............only in an RV forum do people claim you can't use a vehicle for what it was intended for, without over complicating it.

[Roadtech]

camperforlife wrote:
You also need to be pretty straight on the tongue or it does make it harder to latch the bars.

Couldn't you, before latching the bars, pull the trailer to a level, straight place, and then latch the bars? You couldn't do that with a Hensley design.

[camperforlife]

Roadtech I have the BO and I love it but I will tell you it does have some hitching idiosyncrasies you may want to weigh against hitching the Hensley.

The BO does require that you lift the tongue quite high to remove the pressure off the BO to easily engage the rotating latch. You have to do the same to SAFELY disengage the rotating latch. Failure to do so can flip the latch wrench out of your hand. You also need to be pretty straight on the tongue or it does make it harder to latch the bars.

[busterbrown73]

Roadtech wrote:

gmw photos wrote:
Good morning Roadtech. Looking at your profile, you have an Airstream ? You might want to run this by the fellas over on Airforums, if you have not already. On Airforums you'll find a wide variety of comments from running with no WD hitch at all, up thru the HA/PP crowd, so you'll get a lot of opinions and experience.

I have read many of the threads on Air Forums on sway and hitches.

I wish there was a way to test out hitches with your rig before committing to one. Unfortunately, that's not possible. You have to commit, go through the installation, and then hope it works. If it doesn't, it gets expensive.

Yes it does. I witnessed this first hand. I'm hoping to recover some of my losses this spring when I list the BO on my local CL.

Regarding trailer length, there is definitely a positive relationship between increasing length and sway...as the sail has more area. I think most with trailers 26' and under have decent results with these hitches...as long as the trailer is loaded properly and is a proper match for the TV.

[IdaD]

A 7500 lb Airstream behind a HD truck? While I don't know the specifics of OPs truck, if it was my truck I'd drop the trailer on a ball hitch and see how it did.

[mkirsch]

Roadtech wrote:
In my case, I have a 28' trailer towed by a 3/4 ton truck, so maybe I don't have as much of a sway or WD issue.

Lots of guys here will tell you that you don't need WD or sway control at all with a 3/4 ton truck.

I won't be one of them, but unless your trailer is a truly awful design, you really should not need more than basic integrated sway control with a 3/4 ton truck. There are some trailers that NEED the advanced sway control of an HA or PP. IMHO these trailers should be taken back to the RV dealer and shoved up the manufactuer rep's you-know-what.

[Roadtech]

gmw photos wrote:
Good morning Roadtech. Looking at your profile, you have an Airstream ? You might want to run this by the fellas over on Airforums, if you have not already. On Airforums you'll find a wide variety of comments from running with no WD hitch at all, up thru the HA/PP crowd, so you'll get a lot of opinions and experience.

I have read many of the threads on Air Forums on sway and hitches.

I wish there was a way to test out hitches with your rig before committing to one. Unfortunately, that's not possible. You have to commit, go through the installation, and then hope it works. If it doesn't, it gets expensive.

[gmw_photos]

Roadtech wrote:

gmw photos wrote:
all that said, I have read of some folks who simply could not get a good towing trailer with anything but a hensley or a propride. Several folks over on the airforms ( Airstream ) had much difficulty getting their trailer to tow safely until they went to a HAHA or PP.
So it could come down to that. You may "need" one of those hitches to make it work.

I wonder if the issue with some needing the Hensley design to get good towing performance has to do with their combination of tow vehicle and trailer like a 1/2 ton or less pulling a 28' or longer trailer. In my case, I have a 28' trailer towed by a 3/4 ton truck, so maybe I don't have as much of a sway or WD issue.

Good morning Roadtech. Looking at your profile, you have an Airstream ? You might want to run this by the fellas over on Airforums, if you have not already. There seems to be a difference between A/S models of different lengths and models as to set up.

Some guys describe easy set up and rock solid handling and others require very careful setup and the need for a HA or PP to get them to tow correctly.

My take on it regarding your comment of the 3/4 ton truck is that yes in fact WD may be less of an issues compared to a 1/2 ton, but that sway is more of a trailer itself issue.

On Airforums you'll find a wide variety of comments from running with no WD hitch at all, up thru the HA/PP crowd, so you'll get a lot of opinions and experience.

EDIT: good thread here for reading about different experiences regarding all these issues.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f463/2017-ford-f250-and-trailer-sway-169341.html

[Roadtech]

busterbrown73 wrote:
My TV was a Yukon XL Denali with the 6.2L engine and 6 speed transmission. My set up was below payload capacity on the TV and within specs on everything else (GAWR, GVWR, GCVWR, Tires (LT), towing capacity). When I towed with the BO Sway Pro, semis, down hills, and wind were always a concern. I found myself looking in my rear view mirrors awaiting the next obstacle or lateral force on my trailer as I continuously made steering inputs. It was exhausting to drive any significant distant. I just thought it was normal sway reduction behavior.

