Hensley towing experience

[ctdair]

Well this is allways a hot topic , but. Fresh off of vaction and a 3000 mile round trip tow with Hensley for first time and have to say it does every thing it is advertised to do. Yes I found the sales video to be a little over the top. Yes it is expensive (I am still paying for it). It was nice to cruise and have no unwanted input from the trailer an my vehicles handling. trailer tracked smooth and NO unwanted movements. Sway was not the white knuckle deathly terrifying experience with out the Hensley , but it is a noticable difference with the Hensley. If Your on the fence as wheter or not to purchase I would take them up on the trial period , nothing to lose for trying.

[Big Dee]

Glad to hear the Hensley get a great review. I am a Hensley newbie and am wondering about noise from the hitch. Once I heard a ratcheting sound. And another time a kind of bang which I assume was the Hensley swinging from one side to the other and assume it is normal. Did you hear any noise?

[Hugh & Nita]

I'm putting one on my TT tomorrow, can you share any surprises I might find and how long it may take to do the job?

[Big Dee]

I can tell you that Toscano put mine on and it took their hitch guy three hours. The gas lines have to be disconnected/reconnected to get it on. Also I know the grease jerks broke off on Porky's on the install so be careful with them. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[ctdair]

No I have not heard any unusaul noises. The first few times I stopped for fuel
I lubed the Wd bars and kept checking the hitch. The strut bars did loosen a few times as everything seated in but they stopped needing adjustment on the return trip. Im not sure how long it took to install but 3 hours seems long , I put on myself. Had to be creative on the gas line but it was no big problem.

[markjoandall]

I purchased my hensley when we purchased the trailer. The first brake controller we used was the prodigy. For some reason, the prodigy didn't compliment the hensley hitch very well, and sometimes in a hard brake while turning, say on an exit ramp, the trailer would bump the back of the tow vehicle. Last year I switched to the Jordan brake controller with the mechanical link between the brake and the controller. The bump is gone and in all braking conditions, the trailer brakes in advance of the tow vehicle.

Sometimes we hear a clunk or a snap from the hitch. They seem to go away when we've towed some time and after we put new grease on the tow bar and in the grease zerks.

I strongly recomend that you purchase the parts kit and make sure you replace any parts you use from the kit. I was breaking off the pin inside the zerk fitting. I found out after about the third one that the pin was set too deep in the chamber. The pin should protrude from the wall of the chamber only enough to hold the load bars in place.

As with any piece of special equipment, you need to service it and inspect it frequently for wear and proper alignment. If you do this, you will have many miles of comfortable and relaxed towing. We have over 20,000 miles on our rig and the henlsey has even made it possible for for my wife to feel comfortable in the left seat and share the driving.

Good luck and happy camping.

[James Schmidt]

I have owned my Hensley for about 4 years and have over 20,000 miles on it. I love it and the safety it offers in towing. I experienced sway problems with my rig with the SOB hitch-none with the Hensley. I installed mine and one for a friend. The job should take less than 3 hours and is not difficult at all(if you follow the instructions). It takes a little tweaking with the brake controler to keep the trailer brakes ahead of the tow vehicle brakes and you will not get any "banging" as the hitch comes around on a hard stop.

Keep it well lubed and it will work fine. Over greasing will result in grease getting on the end of the hitch bar. Other than a mess, this is of no great concern.

The hitching process takes some practice, but once you get the hang of it, all goes well.