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Old 05-08-2013, 01:22 PM   #1
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ProPride video: Hitching up!

Having read a number of critiques of the time it takes to hitch up a ProPride and wondering where these come from I decided to time myself hitching our ProPride up on a video.
I bit under 6 minutes from beginning to end.
We had not been hitched in about 5 weeks and I did nothing to "prepare" for the hitching except ask my wife Dorsey to film the event.
Yes, I did not actually finish as the breakaway/emergency brakes were not yet attached as I had to make a repair to the clip that holds the line to the truck. You can add about 2 seconds to the total time for that job.
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Old 05-08-2013, 01:47 PM   #2
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First, I have to say...

I have the most thoughtful and helpful customers of anyone in the world!

This is an excellent video, Bruce and Dorsey.

Over the years I've said I can hitch much faster than any conventional hitch and you just showed how.

Thank you both for posting it!
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Old 05-08-2013, 04:39 PM   #3
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Nice, guys! I wish the folks at Chilly Man 7 didn't have to watch me screw that up royally last weekend because I swear, that 6 minute window has been my experience too! Maybe 10 when hitching by myself without DW's eyes helping out. Great idea to use the breaker bar as a "ruler" to set the jack height for the hitch box.

Great video! Thanks for posting.
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Old 05-08-2013, 06:01 PM   #4
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Very impressed to see you could get the stinger into the trailer on the first try. Having just come back from 4 weeks in my trailer and too many hitch/unhitch events to count, I found the most critical factor was to have my TV at as close to the same angle as it was when I unhitched (you'll read this in other places). I found that simply marking my front and rear wheel position BEFORE I unhitched made this incredibly easy. It is a VERY small 2x2 window and if you are off by more than a few degrees -- and I solo trailer. There is definitely a learning curve, and Bruce's video does a nice job. Thanks for posting it!
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Old 05-08-2013, 06:10 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by Sean Woodruff View Post
First, I have to say...

I have the most thoughtful and helpful customers of anyone in the world!

This is an excellent video, Bruce and Dorsey.

Over the years I've said I can hitch much faster than any conventional hitch and you just showed how.

Thank you both for posting it!
Oh yeah, and we're competitive too....Bet I can do it faster with my Hybrid Hensley/Propride! Would that be a HenPride...or a ProLey?

Hitching is pretty much the same steps either way. Thanks again Sean for making up the adjustable stingers for some of us HAHA guys.
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Old 05-08-2013, 06:33 PM   #6
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Very impressed to see you could get the stinger into the trailer on the first try. Having just come back from 4 weeks in my trailer and too many hitch/unhitch events to count, I found the most critical factor was to have my TV at as close to the same angle as it was when I unhitched (you'll read this in other places). I found that simply marking my front and rear wheel position BEFORE I unhitched made this incredibly easy. It is a VERY small 2x2 window and if you are off by more than a few degrees -- and I solo trailer. There is definitely a learning curve, and Bruce's video does a nice job. Thanks for posting it!
We use the back up camera built into my wonderful F-150!
It is certainly part of the reason it is so easy to hitch up but I can do it with a vehicle that has no back up camera pretty easily too.
If we didn't have a camera I would install one though. It is a great tool.....
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Old 05-08-2013, 06:39 PM   #7
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PPP hitch or not, a BU camera makes it a first shot hitching every time, once you get the camera perspective down.
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Old 05-08-2013, 07:01 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by dznf0g View Post
PPP hitch or not, a BU camera makes it a first shot hitching every time, once you get the camera perspective down.
Quick story!
My mom needed a new car and after seeing my back up camera in the Ford, she stated that her next car had to have one. Well, I found a nice Tiguan with Nav and a back up camera and she purchased it.
I delivered it to her and went along for an introduction so she could learn about the many new features of this complex car.
When we got to the camera and backing up (something she has never been very good at) it was hilarious to watch her try to figure out what she was seeing in the camera. I was laughing, she was annoyed and it would have made a great video. The best part was when I learned that she has always been under the impression that the rear tires steered when a car backed up......!

Six months into ownership of the car she now backs up quite nicely.

Time seems to help with perspective.

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Old 05-08-2013, 07:05 PM   #9
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Agree....my Infiniti QX has 4 cameras....front, both sides, and rear. You can select "bird's eye view" and see 360 around your car ... but obviously I just use the BU for hitching. Lighting does matter, though!
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Old 05-08-2013, 07:32 PM   #10
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I learned a lot from watching that - thanks. Wonder if you could speed it up even more (if you wanted to) with a cordless drill instead of the ratchet wrench...

