Hensley hitch arm fell out

[Knudsvig]

After we arrived home from a trip, the left arm fell out of the Hensley hitch. My hubby puts the bolt back in and tightens it, but when he moves the hitch, the arm falls out. Help! Any advice?

[BigAl]

I assume you mean one of the weight distributing bars. There is a zerk(grease fitting with a projecting pin that holds the bar in. If it has worn down the bar will fall out. Just order a new set of those.
Al

[crispyboy]

Yep what bigal said!

[Bruce B]

Read the manual! They talk about this...
Both of mine fell out first time. 1/2 of a turn of the grease fitting (after loosening the lock nut) resolved the issue...

[ROBERT CROSS]

"If the bar falls out, you may need to adjust the retainer pin in increments of 1/2 turn at a time and retry. Do not screw the threaded bushing too far into the hole as damage can occur to the retainer pin when towing. Finally connect the lower jack pin to the spring bar U- Bracket to secure. Repeat these steps for the 2nd bar
"

  

[Knudsvig]

We did not buy/install hitch. It came with our rig. So no manual. An Internet search turned up a pdf manual. It sounds like a grease fitting. Will diagnose and get back to you!!

[Bruce B]

I will admit it is an odd little setup...
It works well once you understand it though!
Bruce

[Wingeezer]

Originally Posted by Knudsvig

We did not buy/install hitch. It came with our rig. So no manual. An Internet search turned up a pdf manual. It sounds like a grease fitting. Will diagnose and get back to you!!

You may notice also that Hensley recommend applying grease to the spring bar grease fittings every 500 miles or so (I think from memory it is 500.)

I usually try to follow that recommendation fairly closely, although it seems a bit much.

It is a bit of a messy job, and I found the best thing to do is to carry the grease gun along with spare cartridges and clean up rags in a dedicated plastic tool box so that grease and oil doesn't get all over everything in the truck! Oil will leak from the grease gun on a hot day!

You continue greasing until you see the grease squeezing out of the spring bar bushing under the hitch - it is well to clean up the grease that squeezes out, or eventually it gets all over the safety chains, and generally makes a mess!

A minor disadvantage of using a Hensley hitch - but much outweighed by the benefits I think!


Brian.

[dougandlori]

I had the same problem and now carry a spare grease zerk and set screws.
As regular maintenance check the set screws, I once had one fall out.of the screw arms.

[dznf0g]

I actually poured through the MaMaster Carr catalog and found some inexpensive fittings from which I removed the "nipple" so I could reuse the HAHA housing. IIRC, it was about $3 each for the modified nipples as apposed to $12 or $16 for the HAHA assemblies. I wish Hensley would sell the nipples separately, as that is all that wears. The McMaster work-around nipples are a bit shorter than the Hensley ones, but work fine. I made and carry a half dozen or so,.

Here is the page I got them from :

http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-sp...ngers/=10w56ct

But I don't remember which spec I used....I would have to really dig to see if I still have the receipt.

It is necessary to cut a groove in the base of the nipple to allow grease to get to the pin and groove in the WD spring. Just a little dremmel wheel cut gets that done.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by Wingeezer

You may notice also that Hensley recommend applying grease to the spring bar grease fittings every 500 miles or so (I think from memory it is 500.)

I usually try to follow that recommendation fairly closely, although it seems a bit much.

It is a bit of a messy job, and I found the best thing to do is to carry the grease gun along with spare cartridges and clean up rags in a dedicated plastic tool box so that grease and oil doesn't get all over everything in the truck! Oil will leak from the grease gun on a hot day!

You continue greasing until you see the grease squeezing out of the spring bar bushing under the hitch - it is well to clean up the grease that squeezes out, or eventually it gets all over the safety chains, and generally makes a mess!

A minor disadvantage of using a Hensley hitch - but much outweighed by the benefits I think!


Brian.

Originally Posted by dougandlori

I had the same problem and now carry a spare grease zerk and set screws.
As regular maintenance check the set screws, I once had one fall out.of the screw arms.

......for a complete service at your Spring Get-Ready.


Bob

[crispyboy]

Originally Posted by dznf0g

I actually poured through the MaMaster Carr catalog and found some inexpensive fittings from which I removed the "nipple" so I could reuse the HAHA housing. IIRC, it was about $3 each for the modified nipples as apposed to $12 or $16 for the HAHA assemblies. I wish Hensley would sell the nipples separately, as that is all that wears. The McMaster work-around nipples are a bit shorter than the Hensley ones, but work fine. I made and carry a half dozen or so,.

Here is the page I got them from :

http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-sp...ngers/=10w56ct

But I don't remember which spec I used....I would have to really dig to see if I still have the receipt.

It is necessary to cut a groove in the base of the nipple to allow grease to get to the pin and groove in the WD spring. Just a little dremmel wheel cut gets that done.

I did the same thing - carry spare McMaster Carr modified editions. I think Hensley could have engineered this aspect of the hitch better.

[Tom_T]

You can also ask these types of questions at Hensley's 800# & do download & print the manual for keeping in the trailer.

Also, they're Lifetime warrantied - so be careful about not adding parts not from them, which could void the warranty. Not sure if you're the original or subsequent owner.

