Hensley or....

[eipo]

With the purchase of our 35' (OAL) trailer, I am curious if a non top of the line hitch will prove satisfactory? It isn't abnormally tongue heavy for the truck, but will certainly benefit from sway elimination.

What are the top contenders below Hensley or ProPride?

[elidodge]

just wanted to say I love my Pro Pride, never any problem. But these are complacted hitches that most dealers don`t understand or want to devot the time to under stand the
Bobby
m.

[eipo]

Well, I hooked everything up today and took her for a spin. Everything is working as it should. Going to chock this one up to having the snap up brackets mounted to far back.

[eipo]

Most certainly.

[93Cobra2771]

When you are all hooked up and such again, take a bunch of pics so we can see the setup. Even as far as standing in the bed of the truck and shooting down on the assembly, perhaps zoomed out a bit...

[eipo]

Thanks!

[copsey]

eipo wrote:

93Cobra2771 wrote:

eipo wrote:
Ok, here is my hypothesis....

When the dealer installed the hitch, he placed the snap up brackets at 26.5" back from the coupler. They were forward as far as he could get them without moving the propane tanks forward. This left the chains at a measured 20 degrees from being plumb. So I pulled the LPG bracket and placed the brackets at the required 25.5", but still didnt like the angle on the chains so I called Hensley and I was told I could cheat them forward .5" so thats what I did. Sitting at 25" the chains are ALMOST plumb....

Now, my hypothesis is the previous angle on the chains was pulling the head back not allowing it to self center with the minor amount of pull I was putting on it in my driveway. 1000 pound bars with the chains sitting at 20 degrees will place a fair bit of pull on the head.

I am still working on my battery upgrades so I haven't been able to test my hypothesis now that I have the snap up brackets moved. I hope to have the majority of my battery upgrades done this weekend.

Now you see why I wanted you to slow using the brake controller. This would tell me whether it centers properly with some force applied to it. Sitting in the driveway and moving it around isn't enough force. I've had the bottom part (not the orange part) be shifted to one side or the other after making a turn in a campground. This happens because no rear force has been applied to the trailer in the slow speed of a parking lot, or the road is slightly downhill.

Slowing down with the brake controller will tell you if it is truly centered while driving down the road.

It will not center if:

Strut bars are incorrectly adjusted/off center (addressed)
Snap up brackets aren't equally mounted distance wise from the tongue.

I suppose the snap up brackets forward position could cause the black bottom to "settle" to one side or the other. However, I would think even a minimum amount of rear force to the trailer would pull it back into position.

Prior to snapping that picture I did manually engage the trailer brakes to see if it would pull the hitch straight, It did not. There was enough braking force to bring the TT and TV to a stop, but perhaps not enough to get the hitch straightened out.

Ill know more when I get it put back together and pull it down the road. 20 degrees on the chains would put quite a bit of force on the bars....

If this doesn't change anything I would drop the w/d bars completely and try it for a short distance. Hope it all works out!

[eipo]

93Cobra2771 wrote:

eipo wrote:
Ok, here is my hypothesis....

When the dealer installed the hitch, he placed the snap up brackets at 26.5" back from the coupler. They were forward as far as he could get them without moving the propane tanks forward. This left the chains at a measured 20 degrees from being plumb. So I pulled the LPG bracket and placed the brackets at the required 25.5", but still didnt like the angle on the chains so I called Hensley and I was told I could cheat them forward .5" so thats what I did. Sitting at 25" the chains are ALMOST plumb....

Now, my hypothesis is the previous angle on the chains was pulling the head back not allowing it to self center with the minor amount of pull I was putting on it in my driveway. 1000 pound bars with the chains sitting at 20 degrees will place a fair bit of pull on the head.

I am still working on my battery upgrades so I haven't been able to test my hypothesis now that I have the snap up brackets moved. I hope to have the majority of my battery upgrades done this weekend.

Now you see why I wanted you to slow using the brake controller. This would tell me whether it centers properly with some force applied to it. Sitting in the driveway and moving it around isn't enough force. I've had the bottom part (not the orange part) be shifted to one side or the other after making a turn in a campground. This happens because no rear force has been applied to the trailer in the slow speed of a parking lot, or the road is slightly downhill.

