We joined the HAA today

[silverback]

That would be Hensley Arrow Anonymous. The HA is in our rear-view mirror. It took 4 years but we finally hit bottom last weekend after another 40 minute session of trying to hitch the thing up in a non-level campsite (not to mention the usual unhitching issues). Mrs Silverback said it all, "we're just too dumb for a Hensley". So we drove off today towing with a new Equal-i-zer. Does it tow as nice as the Hensley? Maybe not quite as smooth. I felt a little more push from passing semi trucks. But not enough to get alarmed over, and no sway. Today we experienced easy hitching and unhitching (less than 10 minutes total for both as Eqaul-i-zer rookies) for the first time in years. I know it won't always be that way but it felt damn good. Anyone want a used HA in pretty good shape?
-Ken

[TBRich]

Hey Ken & Linda... You'll be fine with an Equal-I-Zer..and they have to be the easiest hitches in the world to work with... We've never had any issues with ours.

[AirHeadsRus]

Ken,
Sorry you had problems and had to go to the expense of a new hitch. My HaHa never takes more than a couple of minutes.
I hope you can recover some of your money.
Regards,
Joe

[bmklawt]

I may be interested in the hitch, what are you asking for it?

Bruce

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, this change over might be one for the history books. Be very careful, you might get forty lashes from the exclusive Ha Ha group.

[Gator113]

We bought our first Airstream and Equal-I-Zer hitch 25 days ago. I have put about 600 miles on it so far and have no serious complaints.

It sure was noisy before I decided to grease it at the wear-points. The only real issue was the length of the stock shank, 12". This 12" shank would not allow me to open my tailgate, so I had to buy one that is 18". The 18" shank works, but it sure sticks out there.

[BigAl]

Hi Gator,
I have a Hensley and no experience with your hitch but I do remember reading that you should always try to get the ball as close to the rear of the tow vehicle as possible.
Sounds like you are going the other way.
Al

[Gator113]

Originally Posted by BigAl

Hi Gator,
I have a Hensley and no experience with your hitch but I do remember reading that you should always try to get the ball as close to the rear of the tow vehicle as possible.
Sounds like you are going the other way.
Al

Thanks Al. I'm not quite sure what to do.... because I must be able to drop the tailgate. I wonder if Hensley or some other brand will resolve this, with a short shank.

[SARGE/AF]

Originally Posted by BigAl

Hi Gator, I have a Hensley and no experience with your hitch but I do remember reading that you should always try to get the ball as close to the rear of the tow vehicle as possible. Sounds like you are going the other way.Al

If I am correct but if you put a trailer with a hensley hooked to the tv and a trailer with a standard hitch hooked to a tv side by side and measure the length from the reciever hitch to the trailer ball hitch you will find that the hensley does moves the tong of the trailer back about 15-18 inches further than the standard ball hitch.

Sarge

[Gator113]

Originally Posted by BigAl

Hi Gator,
I have a Hensley and no experience with your hitch but I do remember reading that you should always try to get the ball as close to the rear of the tow vehicle as possible.
Sounds like you are going the other way.
Al

Al,

I gave your comment additional thought and yesterday, I changed back to the shorter shank. The chains and cord didn't fit with the long shank anyway and I didn't want to keep changing stuff.

To resolve the tailgate issue, I simply changed the jack head so that it now points to the street side instead of forward. I don't care for the look and it's not quite as handy, but with 1/4" clearance, I can now open the tailgate. It's close, but it beats disconnecting the trailer just to put my dog into his crate.

My GSD usually rides in the backseat, but the upholstery is leather and when he gets filthy and wet while playing like the nutcase that he can be, I need to park him in his extra-large crate until we get to where I can cleanup the bratty boy. ;>) As well, I can now get to the generator much more easily.

Thanks for causing me to rethink this. I will now see what others have done to deal with the issue.

The worst part of being a rookie is the steep learning curve I need to quickly climb. ;>)

Cheers,

Dan

[Gator113]

Originally Posted by SARGE/AF

If I am correct but if you put a trailer with a hensley hooked to the tv and a trailer with a standard hitch hooked to a tv side by side and measure the length from the reciever hitch to the trailer ball hitch you will find that the hensley does moves the tong of the trailer back about 15-18 inches further than the standard ball hitch.

Sarge

Thanks Sarge.

For the price of those rascals, I'll be studying them for a bit. I already think I want a Hensley, but I need to sell "yes dear" on the idea. LOL This has been an expensive year. ;>)

I am also thinking about having the 18" shank cut down to 15 ". They sell these shanks in 12" and 18" lengths, nothing in the middle with the same drop and rise.