If this was on the trailer from a prior owner, Hensley also has a process to transfer the lifetime warranty to you for a modest fee &/or to send the hitch in for them to refurb it & add the lifetime warranty for you as new owners (a member on here recently did this on buying a used one) - at their recco & your choice.

Talk to Terry Powell at Hensley & he can guide you on which is best.

Also, do the recco'd maintenance items in their manual - including grease as noted above, but also to re-torque the 4 bolts at each rear bracket on both sides jack/spring bar mounting brackets.

You can try adjusting the grease Zereks as noted in prior posts & in their manual to see if it resolves the problem.

Good Luck!
Tom
///////

[dznf0g]

Yeah, I have no warranty. Bought used and the serial # sticker was long gone.

[guskmg]

Hensley is a great company to deal with. By all means get your hitch warranty transferred to your name. Why? After my trip to Alaska I had numerous parts that needed replacing. Hensley said order new parts and send us your old ones. It is all covered under the life time warranty. They said they could not build a hitch that would stand all the abuse the North Canadian roads place on equipment. Then, three or four years later a bearing cap came loose. Hensley said send us your hitch. They promptly sent me a new one. All you do is pay the freight.
Now the easy way to adjust the zerk fitting sleeves to hold your bars. Unfasten the rear of the bar. Back off the zerk sleeve to allow the bar to go all the way up in the socket. Hold the bar up in the socket with your foot. Use a nut driver with a 3/8 inch socket and tighten the sleeve, by the zerk. As you tighten the sleeve move the rear of the bar up and down so as to be able to feel when the sleeve touchs the back of the bar in the socket. Hold the bar down so the sleeve will just touch the back of the bar while it is against the rear of the bar socket. This will insure the sleeve is not actually into the hole. That way will allow the zerk pin to slip into the retaining bar grove. Hold the zerk stationary with the 3/8 socket and tighten the 3/4 lock nut. If you do this correctly the bar will stay in until the zerk is worn down again. This could last for years. As the hitch wears one side may wear faster than the other side. It seems the curbside wears faster, but that may be because that side of the road is always rougher. I personally enjoy adjusting the zerk sleeve with the above technique. Hint: if the up and own motion of the bar is more than 3/4 to an inch, the bar socket may be worn too much. In that case you need a replacement. I don't think it is listed in their spare parts on line. Just call them. Also, if you use the 1,400 lb. bars the socket can be a loose fit allowing quite a bit of up and down motion. You can by a 1,000 lb. socket and grinding the hole to fit almost perfectly with almost no up and down play. That sure makes the whole set up a much tighter rig. Enjoy your hitch they are a great addition to safer towing. PrpPride I a good one too!
guskmg

[dznf0g]

Not sure if you address me, but they refused a warranty transfer. No serial number = no transfer. Why they are not stamped in astounds me.

[Tom_T]

Originally Posted by dznf0g

Not sure if you address me, but they refused a warranty transfer. No serial number = no transfer. Why they are not stamped in astounds me.

Rich,

I'd think that they could get the serial number from their records, if you can give them the name & address of the original owners whom you bought it from (& the trailer from?), since they'd have it registered with them. You could then ask them to reproduce a new s/n sticker.

Terry Powell had told me that they maintain the s/n records for the first buyers from the sales records, & said he already had mine from the sales invoice, after I emailed all worried & said: "...I'd forgotten to send in my reg. card & did he need it?".

BTW - I agree on the stamped s/n!

Alternatively, if it needs some reconditioning anyway, maybe check with Terry Powell for a price to do that & (re) assign a serial number & give you a warranty.

Both the above are worth another run at it.

PS - If they do have the original owner's records & s/n on file - & you can provide that OO's name & proof of purchase with the trailer or otherwise - then it seems like pretty poor business practice to deny a legit transfer, or at least do the alternative above with a paid refurb. of the hitch.

Good Luck!
Tom
///////

[dznf0g]

Tom, I tried all that. It apparently is an early model by some of the construction attributes (ie. Within the first couple years of production). It had little wear on it but was badly sun baked. The AS was traded in to a dealer who removed it and set it in a corner for years. I stumbled upon it and the dealer was glad to get rid of it. He had no idea who the first owner was anymore. Believe me, I went down this road....all the way with Hensley. They couldn't identify it and wouldn't budge on buying into a warranty transfer.

[dznf0g]

BTW, I did my own refurb. Including sandblast and repaint. See my pics in my registry .

[moosetags]

We have had Hensley Arrow number 8332 since new ten years ago. It is now on its third Airstream. and has about 140,000 miles of towing under its belt.

The lower unit hitch bar receiver wallowed out after about four years. We were in Michigan, and went by the Hensley factory. They replaced the whole lower unit for us at no charge. In 2014, we experienced a head failure where the lower and upper units separated. The bearings came out on the ground. Fortunately, were were at a campground starting to hook up when this occurred. Hensley sent us a rebuilt head unit which we installed ourselves. We were in Moses Lake, Washington when this happened. It cost us about $100 in freight each way, and it took about five days. Even though this is a rebuilt unit, and not our original, Hensley considers it to be serial number 8332.

I have now installed the Hensley on three different Airstreams. I have always done it myself after the Airstream dealer botched the install on Old Lucy in 2005. It's not that hard and you know its done right. I replaced the Zerks on each install.

I carry a Hensley parts kit with me at all times.

Brian