ProPride and Hensley questions for owners?

[duneslider]

Hey all,
I am seriously considering a ProPride or Hensley Arrow hitch system. My previous trailer was maxed at 5000 lbs and I had a reese dual cam hitch that worked pretty well. My new trailer is bigger and weighs about 6700 fully loaded. It is also taller and wider than the older trailer we had. I have towed in wind a few times and the hitch I have now I am not impressed with at all. It is a Fastway E2 round bar and it does fine to distribute the weight but it does little to control sway and I seem to get more porpoising than I would like. I meticulously setup the hitch (came with the trailer and I didn't purchase it) and I feel it is setup correctly.

Anyway, we are planning some longer trips in the next couple of years and I am leaning towards the Hensley style hitch as a worthwhile investment. I have read that a number of people say they experience porpoising with these hitches and that is one drawback.

What has your experience been with this?
I have heard people say to go with the 1400lb tongue weight hitch instead of the 1000lb and that will help with this issue?

We do a lot of camping not in campgrounds, so we rarely have flat level ground to park on and I have heard these hitches can be hard to connect and disconnect in these situations? What has your experience been when you don't have ideal level conditions between trailer and tow vehicle?

I'm trying to justify the $3800 dollars and if the safety aspects are true it is worth it but I also haven't had issues in the past with a properly setup Equalizer brand hitch and felt it did pretty good.

 

[JasonH]

Scale ticket?

 

[Fasttimes]

Hey all,
I am seriously considering a ProPride or Hensley Arrow hitch system. My previous trailer was maxed at 5000 lbs and I had a reese dual cam hitch that worked pretty well. My new trailer is bigger and weighs about 6700 fully loaded. It is also taller and wider than the older trailer we had. I have towed in wind a few times and the hitch I have now I am not impressed with at all. It is a Fastway E2 round bar and it does fine to distribute the weight but it does little to control sway and I seem to get more porpoising than I would like. I meticulously setup the hitch (came with the trailer and I didn't purchase it) and I feel it is setup correctly.

Anyway, we are planning some longer trips in the next couple of years and I am leaning towards the Hensley style hitch as a worthwhile investment. I have read that a number of people say they experience porpoising with these hitches and that is one drawback.

What has your experience been with this?
I have heard people say to go with the 1400lb tongue weight hitch instead of the 1000lb and that will help with this issue?

We do a lot of camping not in campgrounds, so we rarely have flat level ground to park on and I have heard these hitches can be hard to connect and disconnect in these situations? What has your experience been when you don't have ideal level conditions between trailer and tow vehicle?

I'm trying to justify the $3800 dollars and if the safety aspects are true it is worth it but I also haven't had issues in the past with a properly setup Equalizer brand hitch and felt it did pretty good.

Those hitches are extreme. Extreme money and for the most part overkill. I'm pretty certain your not set right if you are getting a lot of sway and porpoising.

As Jasonh says, you need to get to a CAT scale and do at a minimum a 3 pass weigh and analyze the numbers. My guess is you've got your tongue weight and hitch wrong.

Or you can spend thousands at your hitch system and overkill the situation.

 

[tntshannon]

What is your trailer length and is your truck standard or max length. Over 26’ trailer length I think you will see a significant improvement in windy conditions and trucks passing. The weight distribution function is the same as most other hitches, the advantage is the sway control.

I’ve had a Hensley going on 20 years and this is its 3rd trailer. It definitely makes a difference especially with the shorter wheel base SUV tow vehicles. Hooking up can be a challenge at times but if you play with the jacks you can see how the hitch head moves so you can match the angle of the truck to the angle of the hitch head. Normally you don’t have to adjust it if you just loosen jacks to when the springs swing free, if you keep going you will mess the head angle up. It wasn’t long before either my wife or I could hook up alone and the first truck, 2003 Yukon, didn’t have a back up camera.

i have the 1400 bars and would order them if going new. However myself and 4 other family members all run Hensleys and the most we have paid is 1500 off of Craigslist, Marketplace or towing forums. 1500 was for a 2 year old unit. If you are not in a hurry and are willing to drive a little for pick up you should be able to find a used one. Also check when you are traveling. If you get used with 1000 # bars see how it goes before buying the 1400. I would also check with Hensley to see how much they are getting for the 1400 bars setup. The price looks like it’s dropped to 2495 but I’d still look used.

