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Old 11-24-2006, 03:56 PM   #21
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There are indeed folks who have gone from the HA to other hitches. They found that its quirks make other options more reasonable.

Don't confuse load leveling with sway control.

The most common friction bar type sway control is inexpensive and works well for a lot of folks.

A step up is the Equal-i-zer or the Reese Dual Cam sway control. These are about equivalent in performance and usually considered much better than a friction bar. Blue Ox has a hitch very similar to the Equal-i-zer that fits in this class, too.

The top end for sway control is either the Pullrite or the HA. Their advantage is that they use geometry rather than damping. They move the pivot point forward so the sway effect on the tow vehicle is more like that of a fifth wheel than a travel trailer. The Pullrite has fewer quirks than the HA but both seem to keep their users quite happy.

If your tow vehicle has a short distance from rear axle to trailer ball, you should not need much if any sway control, especially with a heavy duty tow vehicle designed for towing and loads. You might not need load leveling, either.

The latest VAP podcast has a Reese Rep on hitching - not too bad and only a bit of Reese sales hype. theVAP - The Vintage Airstream Podcast Interesting how he handles the brake controller liability risk, too.

Be a skeptic and don't believe everything you hear - especially if pronounced absolutely certain!
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Old 11-24-2006, 04:09 PM   #22
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Question

I know it's reported to be good, but $3K?

I haven't seen one closeup, but what is their market share---must be small.

So that means that thousands use other brands and travel fine.

What's interesting to me is I don't see much talk here about "air bags" on the rear axle.
I have seen a fair amount of info online how they help smooth things out.

Anyone here have experience with them?
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Old 11-24-2006, 05:14 PM   #23
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Originally Posted by Lipets
What's interesting to me is I don't see much talk here about "air bags" on the rear axle.
I have seen a fair amount of info online how they help smooth things out.

Anyone here have experience with them?
If you are talking about the booster-type air bags, it is generally not considered a good idea, because the same amount of weight is still on the rear axle, and the same amount of weight has been lifted off the front axle. It is just masked by the rear axle being raised back to normal operating level.
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Old 11-24-2006, 06:01 PM   #24
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I have seen a number of posts knocking the Hensley Arrow because of its cost. I haven't seen any posts that berate those who choose to spend the same amount to have a disc brake conversion done on their Airstream. Are not these people also fools for spending that much money to feel safe?

This issue always seems to arise when someone new to the Forums asks an innocent question about towing or sway. A number of Hensley owners (myself included) usually respond with our information on and our experience with towing with the Hensley Arrow.

I have never seen one of the Hensley owners berate any of the other brands or their owners. I have seen some other brand owners tout their brand and insinuate that Hensley owners are stupid for spending that much money on a hitch.

What I thought we were trying to do here is to give the new person the benefit of our experience as it applies to Airstreams and related issues.

The Hensley works for me. The confidence and control that it affords me is worth the price. If someone else feels that their system is better, by all means inpart that information, but do it without negative editorial comments.
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Old 11-24-2006, 06:07 PM   #25
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air bags from Airlift site

Am I reading this wrong?


If towing or hauling is a bouncing, swaying “thrill ride”… if you’re concerned about safety when your vehicle is loaded… if you and your passengers could use a little more comfort in that nice ride of yours… maybe it’s time to “add air”!

Factory suspensions must compromise between ride comfort and load hauling capacity. Smooth ride suspensions can’t carry heavy loads; heavy springs ride rough, especially when the vehicle is unloaded. Air adjustable springs solve these problems and give a safe, comfortable ride under all load and road conditions. Just add air for a muscular suspension when towing or hauling a heavy load; remove it for a softer ride when the load is removed.

Air is better than steel!
Sure, you can add steel helper springs to help handle your trailer or heavy load. The trouble is, if you use an “extra leaf” steel spring, that “extra” spring rate is always there, whether you’re loaded or not! Using a non-contact or “overload” steel spring sounds better… but it only engages when your vehicle sags enough to make contact! Does that make sense? And rough roads will give you sharp “spikes” of extra spring rate, in other words, rough ride. Who wants that? Maybe your Main Passenger doesn’t like that rough ride and maybe you’d even like a little more comfort when you’re riding light. Air adjustability is the key!

Air suspension is all we do. You can’t buy a better air spring!

The benefits of Air Lift air springs:
• Air Lift exclusive! Guaranteed non-corrosive high-strength reinforced composite Zytel® endplates!
• Air Lift exclusive! Shur-grip crimp ring, extra-strong steel for long, trouble-free life
• Your air springs will never come apart! We back up our bags with a free lifetime air spring replacement warranty for failures resulting from endplate or crimp failure. If the spring comes apart, we’ll replace it, no charge, no hassle. Just contact your dealer or call Air Lift at 1-800-248-0892. See additional warranty details above.
• Bags built with superior reinforced natural rubber or tough molded polyurethane (see the individual kit descriptions for details).
• State-of-the-art, easy to connect engineered polymer air fittings.


