ProPride pros and cons

[cwf]

Originally Posted by ezairstream

I store my 31 Classic inside a building. Part of the deal is the storage manager needs to move my trailer after i drop it off. How can that be done with a PP or Hensley hitch that uses the coupler full time?

I would purchase a separate stinger, not the entire head. Then have a proper class hitch welded to the end which sticks out when stinger locked in place. This way they can "hitch and move" to their contentment.

[guskmg]

When un-hitching a Hensley or ProPride, lower the jack(s) until they move freely, raise the trailer with tongue jack until you see the whole assembly move freely, then pull the hitch pin out and drive off. You should have already placed chocks ahead and behind the wheels on both sides of the trailer.
When hitching, place the stinger into the receiver, put the pin in, get the stinger and the hitch head socket on the same pitch, roll, and Yaw axis, back up and it will go right in for latching.
On installations, you can do all the lifting with a light weight floor jack and hole drilling with a hand drill. I have installed mine one two different trailers. If you are not able to install your own, most Airstream dealers and repair stations can do it for you. On failures and worn parts, all thing eventually wear out or fail. Both companies are good about replacing components on a lifetime basis. I have had replacement parts from ProPride and Hensley including a whole hitch from the latter. The only costs are usually shipping.
Happy hitching and un-hitching.
guskmg

[crispyboy]

The storage manager will need access to the stinger.
Do you know how they will move the trailer? Truck, tractor or forklift?

[moosetags]

Here is a photo of the ball connector that the Airstream Service Center at the Factory uses to wrangle Airtsreams with either a Hensley or ProPride hitch system.

The 2 5/16" ball connector slips into the receiver bar and is secured with a receiver pin. This does require that the Hensley or ProPride hitch bar be in place and locked into the hitch.

Brian

[Alphonse]

Originally Posted by moosetags

Here is a photo of the ball connector that the Airstream Service Center at the Factory uses to wrangle Airtsreams with either a Hensley or ProPride hitch system.

The 2 5/16" ball connector slips into the receiver bar and is secured with a receiver pin. This does require that the Hensley or ProPride hitch bar be in place and locked into the hitch.

Brian

I remember a year or two ago that there was talk of ProPride going to make these for sale. Does anyone know if that happened or not?

[ghaynes755]

For Rich, ProPride only sells direct. I don't think there are any stocking dealers.

On the moving by your storage lot Brians picture is like the one that I made. Put the stinger in the head, buy two items. A 2 inch to 2 1/2inch sleeve and then a hitch head to go over the sleeve.

That being said make sure the person who is going to move your trailer understands that the head swivels and if they aren't paying attention and moving slowly while backing that the trailer back end may swivel. My previous storage facility ran the rear side quarter panel and scraped a nice gouge in the side panel and rear quarter panel. $6K in damage. 6 months and lawyer fees later I got paid.

Also a warning if you have insurance through Good Sam. They very specifically do not cover this type of damage. Any time the trailer is being moved by a storage facility or repair shop they will not pay a claim.

[mike28]

I installed mine last week...easy and under 3 hours!

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by ghaynes755

For Rich, ProPride only sells direct. I don't think there are any stocking dealers.

On the moving by your storage lot Brians picture is like the one that I made. Put the stinger in the head, buy two items. A 2 inch to 2 1/2inch sleeve and then a hitch head to go over the sleeve.

That being said make sure the person who is going to move your trailer understands that the head swivels and if they aren't paying attention and moving slowly while backing that the trailer back end may swivel. My previous storage facility ran the rear side quarter panel and scraped a nice gouge in the side panel and rear quarter panel. $6K in damage. 6 months and lawyer fees later I got paid.

Also a warning if you have insurance through Good Sam. They very specifically do not cover this type of damage. Any time the trailer is being moved by a storage facility or repair shop they will not pay a claim.