Slowing down with the brake controller will tell you if it is truly centered while driving down the road.

It will not center if:

Strut bars are incorrectly adjusted/off center (addressed)
Snap up brackets aren't equally mounted distance wise from the tongue.

I suppose the snap up brackets forward position could cause the black bottom to "settle" to one side or the other. However, I would think even a minimum amount of rear force to the trailer would pull it back into position.

Prior to snapping that picture I did manually engage the trailer brakes to see if it would pull the hitch straight, It did not. There was enough braking force to bring the TT and TV to a stop, but perhaps not enough to get the hitch straightened out.

Ill know more when I get it put back together and pull it down the road. 20 degrees on the chains would put quite a bit of force on the bars....

[93Cobra2771]

eipo wrote:
Ok, here is my hypothesis....

When the dealer installed the hitch, he placed the snap up brackets at 26.5" back from the coupler. They were forward as far as he could get them without moving the propane tanks forward. This left the chains at a measured 20 degrees from being plumb. So I pulled the LPG bracket and placed the brackets at the required 25.5", but still didnt like the angle on the chains so I called Hensley and I was told I could cheat them forward .5" so thats what I did. Sitting at 25" the chains are ALMOST plumb....

Now, my hypothesis is the previous angle on the chains was pulling the head back not allowing it to self center with the minor amount of pull I was putting on it in my driveway. 1000 pound bars with the chains sitting at 20 degrees will place a fair bit of pull on the head.

I am still working on my battery upgrades so I haven't been able to test my hypothesis now that I have the snap up brackets moved. I hope to have the majority of my battery upgrades done this weekend.

Now you see why I wanted you to slow using the brake controller. This would tell me whether it centers properly with some force applied to it. Sitting in the driveway and moving it around isn't enough force. I've had the bottom part (not the orange part) be shifted to one side or the other after making a turn in a campground. This happens because no rear force has been applied to the trailer in the slow speed of a parking lot, or the road is slightly downhill.

Slowing down with the brake controller will tell you if it is truly centered while driving down the road.

It will not center if:

Strut bars are incorrectly adjusted/off center (addressed)
Snap up brackets aren't equally mounted distance wise from the tongue.

I suppose the snap up brackets forward position could cause the black bottom to "settle" to one side or the other. However, I would think even a minimum amount of rear force to the trailer would pull it back into position.

[eipo]

BarneyS wrote:

The chains cannot pull the hitch head back if the struts are tight. If indeed what you said is true then the struts were loose. The hitch head (again I am only talking about the orange top part, not the black bottom part) must not move at all except to rock in a vertical plane but not in a horizontal plane at all. The only part of the hitch that should turn is the black bottom part.

I am using "head" somewhat lackadaisically. The head (orange) is adjusted square with the trailer tongue and struts are adjusted correctly and tight.

The distribution bars attached to the lower unit being pulled by the chains I hypothesize is my issue from the brackets being incorrectly installed by the dealer.

BarneyS wrote:

I also do not quite understand what you meant when you said "The head isn't turned on the trailer, its pivoted over via the links between the upper and lower section."
That is contrary to the picture. The picture clearly shows the hitch head (orange) turned to the right.

It isn't. The head (orange) is indeed square with the trailer tongue. Any appearance of the head not being square is a byproduct of camera angle.

BarneyS wrote:

The distance between the corners of the head are not the same on both sides. That cannot happen , as far as I can see, unless the struts are not adjusted equally. The head cannot "pivot over" due to the links between the top and bottom parts. The bottom (black) part can but not the top.
Those two struts are key to the Hensley hitch operating correctly. They must be set right.

I apologize for using two different terms interchangeably.

BarneyS wrote:

To show what I am talking about, lay a straightedge (ruler or whatever) directly over the picture and aligned exactly in the center of the tongue latch. This will indicate the trailers centerline. Now see if the front of your hitch is at a 90 degree angle to the centerline. It is not. It is angled to the right, which means the struts are not adjusted correctly and are not even on both sides of the trailer.

Ive double checked these measurements, both prior to and after moving the brackets. The head (orange) is square to the trailer tongue.