After the last trip out with the BO, I upgraded to the HA. What a profound difference. The trailer felt solid behind my truck for the first time. The exhaustive steering corrections were required no more. It was like the both the TV and trailer were riding on the same rails.

Last year, we upgraded the TV to a new Ram 2500 Megacab due to the extensive miles on my Yukon and some long distant camping trips we were planning. Didn't want to risk a mechanical failure on my TV being 2,000 miles away from home. My first time out with my Ram had me curious so I remounted the Blue Ox to pull the same trailer. On the freeway, I began having that same feeling of unpredicable, lateral forces on the trailer. The need to input steering corrections was apparent again for the first time since this same hitch was pair with my Yukon. Memories of "looking more in my rear view mirror than at the road in front" started in my head. Suffice it to say, that was the last time I used my BO. It will now be sold at a considerable discount as my Hensley Arrow will continue to eliminate all sway conditions for the foreseeable future.

Thanks for your reply. It does make me pause. I have researched the BO SwayPro on more than a dozen trailer forums and the ratio of good reviews to bad is 25 to 1 to the good. But, most of these reviewers don't have any experience with the Hensley design, so they don't have the reference point that you have. The only difference I see in your experience is with your trailer length. All of the SwayPro reviews I have read are on trailers 30' or less. I understand your TV is within the limits of your application, but not sure if your 35' makes a difference with the SwayPro design.

[busterbrown73]

Roadtech wrote:
What tow vehicle are you using to tow your 35 foot trailer?

My TV was a Yukon XL Denali with the 6.2L engine and 6 speed transmission. My set up was below payload capacity on the TV and within specs on everything else (GAWR, GVWR, GCVWR, Tires (LT), towing capacity). When I towed with the BO Sway Pro, semis, down hills, and wind were always a concern. I found myself looking in my rear view mirrors awaiting the next obstacle or lateral force on my trailer as I continuously made steering inputs. It was exhausting to drive any significant distant. I just thought it was normal sway reduction behavior.

After the last trip out with the BO, I upgraded to the HA. What a profound difference. The trailer felt solid behind my truck for the first time. The exhaustive steering corrections were required no more. It was like the both the TV and trailer were riding on the same rails.

Last year, we upgraded the TV to a new Ram 2500 Megacab due to the extensive miles on my Yukon and some long distant camping trips we were planning. Didn't want to risk a mechanical failure on my TV being 2,000 miles away from home. My first time out with my Ram had me curious so I remounted the Blue Ox to pull the same trailer. On the freeway, I began having that same feeling of unpredicable, lateral forces on the trailer. The need to input steering corrections was apparent again for the first time since this same hitch was pair with my Yukon. Memories of "looking more in my rear view mirror than at the road in front" started in my head. Suffice it to say, that was the last time I used my BO. It will now be sold at a considerable discount as my Hensley Arrow will continue to eliminate all sway conditions for the foreseeable future.

[Lynnmor]

BurbMan wrote:

carringb wrote:
Yes, I did. Because the Hensley isn't as strong as the Dual Cam or Sway Pro.

Only guy to ever break a Hensley LOL!

You should Google: hensley hitch cracked

Yes, they fail and it's been reported on this very forum.

[goducks10]

I towed a 31' 7300 lb TT with a 2010 F150 Max Tow. I used an Eq 4pt sway WDH. It was marginal on normal days. Great in the mountains where holding a straight line is not important. On moderate windy day (5-10 mph) I had to pay attention when out on wide open roads.
Found a used HA for $950. Made all the difference.
However depending on where you hitch or unhitch it can be a PITA.
When I parked my TT in the driveway the truck and TT were in a 'V' shaped. So it took about 5 times hitching up. I could back up about 1-2", then I'd have to get out and raise the HA, get back in the truck and back up another 1-2". Rinse repeat. One time I pulled into a perfectly level RV spot and couldn't get the truck and TT disconnected. The HA was stuck on the stinger. 10 cuss words later it finally came loose. And yes it was greased.
We dry camp a lot. Hitching up on a slanted both ways gravel/dirt spur can test your patients.
If I were to tow a long (32'-36') TT again I MAY consider one. More than likely not though. I would give the Blue OX a try 1st.
The other thing I would make sure I have are TT axles that are more towards the rear and not close to the center of the TT. Some TT's just flat out handle better than others. Proper axle placement, stiffer suspension and frame, and correct loading, etc.

[Roadtech]

gmw photos wrote:
all that said, I have read of some folks who simply could not get a good towing trailer with anything but a hensley or a propride. Several folks over on the airforms ( Airstream ) had much difficulty getting their trailer to tow safely until they went to a HAHA or PP.
So it could come down to that. You may "need" one of those hitches to make it work.

I wonder if the issue with some needing the Hensley design to get good towing performance has to do with their combination of tow vehicle and trailer like a 1/2 ton or less pulling a 28' or longer trailer. In my case, I have a 28' trailer towed by a 3/4 ton truck, so maybe I don't have as much of a sway or WD issue.