Got to say, one thing that entices me - beyond the performance - is that this reduces the weight of the hitch parts that need to be moved around.

Tom
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Old 05-08-2013, 07:56 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by mutcth View Post
I learned a lot from watching that - thanks. Wonder if you could speed it up even more (if you wanted to) with a cordless drill instead of the ratchet wrench...

Got to say, one thing that entices me - beyond the performance - is that this reduces the weight of the hitch parts that need to be moved around.

Tom
You certainly could use a drill to tension the jacks, I have seen people do it.
My intent was not to drag race through the process but rather show it for what it is, easy peasy! We hitched up at Chilly Man and I noticed we had a small group watching the process. I hit it first shot! Maybe we need to show a video of the process from inside the truck watching the camera....
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Old 05-08-2013, 07:59 PM   #12
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View realistic video from my experience. I having gotten fairly proficient at hitching up by myself without a camera or mirror when on level ground and a straight in hook up. On more difficult angles I use a mirror to see the stinger. I put white tape on the top of the stinger so that it is very visible in the mirror. I use the trailer stabilizer speed handle for the WD jacks. I find it more difficult to hitch up when my wife is attempting to give me stinger view guidance (I'll deny I ever said that if challenged by her).
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Old 05-09-2013, 02:44 PM   #13
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I use my stabilizer jack crank for the jacks. Just as fast and easy as getting out my drill and socket and a lot quicker than the wrench that came with the hitch.

I have an Eye-Ball backup camera with a magnetic mount. I put the camera on the stinger, just above the casting, pointed down 45 degrees to see the stinger end. I also have a 10' piece of thick orange rope with a magnet on one end and a weight on the other end. I stick the magnet to the bottom of the hitch opening and stretch out the rope in line with the opening in the hitch. In the camera image, I simply keep the black stinger over the orange rope as I back up and it leads me right into the opening. This really helps when hooking up solo in the dark where the usual clues to being lined up are absent. I stop once, with the stinger just short of the hitch, and visually adjust the height with the tongue jack. This really worked well in some of the little half-circular sites in the state parks where I have to unhitch at quite an angle.
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Old 05-09-2013, 05:58 PM   #14
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Pahaska - that's a GREAT idea! I may steal that one!

I have a cordless impact wrench that actually torques out before I can get the jacks to rise 6". I recently used the stabilizer wrench and find that's a pretty effective and efficient tool for the WD jacks.
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Old 05-09-2013, 06:17 PM   #15
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I wish our Bambi used the same stabilizers her bis sisters use. Maybe I will look into modifying ours so they use the same wrench.....
Sounds like a great idea!
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Old 05-10-2013, 06:21 AM   #16
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Bruce B, thanks for this - it's impressive. I haven't seen someone hook one up before, so it was useful beyond the time question. I probably take 10-12 minutes to hook up our camper (using a Reese), but I spend a bunch of time making sure I did everything correctly too, and instead of the clip chain ends you have, I have the ones that look like another chain link but with a section that screws open and close - those things probably add a couple minutes alone (especially in winter, since I can never seem to get them to rotate while I'm wearing gloves...). With your hitch, I'd probably spend another 30 seconds or a minute making sure I did in fact put in those side pins, making sure I rotated the lifter bar bolts to the proper point, making sure the breakaway cable is secure, etc. That's just me being thorough - it looks like the ProPride is fairly idiot-proof.

For anyone with one, or even Sean: How much of a problem is it to hook up when the camper is level side-to-side, but the truck isn't; and when the camper is level front-to-back but the truck is nose down? Our driveway where the camper is stored has the truck down at the nose and rotated a bit to the right relative to the camper. Neither aspect is extreme, but a friend's comment about his Hensley in this respect got me wondering whether I'd have a headache hooking up every time we went camping if we bought a ProPride or Hensley. The slopes are enough that it's useless to step back and check whether the camper will be level on the road, if that helps. (I'll try to get a picture of it.)