BarneyS wrote:

If has nothing to do with the pull on the hitch head(orange) unless you run out of chain length.
Barney

That is not correct. Any force applied to an object when the connecting link (the chain) is at an angle will apply force on 2 planes rather than 1.

Climb a tree with a rope and attach something to the rope. With the load directly under you when you pull on the rope the load goes straight up. Now set that same load 10' away from the vertical plane you are on and start pulling the load up. It is first going to want to go plumb before it starts being lifted. Some of the energy you are exerting to life the load is being spent on pulling the load squarely under you. The same thing will happen with the chains on a WD system. You wont see it on a normal WD set-up because there is nothing that can move independently like there is on the Hensley.

I measured the angle my chains were from plumb and they were both sitting at 20 degrees.

[BarneyS]

eipo wrote:


Barney,
Snip...
The head isn't turned on the trailer, its pivoted over via the links between the upper and lower section.

As for the spring bars... I am not referring to how many links are hanging, I'm talking about the angle between the bracket and the end of the bar. Unless I am mistaken, any forces placed on the chains if they are at an angle other than perpendicular to the bar will transfer those forces to whatever it is attached to. With the brackets sitting 1.5" back further than they should have been, they were not only exerting a force vertically, but also on the horizontal. i.e. the chains were trying to not only carry weight, but they were pulling the head back towards the trailer.

My chains were like this \ rather than |

The chains cannot pull the hitch head back if the struts are tight. If indeed what you said is true then the struts were loose. The hitch head (again I am only talking about the orange top part, not the black bottom part) must not move at all except to rock in a vertical plane but not in a horizontal plane at all. The only part of the hitch that should turn is the black bottom part.

I also do not quite understand what you meant when you said "The head isn't turned on the trailer, its pivoted over via the links between the upper and lower section."
That is contrary to the picture. The picture clearly shows the hitch head (orange) turned to the right. The distance between the corners of the head are not the same on both sides. That cannot happen , as far as I can see, unless the struts are not adjusted equally. The head cannot "pivot over" due to the links between the top and bottom parts. The bottom (black) part can but not the top.
Those two struts are key to the Hensley hitch operating correctly. They must be set right.

To show what I am talking about, lay a straightedge (ruler or whatever) directly over the picture and aligned exactly in the center of the tongue latch. This will indicate the trailers centerline. Now see if the front of your hitch is at a 90 degree angle to the centerline. It is not. It is angled to the right, which means the struts are not adjusted correctly and are not even on both sides of the trailer.

As far as the chains goes, they should almost as vertical as you can get them so the pull both front and back as the trailer turns and pulls/pushes on the chains applies equal forces to the brackets and you do not run out of "operating room" as far as chain length goes. This also prevents the bars from crashing into the brackets or other parts and they move back and forth. If has nothing to do with the pull on the hitch head(orange) unless you run out of chain length.
Barney

[RinconVTR]

alexleblanc wrote:

RinconVTR wrote:
Both Propride and Hensley have their pros and cons, but the Propride yoke requires a lot more time and customization to install around LP tank bases, and you need a massive torque wrench. I also do not prefer the WDH bar links on the jacks, nor the side nut on the jacks compared to Henleys top mount nut adjustment. The only thing the Propride has going for it is the adjustable stinger.

Both companies offer really good support, I do not feel there is a difference there.

I was almost swayed to Propride after owning a Hensley with manufacturing issues. The change in preference is back to Hensley after finding out what Sean at Propride is all about. His quirky attitude, slippery tactics, and wise cracking doesn't mix with me. I can give and take a lot, but this guy is just no good.

Look, don't take my word for it. Search other forums and read Propride Sean's posts yourself. You'll get a better feel who you're really spending big dollars with, and it wont be a good feeling. Spend your money elsewhere. Hensley.

Nothing bad to say about the Propride hitch I enjoyed for 2 summers and just sold to my father, but I'm still waiting on the Hitch cover that I ordered and paid for from Propride when I ordered my hitch - several calls and emails, not one answer.

People preach Sean's service, I purchased the 3P based on that and was quite disappointed. Lucky for me that I never had any real issues with the product, I'd of been SOL.

There are many like you. A few hit me up via PM here but dont post publicly. More in other forums. Sorry to hear about the issue, but at least it was over a cover and not the hitch.