 

[MAC1]

I use a Pro Pride to tow my 24' enclosed aluminum ATC race car trailer; rig total weight about 7200lbs. I started with an anti-sway load leveling hitch and the sway was terrible, could not drive over 50mph. It was white knuckle driving all the way. I switched to the Pro-Pride and it is night and day, not even close. I can drive 70-75mph with the Pro-Pride...the difference is real, they work and they work well.

 

[JasonH]

Sway is generally a sign of inadequate trailer weight on the tongue. Hence, a scale ticket is in order. The ProPride / Hensley may mitigate sway, but improper per weight distribution also adversely impacts steering and braking. A $14 scale ticket is much cheaper than throwing parts at the problem. My camper is 7,000 lbs wet. I use a Husky Centerline 32218 and it tows fine. But I've also been to the scale three times to get the setup right.

https://catscale.com/cat-scale-locator/

 

[duneslider]

Guys, it is setup correctly. I have been towing trailers for 20+ years. This isn't my first rodeo. I have used multiple WDH hitches over the years and I am not fond of the one I have and there are a lot of online reviews of people echoing similar things to what I have experienced.

The porpoising is super annoying and I suspect the bars I have just aren't enough for the tongue weight. They are 1000lb bars and I am somewhat close to that fully loaded. The previous owner had an f250, so I am sure he wasn't having any issues with it. I figured I would give the hitch a try before getting something else. I don't love it, so if I am going to spend $1000 to get a good new one, I figured it might be worth looking at the hensley and there for was looking for opinions on that.

I don't really get sway, more or less get pushed around a bit by cross winds. We get some wicked cross winds some of the places we go and I don't feel like the hitch I currently have handles that very well. I have never had bad sway with any of my campers and wdh's but I think the Reese dual cam handled the sway or pushing the best.

It sounds like used might be the way to go for a hensley if I decide to go that route. Weigh Safe and Equalizer are both local companies, so I am considering them. I have used Equalizer in the past and liked them.

 

[tntshannon]

Good luck in your search. One other reason I like it is if I decide to go with a fuller fresh water tank or bring the waste water home there is no need to dial it back it, just adjust the spring bars.

if you see a used one on a trailer ad don’t be afraid to make an offer on just the hitch, got the one for my parents that way.

last note if you get one, many will say to grease the stinger before hooking up. I found that quite messy and now just give it a healthy spay of WD40 and haven’t had any disconnect issues and it is much neater.

 

[JasonH]

Guys, it is setup correctly. I have been towing trailers for 20+ years. This isn't my first rodeo. I have used multiple WDH hitches over the years and I am not fond of the one I have and there are a lot of online reviews of people echoing similar things to what I have experienced.

The porpoising is super annoying and I suspect the bars I have just aren't enough for the tongue weight. They are 1000lb bars and I am somewhat close to that fully loaded.

It sounds like used might be the way to go for a hensley if I decide to go that route. Weigh Safe and Equalizer are both local companies, so I am considering them. I have used Equalizer in the past and liked them.

It sounds like you really want the Hensley / Propride. I've never heard anyone say anything bad about them. But I've rarely heard anyone say anything bad about any WDH hitch that was setup properly. If feasible, upgrading the bars on the current hitch to the heavier capacity would seem to be the most cost effective option.

 

[duneslider]

I wouldn't say I really "want" a hensley, I was more curious to hear from people who had them and what their experience has been. I am not happy with what came with my trailer. I can't find any markings to indicate what the bars are but with the style they are they could only go up to 1000lbs but it is possible they are 800lb bars. I have reached out to e2 to see if there is a way to tell what I have. If I have 800lbs bars then that is probably a lot of the issue and maybe moving to 1000 would solve it.

I have been happy with Equilizer and Reese in the past on previous trailers. My thought was more along the lines of if I am spending close to a $1000 to get a new hitch, maybe it is worth seeing if there is better out there. One advantage of the Hensley style and also the Weigh Safe is that they move the ball a few inches further out from the tow vehicle, I had to modify the trailer jack on my trailer so the rear hatch can open when hitched up, it now just barely clears to open.