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Old 01-23-2017, 10:31 AM   #1
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What do I check on a used Hensley?

I'm looking at a couple of used Hensley hitches to replace my Equalizer. I am totally satisfied with the sway and weight distribution performance of the Equalizer, but the head is just too heavy to lift into the back of the truck and to move around when I'm not using the trailer. Age and shoulder problems are limiting my ability to lift heavy objects very far off the ground. I figure I can leave the stinger on the trailer when I'm not towing. Worst case I'll have to unhitch with the stinger on the truck, pull forward a bit and transfer it to the trailer for storage.

I have actually looked at one hitch and have another one to see this weekend. The one I have seen looks pretty old - it's all black, not black and orange. The only thing I noticed was there seemed to be a lot of "slop" in the mounting of the jacks to the frame brackets. I could wiggle the jacks side to side at the bottom an inch or two. Is this normal, or is there a worn or missing bushing where the jacks mount to the bracket?

What else should I look for? Nothing is obviously bent or broken, but that's about all I can say based on my lack of experience.

Thanks,

Al
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Old 01-23-2017, 10:46 AM   #2
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Yes that play on the bracket pins is normal, but still look for excessive wear to that bracket pin and the jack eye hole. In addition, look for deformation to the rear surface of the pin holes where the struts mount to the top (orange) head piece. Elongation of these holes indicate an prior improper setup and adjustment. Also look closely at the welds holding the ball shaft to the top of the head. I read that some old units can develop cracks there. That's easily repaired by a welder, but should lower the price accordingly. If the seller will allow, pop off the bearing caps and inspect for any prior water intrusion (water present and any corrosion). This is probably also easily repaired, but would require at least new seals, and perhaps new bearings. Again price should reflect needed repairs. There are a lot of maintenance pieces which should be inspected, but wouldn't necessarily require a price adjustment; like the greasable pins and housings which hold the spring bars in place, the bushings in the head which the spring bars are inserted, as well as the U-brackets which retain the bottom of the jacks to the spring bars.
Inspect the area around the housings in the head for the above mentioned bushings. the welds can crack there over a lot of miles. Again, if not deformed, this can be reinforced by a welder, but price should definitely reflect this.

I bought mine used about 6 years ago. The serial number label was gone, but based upon the build, it was a very early model. It was in great shape and still is...although I completely disassembled, sandblasted, inspected every part, painted and rebuilt.
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Old 01-23-2017, 07:39 PM   #3
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Round 2

What is the difference between a Hensley with 1000# bars and one with 1400# bars? Just the bars, or are there more differences? Are the two visually distinguishable? I'm probably going to look at a used hitch and I'm told I need the 1400# bars.

Al
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Old 01-23-2017, 07:56 PM   #4
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In addition to the bars being different, the bushings in the head end are different, as the bar diameters are different. Usually the weight is stamped on the end face of the bar at the end inside the bushing. IIRC, the 1000# bars are 1" in diameter and the 1400# bars are larger.
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Old 01-23-2017, 08:08 PM   #5
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Thanks Rich!

Al
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Old 01-23-2017, 09:32 PM   #6
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Al, I like my 1k bars. I would not want 14s. I have 900 - 1050 on the receiver and can wd all the weight I need to. 14s would just make it stiffer, and I don't want stiff.
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Old 01-23-2017, 10:34 PM   #7
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I wondered about that. Both Hensley and Propride recommended 1400# bars for my trailer, understanding I was towing it with a Ram 2500. I have read, and think I understand and agree with, Andy's recommendations that suggest that the impact to the trailer from TV vibration would be less with a 1000# bar loaded to 1000# than with a 1400# bar loaded to the same level. Basically the same motion of the TV will input less force to the trailer with the lighter bar due to the reduced stiffness.

So maybe the two Hensleys I'm considering, one of which most probably has 1000# bars, are a better solution for me.

I like my Equalizer's performance, I'm just getting too old to lift that head up into the truck when I disconnect.

Al
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Old 01-24-2017, 05:53 AM   #8
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I would be looking for 1000#ers.
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Old 01-24-2017, 06:12 AM   #9
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What is general price range for a used Hensley hitch?
Thanks
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Old 01-24-2017, 07:16 AM   #10
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What is general price range for a used Hensley hitch?
Thanks
LilNomad
I had no intention of buying one at the time, but a deal I couldn't pass up came along and I had to satisfy my curiosity @ $800 for an old, but low mile one in really good mechanical condition. It was sun baked, but had not been on the road much. I knew I could get my money back and probably flip for a profit...but I liked the performance differential so much, there was no way I was selling it. It also came with two different drop stingers and a head cover.

Most I see for sale are in the $1100 - $1500 range.
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Old 01-24-2017, 07:19 AM   #11
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What is the tongue weight of your trailer? You may want to consider the heavier bars as the weight distribution is adjustable throughout the range of the jacks without making a difference in the performance of the hitch.
I use 1000 lb bars (Hensley) on my shortbed Dodge 2500 and I feel that they are just enough with the tongue weight of my 1994 Classic 30. The WD jacks are ~95% retracted which gets the trailer level, minimal to no porpoising and no jarring when crossing a bridge expansion joint.

I think I have $600 (including refurb costs) in my hitch but it was old and needed a lot of TLC. I did as Rich did and totally broke it down into pieces, cleaned, painted, greased the bearings, new seals and a new socket for the wd bars. It came with a straight stinger which was converted to an adjustable stinger.
One optional thing I did was weld some tabs onto the wd jacks so I could put a pin through them to keep the jacks from backing off. I like to keep these well greased so it is easy to adjust the with the cordless drill or BAL jack handle.