Put an end to these common problems:
• Sag: Proper weight distribution to all the tires improves steering, braking and tire wear. Especially important when towing; adjust the air springs to accept the tongue weight of your trailer.
Sway and body roll: Air springs increase spring rate and vastly improve vehicle stability. Less roll and sway means a safer, more comfortable ride!
• Bottoming outt: Air Lift springs restore normal ride height when heavily loaded or towing, reducing suspension wear, eliminating “crashing” on bumps.
Trailer sway: Air Lift permits precise vehicle height adjustment for exact alignment… and no more trailer sway!
• Headlight aim: Only level and stable vehicles provide safe and proper headlight aiming, critical for night driving safety.
• Rough ride: Air Lift’s “progressive” spring rate soaks up bumps, keeping tires on the road for better handling. Your passengers will love the difference!
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Old 11-24-2006, 06:58 PM   #26
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Decision is yours to make after doing research

Timetogo,
One responder says your elite if you purchase a Hensley - that's BS. The Hensley performs as advertised and is a reasonable purchase.
Another responder suggest you ask a forum member to test drive their Hensley and see the response you get. You don't have to. A Hensley purchase is satisfaction garanteed and can be returned within a specified time period, when I bought mine it was 60 days. That way you can really test it on your own setup.
During your research, Hensley should be considered.
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Old 11-24-2006, 07:59 PM   #27
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I don't own a Hensley (yet), but got their sales DVD and booklet. I also got the same from Equal-I-Zer. And, I have a Reese Dual Cam setup.

Behind my 4-door long bed Dodge, the Reese pulls my Excella just fine. In fact, I've towed it just on the ball and it did just fine there too.

The Equal-I-Zer looks simpler to hook up than the Reese.

But looking at it from an engineering standpoint, hands down the Hensley is the cat's meow. What they did was very similar to what you do when setting up a sports car suspension using double wishbones. In the sports car, you make the A-arms non-parallel and thus you project the roll center of the car actually below the road surface. That makes for a very flat cornering car. In Hensley's case, the rotated this arrangment 90 degrees, and they project the "turn center" up by the pumpkin, so it acts like a 5th wheel. It's spectacular engineering. Very smart. And when going forward, it works superbly, and reliably, all the time, because its based off the very geometry. From what I can see, the only downsides are (A) when backing up it'd want to flop over to one side because its basically unstable going backwards, but you don't care because you're going at half walking speed, and (B) it's really heavy. Oh yeah, (C) it costs a lot. But, (A) and (B) are not that big a deal, and if you can handle (C), then by all means.

I'm wondering why somebody doesn't just incorporate something like the Hensley right into the design of the tongue itself. Forget having a separate hitch attached to a ball clamp. Just build the tongue of the trailer itself to be like a HA and just have the stinger and bars coming off the trailer itself as one integrated unit. I might consider such a thing for my new frame

Any of the three are good though.

Best of luck!
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Old 11-24-2006, 09:04 PM   #28
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Battle of the hitches?

Hi, Usually anyone who purchases the most expensive, anything, would be considered Elite. If you have a Ha Ha, being called Elite should be a compliment. Thank You. Sorry if this compliment insulted you Mike.
My position is, since my Equal-i-zer came free with the purchase of my trailer and works perfectly fine, I have no need to change. Is it only the money? No; I paid cash for my Navigator and I paid cash for my Airstream and if I decided to buy a Ha Ha, I would pay cash for that too.
If the Ha Ha or changeing to disc brakes gives you peace of mind, Do it! And please don't trash those brand new drum brake take offs. UPS those to my new address, after I retire, in maybe six months. I will, use them when I need new brakes on my Safari.
My Navigator has rear air suspension. Does it ride soft? No, but a little softer than coil springs. And pumps itself back up to normal ride height.

These are my opinions and that is what this forum is about. I am not condeming anyone who's opinions are different than mine. Just trying to help inquireing minds.

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Old 11-24-2006, 09:13 PM   #29
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I'm wondering why somebody doesn't just incorporate something like the Hensley right into the design of the tongue itself. Forget having a separate hitch attached to a ball clamp. Just build the tongue of the trailer itself to be like a HA and just have the stinger and bars coming off the trailer itself as one integrated unit. I might consider such a thing for my new frame


Hi Jim. I think that is a great Idea; Buy a trailer and hook it up to your tow vehicle, sway control and weight distribution built in.


Bob
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Old 11-25-2006, 08:45 AM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by moosetags
I have seen a number of posts knocking the Hensley Arrow because of its cost. I haven't seen any posts that berate those who choose to spend the same amount to have a disc brake conversion done on their Airstream. Are not these people also fools for spending that much money to feel safe?
if its just to "feel" safe, then yeah, perhaps. to actually BE safer..no, not at all.