Back to the video: The back up camera helps, too. I use the brightly colored balls on magnets to hitch up, but because the camper is "rotated" relative to the truck, I have to move over a bit from where the ball says it's lined up perfectly, so although I usually get it on the first try, a second try is sometimes required.
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Old 05-10-2013, 06:51 AM   #17
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Bruce B, thanks for this - it's impressive. I haven't seen someone hook one up before, so it was useful beyond the time question. I probably take 10-12 minutes to hook up our camper (using a Reese), but I spend a bunch of time making sure I did everything correctly too, and instead of the clip chain ends you have, I have the ones that look like another chain link but with a section that screws open and close - those things probably add a couple minutes alone (especially in winter, since I can never seem to get them to rotate while I'm wearing gloves...). With your hitch, I'd probably spend another 30 seconds or a minute making sure I did in fact put in those side pins, making sure I rotated the lifter bar bolts to the proper point, making sure the breakaway cable is secure, etc. That's just me being thorough - it looks like the ProPride is fairly idiot-proof.

For anyone with one, or even Sean: How much of a problem is it to hook up when the camper is level side-to-side, but the truck isn't; and when the camper is level front-to-back but the truck is nose down? Our driveway where the camper is stored has the truck down at the nose and rotated a bit to the right relative to the camper. Neither aspect is extreme, but a friend's comment about his Hensley in this respect got me wondering whether I'd have a headache hooking up every time we went camping if we bought a ProPride or Hensley. The slopes are enough that it's useless to step back and check whether the camper will be level on the road, if that helps. (I'll try to get a picture of it.)

Back to the video: The back up camera helps, too. I use the brightly colored balls on magnets to hitch up, but because the camper is "rotated" relative to the truck, I have to move over a bit from where the ball says it's lined up perfectly, so although I usually get it on the first try, a second try is sometimes required.
There are a series of Youtube videos on the Propride site (and on Youtube) with great information on how to hitch up with a Propride. The videos cover how to deal with various unusual angles between the TV and AS. This series of videos was very helpful to me when I first bought a Propride hitch.



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Old 05-10-2013, 07:55 PM   #18
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Great video. I finished installing my Pro Pride tonight. Have some questions to owners. The clamps that connect with the wrench on the main hitch head- I am having trouble with side not clearing the insertion hole for the spring clamp. Any ideas? Also, what are some tips for knowing which hole to use on the weight bar rods that hang from the jacks. I am in the middle hole. I was able to get within 3/16 of the original front end height on the truck but the weight bars are slightly upward on the tapered jack end. Would I next go up one hole? Final question, road clearance- my hitch setup is pretty low. Any concerns or rules of thumb on things like that? I would say it is a good 3 inches lower than my other jack. I cannot wait to try towing. As far as hitching goes- so far I have hitched up three times backing into the main hitch head with the stinger during installation and then as a run through. It is as easy as backing a regular ball to the coupler - which by the way still requires a height check.
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Old 05-10-2013, 08:15 PM   #19
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(snip) what are some tips for knowing which hole to use on the weight bar rods that hang from the jacks. I am in the middle hole. I was able to get within 3/16 of the original front end height on the truck but the weight bars are slightly upward on the tapered jack end. Would I next go up one hole? Final question, road clearance- my hitch setup is pretty low. Any concerns or rules of thumb on things like that? I would say it is a good 3 inches lower than my other jack. I cannot wait to try towing.
I'm not a pro by a longshot and would recommend the "Unofficial PP Userguide" thread on the forum as well as Sean directly. But FWIW, I just went through a similar situation. Are you getting at least 6" of lift on the jacks (measured from top of a-frame to bottom of jack sleeve)?

I wasn't able to restore enough weight to the front axle (according to scales) and was on the middle hole. To push more weight to the front axle (sounds like your goal), use the BOTTOM hole. This pushes more weight to the front and brings your WD bars higher (more ground clearance). In my case (yours may be different) this also changed my trailer from pretty level to 1.5" higher at the nose of the trailer compared to the rear (measured from the belly pan in a corner to the ground) and I'm mot sure why. I ended up needing to drop the stinger a bolt hole in the hitch head as well (thanks to advice in the forum) and that too put more weight on the front end AND I'm now at the same exact measurement at all 4 corners of the trailer (as close to perfectly level when towing as I think I can get).

I've noticed that there seems to be a sweet spot regarding porpoising. Very much a "Goldilocks" kind of thing. Not enough or too much WD and there is more noticeable porpoising. Just the right amount and the only porpoising is on terrible roads. Absolutely zero sway and that feels GREAT!!! Heading back to the scales tomorrow for what I hope is the final time this season (3rd times a charm?).

Good luck!!
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Old 05-10-2013, 08:42 PM   #20
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Thanks for the reply. Ok, on the weight rods and down a hole instead of up. I understand how the "hole rod" adjustment will raise the tapered end of the weight bar but the end that goes into the main hitch head is the really low spot. I noted that on the video it looks low as well. I will understand more when I have towed.
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