One other consideration. You originally mentioned that you don't like to lift the heavy Equalizer hitch. One trade off will be that leaving the Hensley stinger in place could put several black and blue bruises or knots on your shins when you run into it.....
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Old 01-24-2017, 07:28 AM   #12
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I have towed with both 1/2 ton PUs and SUVs, as well as 2500s. I find the 100# bars more than adequate for both....BUT...I do have a "Propride for Hensley" tilt and height adjustable stinger which makes a difference on the jack adjustment height and (I believe effectiveness).
My receiver weight at the truck is 900 - 1050#, depending on what I have loaded for travel (particularly the front Arvika bike rack). My jacks are tensioned to expose 2 lines from the bottom when the truck bed is loaded with all the toys and bikes are on the tongue. With a somewhat lighter load I have 2 1/2 lines of space exposed on the jacks. The positioning is backed up by both measurements of fender wells as well as scale tickets.

Of course, when discussing this, we must also consider which hole the lower section of the jack is pinned to. I have 3 holes exposed (or pinned to the 4th hole).
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Old 01-24-2017, 08:00 AM   #13
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Hensley has a couple of different frame mounts that can be used. They make these different for top Mount couplers and underslung couplers. I would make sure the stinger fits tightly into hitch head. I bought mine used and had this issue and it was a low mileage unit so be aware. I swapped out the 1000# bars with 1400# bars that I bought from etrailer.com. They are made by draw tite so were my originals that are perfect size without changing out bushing also hundred dollars cheaper than Hensley.

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Old 01-24-2017, 08:20 AM   #14
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Hensley has a couple of different frame mounts that can be used. They make these different for top Mount couplers and underslung couplers. I would make sure the stinger fits tightly into hitch head. I bought mine used and had this issue and it was a low mileage unit so be aware. I swapped out the 1000# bars with 1400# bars that I bought from etrailer.com. They are made by draw tite so were my originals that are perfect size without changing out bushing also hundred dollars cheaper than Hensley.

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The mouth opening getting out of square is a result of the Hensley stinger ramps not going all the way to the corners of the head mouth. Mine was a bit deformed. I reshaped before my rebuild, and with the PP stinger (made to Hensley dimensions...they are different) I have had no re-occurrence. PP stinger ramps fill the whole mouth, all the way to the corners. I have had no re-occurrence.
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Old 01-24-2017, 09:43 AM   #15
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The mouth opening getting out of square is a result of the Hensley stinger ramps not going all the way to the corners of the head mouth. Mine was a bit deformed. I reshaped before my rebuild, and with the PP stinger (made to Hensley dimensions...they are different) I have had no re-occurrence. PP stinger ramps fill the whole mouth, all the way to the corners. I have had no re-occurrence.
I too have rebuilt the Hensley and reshaped mouth that was tight,but it has done it again. Now the square ring has two cracks on the inside corners. So next month I'm cutting the ring off and getting a custom laser cut ring that will 1/2" thick. Slight overkill but not going to fool with it any more. It does suck because I just had powder coating done last winter and now I got to cut into it.

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Old 01-24-2017, 10:07 AM   #16
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I too have rebuilt the Hensley and reshaped mouth that was tight,but it has done it again. Now the square ring has two cracks on the inside corners. So next month I'm cutting the ring off and getting a custom laser cut ring that will 1/2" thick. Slight overkill but not going to fool with it any more. It does suck because I just had powder coating done last winter and now I got to cut into it.

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As long as Hensley has that low cost, incomplete ramp situation, it will continue to happen....unless one does what you are doing and making the mouth more robust. The PP design involves more cost and compound angles on the ramps, but puts the load evenly distributed over the top horizontal and both vertical lips. I have had no repeat after getting the "PP for Hensley" stinger from Sean. But, alas, he only makes them when he gets a quantity of orders which justify the tooling setup. I took it upon myself to scare up 10 AS Forum members who committed and Sean made them up for us. That was about 4 years ago.
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Old 01-24-2017, 10:50 PM   #17
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In addition to the bearing condition, check the play in the 4 trapezoid bearings that hold the two parts of the head together by moving the top and bottom independently of each other like checking wheel bearings. These can wear out and you will never know it. When mine wore out the bearing cap just fell off. A sure sign of bearing failure. Another item that is hard to check are the jacks for excessive wear. They get harder and harder to turn under load as they wear out. run them in and out several times with a drill and socket to see if they have much friction. At full travel if they don't want to reverse they are toast. If you add up all the different problems the cost could get expensive. However, if you purchase a new hitch this time of the year they are on sale and all these problems would be covered under warranty.
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Old 02-02-2017, 09:33 AM   #18
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Thanks everyone! I'm still trading off the Hensley vs: the Propride. I'm leaning toward the Propride mostly for reasons I've found on here: I won't have to modify my propane tank holder, the Propride looks cleaner without the struts, the adjustable shank, and the better fit of the stinger into the hitch head, among others. It may come down to price, though, as I don't see many used Proprides.

Al
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Old 02-02-2017, 10:21 AM   #19
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Right now they are having a sale on the reconditioned models at Hensley

https://hensleymfg.com/products/hens...ioned-hitches/

Don't forget if you buy used from anyone else there is no warranty on it.
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Old 02-02-2017, 10:45 AM   #20
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Right now they are having a sale on the reconditioned models at Hensley

https://hensleymfg.com/products/hens...ioned-hitches/

Don't forget if you buy used from anyone else there is no warranty on it.
You can purchase a warranty from Hensley on a used hitch from an individual...as long as the serial number sticker is still there. The sticker was long gone on the one I bought...so no warranty...I called and asked.
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