Have you switched from friction sway control to HA or P#?

[larryscsi]

I have been using the Reese Dual Cam for 6 years on two different TTs. My last trip has got me thinking about going to the P3. The Reese has worked well with a moment here or there. However, the last trip was on Interstate 81 in the mountains with heavy Tractor Trailer traffic. I was on high alert the entire drive and had a lot of sway...

Anyone else have such an adventure and then go to the HA or P3? Please let me know if you found a difference?

Thanks.

[mister_d]

Reese Dual Cam to HA for us ... I now let my wife help tow on long trips while I sleep .. it's that safe(;

[Wes_Tausend]

93Cobra2771 wrote:

My HA I picked up second hand had elongated holes in the same position on both sides. The HA people said it was caused by improperly adjusted strut bars, allowing the head to flop back and forth.

I once turned too sharp and the rear frame mount brackets moved slightly. This is in spite of hefty C-bolt clamps and shearbolts. This loosened the struts of course. Because of the fulcrum ratio, the strut adjustment only need be a half thread loose to cause a major side-to-side "bump" swivel effect which begans to damage parts. Check the struts often, I guess. I'm still learning.

Wes
...

[jspence1]

Time for me to give my $0.02. I just got back from a 9k mile trip over 48 days with my new to me Hensley. I didn't experience the hensley bump or any other issues despite having an emergency stop where I smoked the tires. Under normal driving conditions I didn't notice any difference between my old WD hitch and the hensley. However when you add a good cross wind the hensley shows it's worth.

[93Cobra2771]

jerem0621,

Interesting picture and story. It appears that only one side was torn in a tension incident.

The strut normally forces the head forward (and the ball into the TT coupler pocket) when properly adjusted, and the threaded strut rod just falls out of its tube when pulled straight ahead in mock tension by these pin holes. It is hard to imagine how this occurred.

Perhaps the head was somehow allowed to suddenly rotate by the rear strut pin coming out, and the strut rod, trapped by the tongue frame, twisted out of its pin mounting when the head rotated. One would think the strut pin boss would break off first, but the forward threaded strut rod end is solid steel otherwise.

Thanks.

Wes
...

My HA I picked up second hand had elongated holes in the same position on both sides. The HA people said it was caused by improperly adjusted strut bars, allowing the head to flop back and forth.

[Bigbird65]

Dso66 wrote:
Ok ok. I'm new and just putting together the whole thing. I'm thinking a TT withe a Hensley. I've also been told that the salesmen at most dealers are about worthless. How do I learn the proper way to hook up and such? I wish there were classes. I have plenty of time. Just looking ahead.

I'm not familiar with a Hensley. We just completed a 2415 mile round trip to Florida with no problems what-so-ever. I am using a very common type WDH and friction sway control. The brand is Husky that I bought from Camping World when it was on sale. It is very easy to hook up and install the spring bars. The sway control works great. When I bought the WDH the instructions were very good. Not so much with the sway control. Here are a couple of photos showing both sides of the trailer. I'll be glad to try to answer any questions you may have.

[Dso66]

Ok ok. I'm new and just putting together the whole thing. I'm thinking a TT withe a Hensley. I've also been told that the salesmen at most dealers are about worthless. How do I learn the proper way to hook up and such? I wish there were classes. I have plenty of time. Just looking ahead.

[larryscsi]

Thank you all for the comments and concerns. I found a used (2 months old used twice) 3p hitch. Can't wait to swap the hitches and try it out. I'll follow up on my experience with it.

[Wes_Tausend]

...

Burbman,

I remember seeing that picture of your damaged receiver some time ago. In all fairness to GM, either Hensley design does increase the amount of "twist" over that of standard designs. On the other hand, I haven't heard of any receiver tube failures besides this one GM design. Other GM designs work ok.

The receiver tube is basically analogous to the fulcrum I spoke of earlier, and takes the full brunt of 4-link increased leverage. Besides the torn visible rear tube support, was there also another welded support behind it (to the front of the tube) that was completely torn loose?

A more accurate, but more complicated, analogy to the lever/fulcrum idea would be to consider the fulcrum location moves throughout the turning range. The fulcrum is almost at the far end of the short side of the lever when straight ahead, giving maximum leverage when straight, but more to the center when turned sharply. This variable ratio principle then mandates that an even smaller amount of unwanted play means a greater ratio of side-to-side slop in the link arms whenever the hitch is aimed straight ahead.

FWIW, I did measure a simulated 1/16 inch strut looseness to see how many turns of the coarse-threaded strut adjustment nut this represents. One sixteenth inch is equal to .0625 thousandths, so I combined a .025, a .020 and a .017 feeler gauge to comprise a total thickness of .062 (just .0005 shy of 1/16 inch). After I snugged against the thickness of the gauge pack, I was able to turn the strut adjustment nut about an additional 1/2 turn to the same snugness with no gap. My struts were once much looser than that after turning too sharp (U-ball) one time. I found the problem shortly when I made a brisk stop at a light and got the bump.

Other than that incident, I have never gotten a bump, and that includes with an original faulty F-250 brake controller that did not set any trailer brakes automatically. I had to manually operate it and often did not bother with TT brakes for slowspeed stops until I finally corrected the controller problem. In addition, on faster stops, I seldom manually led the trailer brakes with the faulty brake controller... still with no bump problem. Apparently leading with the trailer brakes is not necessary in every instance, although I would still definately recommend it for hard stops that may tilt the truck/trailer angle which may allow strut slack.

Wes
==========================================================================

jerem0621,

Interesting picture and story. It appears that only one side was torn in a tension incident.