Along this line, when the technician at the Factory moves an Airstream with a Hensley, he places the blade of a large screw driver into the floating pin slot in the upper (orange) unit and down into the floating pin-holding hole in the lower (black) unit. This prevents the head from swiveling and allows the Airstream to be towed by the tug as if the ball is directly hooked to the trailer. I assume they do something similar for a ProPride. The technician told me that without using the screw driver, the trailer would would be all over the place when moved.

In the below photos, you can see the screw driver stuck in the Hensley. The first picture shows the tug hooked to Lucy. The second photo shows the tug lifting Lucy to move her into the Service Center. They lift the trailer high enough to leave the tongue jack down. This saves them time on both ends.

Brian

[KJRitchie]

Do you need a hydraulic jack to lift the head to the tongue when installing?

I have a question about unhitch and hitch at weird angles. When at North Rim Campground GC my site was curved pull through but the site was lower than the road. You had to drive down into the campsite then drive up out. Where I decided to unhitch the trailer I couldn't remove the Equalizer due to the angle between the trailer and tow vehicle and the incline the tow vehicle was on. I ended up driving out to the flat road, releasing the bars and driving around the loop to reenter the campsite. When I left I drove up on the road then installed the bars. If I had a Propride would I have been able to unhitch and hitch in the campsite or would I've had to partially unhitch on the campground road like I did with the Equalizer.

Kelvin

[ghaynes755]

Kelvin no you don't. The instructions have you setup the TV side first and then slide the main head onto the stinger. Back up to the trailer and set the trailer onto the ball. So no jack required. That said the first one I had used a jack. Didn't follow the instructions.

Answer on your second question. Unless you want to do a lot of disassembly then you don't remove anything on the ProPride. Way to much work. Yes you might find a spot where the angles are so acute that you can't unhitch. Easy answer, find another spot. That said I have yet to be someplace where I couldn't unhitch or re-hitch.

And the ProPride does not have the same design as the Hensley. What I have been told is that the factory tow with a ProPride they clamp a vide grip on each side of the trailer ball head to stop it from moving. And this reinforces my earlier comment. Going forward no problem. Backing, unless you do it slowly and know what to expect, if the head swivels while back/maneuvering backwards then the tail of the trailer will swing. Not a good thing in tight spaces.

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

Do you need a hydraulic jack to lift the head to the tongue when installing?

I have a question about unhitch and hitch at weird angles. When at North Rim Campground GC my site was curved pull through but the site was lower than the road. You had to drive down into the campsite then drive up out. Where I decided to unhitch the trailer I couldn't remove the Equalizer due to the angle between the trailer and tow vehicle and the incline the tow vehicle was on. I ended up driving out to the flat road, releasing the bars and driving around the loop to reenter the campsite. When I left I drove up on the road then installed the bars. If I had a Propride would I have been able to unhitch and hitch in the campsite or would I've had to partially unhitch on the campground road like I did with the Equalizer.

Kelvin

The answer to your first question is no. When reinstalling my Hensley, which I have done four times now, I installed the hitch bar on the tow vehicle. Then, with SuEllyn's help, I put the head on the stinger and lock it on. Then I simply back the Hensley ball under the Airstream coupler and lower it on to the Hensley ball. Then I install the other parts. Once the head is on the trailer, I disconnect and pull the tow vehicle away. Then I do all the adjustments to the Hensley.

As to you second question, I would almost need to see the campsite layout before I could make a suggestion.

Brian

[ROBERT CROSS]

Kelvin,


If you study these photo's you can see how you can tilt the head of the HAHA/PP by adjusting the WD jacks. By alternately raising or lowering you can get the angle you need...at least thats been my experience.





Bob


BTW... a jack will make it easier....I store the HAHA inside the AS every Winter.

[Pahaska]

Originally Posted by ghaynes755

And the ProPride does not have the same design as the Hensley. What I have been told is that the factory tow with a ProPride they clamp a vide grip on each side of the trailer ball head to stop it from moving. And this reinforces my earlier comment. Going forward no problem. Backing, unless you do it slowly and know what to expect, if the head swivels while back/maneuvering backwards then the tail of the trailer will swing. Not a good thing in tight spaces.