Quote:
Originally Posted by moosetags
I have seen some other brand owners tout their brand and insinuate that Hensley owners are stupid for spending that much money on a hitch.
I don't think anyone is doing that at all. Its not a "one size fits all" type of situation. There's just so many variables to consider. You might be "stupid" if you were in debtor's court, declaring bankruptcy, and then went out and bought a Hensley (with a credit card) and put it on a vintage bambi that you pull 3 times a year with an F-350. That might be "stupid", even without the bad finances. The other end of the spectrum would be full timing in a new trailer/tv combination...to this person, a HA is "cheap insurance".
the rest of us are somewhere in between, and the fact remains, that really really effective sway control can be had for a fraction of the cost of a HA.

Brakes are a different situation...and not nearly as expensive. Brakes wear out, too...and in order to get ~the best~, you only have to spend about twice as much. Maybe thats why you don't see the same kind of "balking" at the idea.
In some situations, it isn't clear to me that there would be any particular advantage to disc brakes. again, it all depends on the rig, the driving conditions, and the finances. My trailer has the same amount of braking power as some trailers that weigh twice as much. I can easily lock the wheels if the controller is set any higher than half way. "0" is as slow as those wheels will turn. ahh, but then there's "fade" on long, steep grades...well, I never drive on those, and have no plans to traverse the rockies any time soon. combine that with my limited fincances, and I don't think it would be a wise investment. But if I win the mega-bucks, I'm going to run right out and buy both. and a bigger trailer to go with them.
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Old 11-25-2006, 08:52 AM   #31
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Right Now I See One On E-bay For 1,000 Off. Sorry I Dont Have Cash. Anybody.....anybody Going ... Going...
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Old 11-25-2006, 10:03 AM   #32
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chuck
if its just to "feel" safe, then yeah, perhaps. to actually BE safer..no, not at all.


I don't think anyone is doing that at all. Its not a "one size fits all" type of situation. There's just so many variables to consider. You might be "stupid" if you were in debtor's court, declaring bankruptcy, and then went out and bought a Hensley (with a credit card) and put it on a vintage bambi that you pull 3 times a year with an F-350. That might be "stupid", even without the bad finances. The other end of the spectrum would be full timing in a new trailer/tv combination...to this person, a HA is "cheap insurance".
the rest of us are somewhere in between, and the fact remains, that really really effective sway control can be had for a fraction of the cost of a HA.

Brakes are a different situation...and not nearly as expensive. Brakes wear out, too...and in order to get ~the best~, you only have to spend about twice as much. Maybe thats why you don't see the same kind of "balking" at the idea.
In some situations, it isn't clear to me that there would be any particular advantage to disc brakes. again, it all depends on the rig, the driving conditions, and the finances. My trailer has the same amount of braking power as some trailers that weigh twice as much. I can easily lock the wheels if the controller is set any higher than half way. "0" is as slow as those wheels will turn. ahh, but then there's "fade" on long, steep grades...well, I never drive on those, and have no plans to traverse the rockies any time soon. combine that with my limited fincances, and I don't think it would be a wise investment. But if I win the mega-bucks, I'm going to run right out and buy both. and a bigger trailer to go with them.

The point of my post was that I should be able to post my opinions. They are valid; I have the experience to back them up. You opinions are valid also, and I respect that, and I read them with interest. What I don't respect touting you opinion at the expense of mine. And, by the way, I was quoted a price of $2,500.00 for a disc brake conversion on my Safari. I paid $2,000.00 for my HA when I purchased my Airstream. I would say that doesn't fall into the category of "not nearly as expensive".
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Old 11-25-2006, 10:22 AM   #33
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Quote:
The point of my post was that I should be able to post my opinions. .... What I don't respect touting you opinion at the expense of mine
This is landmine territory! Please Be Careful! Please.

From what I see here, no one was disallowing the posting of opinions nor was any one opinion made at the expense of another.

We do need to be very careful to discriminate between opinion and fact, especially where these overlap in subjective measures often used for things like safety. We shouldn't let one person's risk vs benefit analysis threaten our own. It is probably best to use it to temper our understanding and to learn about others and their values.

Just because someone does not agree with you or sees things differently does not mean they exclude you or your ideas or your viewpoint. They just have differing ideas and viewpoints.

When it comes to things we are passionate about we have to be very careful about how we read what others post. We can all help each other and the conversation if we stick as close as possible to what was actually said and the ask for confirmation and verification before we take off on thinking something ugly about someone else. Discuss the subject and the words posted and not perceptions of the people or motivations behind them. Disagree but please don't threaten or judge. Explain rather than assert.

Let's allow a bit of room for others so we don't kill another thread on an important topic, please!
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