The strut normally forces the head forward (and the ball into the TT coupler pocket) when properly adjusted, and the threaded strut rod just falls out of its tube when pulled straight ahead in mock tension by these pin holes. It is hard to imagine how this occurred.

Perhaps the head was somehow allowed to suddenly rotate by the rear strut pin coming out, and the strut rod, trapped by the tongue frame, twisted out of its pin mounting when the head rotated. One would think the strut pin boss would break off first, but the forward threaded strut rod end is solid steel otherwise.

Thanks.

Wes
...

[jerem0621]

I'm am fascinated by the Hensley twins. I love the design, but it seems that there are several reports of failures with cracks and the sort. Every report I have read has resulted in Hensley taking care of the issue.

I did read the classic thread in the Rv.net archives about the Ha Ha failure in Knoxville about 10 ish years ago. There was allusion that the HAHA failed but no proof presented for sure. Just statements that it was the failure point. I'll try to find the link later since I'm on the old iPhone right now. Maybe this is the thread JJBRISH linked too previously.

I am not opposed to owning a HaHa. Not at all. Any mechanical device can fail...we all need to be reminded of that from time to time.

I did watch the youtube video that JJBRISH alluded too about the constant Hensley bump. It was CONSTANT and happened so much on the video that I wondered if it was faked.

Here is a pic or a Hensley hitch head I actually made an offer on. I figured it was rebuildable.

One of the strut mount holes are ripped out. I can only imagine what happened.

[mhardin]

I've had my Hensley for over nine years and never had "the bump". I used the (discontinued) Jordan Ultima controller which had a direct connection to the brake pedal and was easily adjusted to activate the trailer brakes first. Now, I use the Ford factory controller and have had no issues. Guess I've been lucky because enough folks have posted about it to make me believe it exists for some. The damaged receiver above is a graphic testimony.

[Obewan]

Everyone tows with what they are comfortable with. Just make sure it's set up right and you know how to use it safely. Last week the campground host asked me to help a guy hitch up his trailer cause he'd been trying for an hour and couldn't get it hitched. 30 seconds later, after opening the coupler and moving the truck 2 inches forward, he was hooked up. Then I saw him uncross his chains and put a coupler lock through the 2 chains to keep them together.... No lock on the coupler..... He was headed cross country.

If you're uncomfortable with your current setup, I'd highly recommend trying the HA but it too needs to be set up and dialed in correctly.

[BurbMan]

alexleblanc wrote:
how dare you bring up actual long term user experience in this thread!

We bought our HA in 2002 and have been using it since.

I was so excited when it was delivered, I installed it right away and took the family for a trial run to a local county park about 40 mins away. At the time I had an el-cheapo brake controller that I bought when we had the small 26' TT. The first traffic light that I came to *WHAM*, it felt like I got rear-ended. Pulled over after the light changed and got out and looked, I thought for sure I forgot to tighten something. Everything looked good so kept going. Happened a few more times and I figured something must be wrong, so I called Hensley and they explained that I had my brake controller adjusted incorrectly. Purchased a Prodigy shortly thereafter and have not had any issues since.

Here is probably the worst thing that's happened to me from a Hensley Bump:



Waiting in the left turn lane at the last traffic light before home, about 2 miles to go. The arrow turns green and as I accelerate into the intersection to make my left, here comes a car from the opposite direction blowing through the red light. I stomp on the brakes and the Burb stops on a dime. Now, I was only going maybe 5 -7 mph, so I was slow enough that the TT brakes didn't have enough speed to activate, yet the 9000 lb TT had a enough momentum at that low speed to come forward and bump the truck. Note that the bump is offset based on how the cams work, so since the truck was turned to the left, the TT went to the right, and the receiver tube couldn't handle that lateral load.

(SIDE NOTE: There has been much discussion about the poor quality of GM OEM receivers in the 2000-2007 series trucks, and many more pictures of this one show poor welds that had been rusting for years. Therefore we know that this receiver tube was already compromised before the bump twisted it.)

Nonetheless, the interesting part about this whole event was that I towed the TT home the remaining 2 miles and never knew anything was wrong! Only when I started to back the TT into its space, I noticed it wouldn't track right in reverse, so got out and discovered the receiver damage.

So....your glass is either half empty:

"The design of this hitch is so inherently flawed that the "bump" can literally tear the receiver off of the truck."

OR, half full"

" The design of this hitch is so superior that even with the receiver twisted at a 45* angle, the HA still prevented sway to the point I never knew anything was wrong with the receiver."

You decide.

[chr_]

Overloading the front axle of the TV definitely does make towing a white nuckle chore. I tried a lot of different settings with my Equalizer and one of them loaded the front end so much, the ABS kicked in on the TV nearly every time I hit the brakes. Good I was just testing on a local sleepy road near the house.

Doesn't really matter which hitch you run, just set it up right.

[Keith_Haw]

Wills250psd wrote:
The Hensley is light years ahead of any friction sway hitch period!!! I have towed 20,000 plus miles and the bump although possible if you have little to no trailer brakes has never happened to me. Anyone who would avoid this hitch for any reason including price MAY have their priorities wrong. You have thousands in your TT and thousands in your TV, now what is your safety worth? I would recommend the HA to everyone and IMO it should be standard equipment on all new TT's.

There are as many reasons to NOT run a HA/PP as there are people that don't run them. Just like a $250K diesel pusher, some can't afford it, some can't justify having one and some that wouldn't have one if they could afford it. There have been millions of miles driven with regular hitches, anti-sway hitches and friction control hitches without any problems. Just because someone prefers their HA/PP doesn't mean everyone should or would get one. What others run or think has very little to do with what I buy. I do ask others opinion sometimes but ultimately make my own decision for my own reasons. Just my opinion.

Keith