This is the problem I mentioned in backing into my storage slot. It takes a lot of space to get the head to swing over to start the turn and a lot of space to get the head to swing to the other side to get the trailer straightened out after the turn. I have it pretty much down to a ritual now, but it is still not fun.

Just hope that you never have to back the trailer a long distance with a PPP. When my GPS took me down a road into a cotton field, I had to back about 1/4 mile. With the stinger in the receiver, I could not clamp the head and no matter how careful I was, the trailer would take off for the bushes after a short distance and I would have to pull forward to recenter the hitch. It was not fun.

[dznf0g]

What RobertCross said, plus you can adjust the side to side tilt by adjusting the jacks at amounts unequal to one another if the vehicle and AS aren't in the same plane side to side.

[carver 1]

Originally Posted by ghaynes755

Kelvin no you don't. The instructions have you setup the TV side first and then slide the main head onto the stinger. Back up to the trailer and set the trailer onto the ball. So no jack required. That said the first one I had used a jack. Didn't follow the instructions.

Answer on your second question. Unless you want to do a lot of disassembly then you don't remove anything on the ProPride. Way to much work. Yes you might find a spot where the angles are so acute that you can't unhitch. Easy answer, find another spot. That said I have yet to be someplace where I couldn't unhitch or re-hitch.

And the ProPride does not have the same design as the Hensley. What I have been told is that the factory tow with a ProPride they clamp a vide grip on each side of the trailer ball head to stop it from moving. And this reinforces my earlier comment. Going forward no problem. Backing, unless you do it slowly and know what to expect, if the head swivels while back/maneuvering backwards then the tail of the trailer will swing. Not a good thing in tight spaces.

I would love to see pictures of the use of the vice grips on the PP. I went out and looked at mine and can't figure out where the vice grips would go. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

>>ron<<

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by carver 1

I would love to see pictures of the use of the vice grips on the PP. I went out and looked at mine and can't figure out where the vice grips would go. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

>>ron<<

I wish I had taken a picture of it at the Mothership. They moved ours like that with 2 large vice grips - one to each side (left and right) of the center of the head sitting on the trailer. If you just put your hand on the head and move it left and right, you will see where a pair of clamps will keep it straight and prevent it from swinging. Hard to describe otherwise :-)

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by SteveSueMac

I wish I had taken a picture of it at the Mothership. They moved ours like that with 2 large vice grips - one to each side (left and right) of the center of the head sitting on the trailer. If you just put your hand on the head and move it left and right, you will see where a pair of clamps will keep it straight and prevent it from swinging. Hard to describe otherwise :-)

Non-marring or rubber covered jaws, I would hope?????

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by dznf0g

Non-marring or rubber covered jaws, I would hope?????

I don't recall but would imagine yes - there were no scratches or damage.

[kb7our]

Originally Posted by Pahaska

This is the problem I mentioned in backing into my storage slot. It takes a lot of space to get the head to swing over to start the turn and a lot of space to get the head to swing to the other side to get the trailer straightened out after the turn. I have it pretty much down to a ritual now, but it is still not fun.

Just hope that you never have to back the trailer a long distance with a PPP. When my GPS took me down a road into a cotton field, I had to back about 1/4 mile. With the stinger in the receiver, I could not clamp the head and no matter how careful I was, the trailer would take off for the bushes after a short distance and I would have to pull forward to recenter the hitch. It was not fun.

Good to know this...it could put the PP out of the running for me when we obtain an Airstream. I suppose there is not any way to "latch" the setup when in reverse so this could not happen - maybe a future design?? Not familiar enough to know if this is even feasible to stop a swivel when backing.

[NCMEDIC]

Please say more about backing with the Hensley/PP. I had not heard of this being an issue.


Warren Smathers

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