Honestly, I think problems with either hitch are rare, but I do find more with the Propride. I had issues with the Hensley, but in fairness is was a re manufactured unit, and replacements were simply shotty, and unchecked. NOT a design problem.

Anyway...I hope more Propride users come forward with their issues as time goes along. (brackets falling off, strut issues, hitch bar breakage, severely elongated holes in the WDH bar link and more DESIGN issues.)

Mr.Propride Sean was banned on here and another site that I posted very detailed information about my buying experience in a thread I started. The post was removed and here (no where else) but eventually, Sean was banned.

Ironically at the time, I was clearly stated I was slightly more for Propride than I was Hensley. That has since drastically changed. I'll be honest, I am anti-Propride now for personal and mechanical design reasons.

To keep my post slightly on topic...I really dont think the OP has an issue. More pics or video is needed to completely verify.

[eipo]

BarneyS wrote:
Someone several pages back said that your picture showed the hitch head to be centered on the trailer. I disagree! Your picture shows the hitch head turned to the right (bottom in the picture). This means that the right hand strut bar is too short and the left one is too long. You need to adjust them very accurately so the distance from the edge of the orange hitch head to an identical point on the frame on each side is the same. Then you tighten the adjustment nut and lower the adjustment arm over the top of the strut. This will lock everything in place and the hitch head cannot move left or right.

The symptoms you described are consistent with the struts being either not adjusted correctly and/or loose and your picture confirms this. It has nothing to do with the spring bar adjustment whether by jacks or chains.

You MUST get the hitch head centered on the A-frame via those struts or the hitch will not operate the way it should.
Hope this helps. 🙂
Barney

Barney,

The strut bars are adjusted so that a measurement taken from the corner of the head back to opposing corners of the frame are equal. The head is indeed square with the trailer. The struts are also tight, no wiggle\play in them at all.

The head isn't turned on the trailer, its pivoted over via the links between the upper and lower section.

As for the spring bars... I am not referring to how many links are hanging, I'm talking about the angle between the bracket and the end of the bar. Unless I am mistaken, any forces placed on the chains if they are at an angle other than perpendicular to the bar will transfer those forces to whatever it is attached to. With the brackets sitting 1.5" back further than they should have been, they were not only exerting a force vertically, but also on the horizontal. i.e. the chains were trying to not only carry weight, but they were pulling the head back towards the trailer.

My chains were like this \ rather than |

[BarneyS]

Someone several pages back said that your picture showed the hitch head to be centered on the trailer. I disagree! Your picture shows the hitch head (orange part) turned to the right (bottom in the picture). This means that the right hand strut bar is too short and the left one is too long. You need to adjust them very accurately so the distance from the edge of the orange hitch head to an identical point on the frame on each side is the same. In your case, I would measure each side from the top rear corner of the orange hitch head to the front mounting bolt of the tongue jack. Then you tighten the adjustment nut and lower the adjustment arm over the top of the strut. This will lock everything in place and the hitch head cannot move left or right.

The symptoms you described are consistent with the struts being either not adjusted correctly and/or loose and your picture confirms this. It has nothing to do with the spring bar adjustment whether by jacks or chains.

You MUST get the hitch head centered on the A-frame via those struts or the hitch will not operate the way it should. You do this without any truck hooked up and can even be done without the WD bars in place.
Hope this helps. 🙂
Barney

[eipo]

Ok, here is my hypothesis....

When the dealer installed the hitch, he placed the snap up brackets at 26.5" back from the coupler. They were forward as far as he could get them without moving the propane tanks forward. This left the chains at a measured 20 degrees from being plumb. So I pulled the LPG bracket and placed the brackets at the required 25.5", but still didnt like the angle on the chains so I called Hensley and I was told I could cheat them forward .5" so thats what I did. Sitting at 25" the chains are ALMOST plumb....

Now, my hypothesis is the previous angle on the chains was pulling the head back not allowing it to self center with the minor amount of pull I was putting on it in my driveway. 1000 pound bars with the chains sitting at 20 degrees will place a fair bit of pull on the head.

I am still working on my battery upgrades so I haven't been able to test my hypothesis now that I have the snap up brackets moved. I hope to have the majority of my battery upgrades done this weekend.