Again, thanks for your input.

Dan

[Sean Woodruff]

Originally Posted by Gator113244

Thanks Sarge.

For the price of those rascals, I'll be studying them for a bit. I already think I want a Hensley, but I need to sell "yes dear" on the idea. LOL This has been an expensive year. ;>)

I am also thinking about having the 18" shank cut down to 15 ". They sell these shanks in 12" and 18" lengths, nothing in the middle with the same drop and rise.

Again, thanks for your input.

Dan

Sarge is correct about the Arrow hitch ball being 12" rearward.

However, the effective pivot point is still projected forward so the extension does not have the effect that an extension of a standard hitch ball has in regards to trailer sway.

I'm sorry to hear the OP couldn't get the help needed to stay with the Arrow. It can be challenging but the improvements we have made to the hitch box of the ProPride 3P have eliminated those problems with hitching. One can be hitched and ready to roll in less than five minutes if the process is followed.



-

[silverback]

The OP here. First the Equal-i-zer (shank as installed on ours) also moves the hitch ball 12" back. We had no tailgate issues and I wouldn't obsess on that (unless you can't open your tailgate). Also, we had plenty of help for years with the HA. Hensley tech support is super. They're almost always available by phone and there is a vast wealth of knowledge on Airforums. Loved the HA adjust-ability and towing peace of mind but... the many hours spent hitching wasn't worth it for us. Regarding the PP, it took us 40 minutes to hitch up the HA at our last outing. It took the new PP owner less time to hitch up, but then he spent over an hour driving around the campground loop trying to figure out what was causing the clanking, grinding noises. He moved out of the loop to let us go by. For now I'm very happy with the more simplistic Equal-i-zer setup. I'm sure the future will bring some amazing new hitch technology.
Happy hitching,
Ken

[2airishuman]

Originally Posted by silverback

...he spent over an hour driving around the campground loop trying to figure out what was causing the clanking, grinding noises...

another 5-6 hours of looping and all of those noises will vanish...

cheers
2air'

[Sean Woodruff]

Originally Posted by silverback

It took the new PP owner less time to hitch up, but then he spent over an hour driving around the campground loop trying to figure out what was causing the clanking, grinding noises.

He should call me. There shouldn't be any clanking OR grinding noises.

ANY of my customers should call me immediately if something is out of the ordinary. There's no reason to spend YOUR time driving around or figuring it out.

[crispyboy]

I truly hope your life will be better with the Equalizer but for the life of me I just don't understand where people have hitching problems with the HAHA. My learning curve was over on the first camping trip. I have found it much easier to do the hitch up on my own with the "hitch'n balls" rather than have someone guide me into position. Never timed myself but I bet I'm real close to the 5 minute mark if not better that Sean Woodruff speaks about.
Good luck with the new hitch!

[mwells4654]

I use the Equal-i-zer2 hitch. Takes no time at all to hitch up. What bar strength are you using? Mine are 1000 lb bars. Had lots of discussion a while back on weather to change to 800 lb. bars.

[2airishuman]

Originally Posted by crispyboy

...I have found it much easier to do the hitch up on my own with the "hitch'n balls" rather than have someone guide me into position...

agree completely.

and still there are occasional folks who seem to be baffled by the process.

and as easy as the haha was...

the pp is 10x easier and quicker.

hooking up SOLO, i no longer need to use ANY alignment devices, it's that much simpler.

raising the tongue jack (and stowing the base), hooking up the 7 pin; brake/breakaway cable and connecting the safety chains...

takes MORE time than the actual pp hook up.
__________

there are folks with ALL brands of hitch gizmos...

who simply NEVER unhook while traveling...

because of their anxiety or ineptitudes related to REconnecting.

it's understandable but easily solved.

and a lot more common than one might think...

cheers
2air'

[silverback]

We rarely stay hooked up. Except for quick overnight stops. And in a level campsite or at our trailer storage (using the "marriage saver" device) we could probably hookup in 10 minutes with the Hensley. Say 50% of the time. With Equal-i-zer I probably can do it solo (using the balls or sticks), from any angle or state of level. Every-time. I'm thinking I may mount one of those little backup mirrors (no need for a camera) just to prove it. But like I stated in the first post, we're obviously too dumb for the HA (I hate being dumb so maybe... I over thought it?). I can live with that.
-Ken