What swayed you to buy Hensley hitch?

[pmclemore]

Forgive me - I am traveling (but home tomorrow!) - so my posts are widely spaced.

Roger, I agree that sway is oscillation. My previous example was on point, though, but it was describing a wide-period sway. So wide, that it was only noticable, not dangerous. Now suppose that the speed differential was greater, the bow wave was much greater, and I was not paying attention. And I was going downhill, in a crosswind. And I had traveled too far that day.

Kevin (God love him) never has this problem - as long as he is passing and never slows down, he will never have this problem. He is truly pulling a "trailer" and enforces this concept with forward force.

I don't have a Hensley, but will likely get one. I'd have ordered one earlier, but there was this Navaho rug on sale at Goulding's.

What I would be buying for 3K is forgiveness. And I am a believer in "buy it once......"

There is no doubt that there are thousands of drivers out there who are way overloaded, that are way underpowered, that are way inexperienced, that are way overaggressive. But I do believe that what we are looking for is equipment that will help us though the absolutely unexpected. I think the Hensley is an order above the others. I now have a dual-cam and it feels good. Just rolled through some very severe weather in LA. Dual-cam did wonderfully.

I'll still upgrade to a Hensley as my long-term solution. Wish it cost less.

Pat

[uwe]

Originally Posted by 85MH325

Joe,

I concur we're beating a dead horse. I believe you're impressed with the performance of your hitch, and I have said repeatedly that I understand that the hitch performs. What I said wasn't that I wanted emperical or anecdotal experiences of which the Internet abounds, but the emperical results of controlled testing (which still hasn't been done, to my knowledge). Many of the folks who have bought Hensleys have no other experience with which to compare.

I appreciate your offer of test driving your truck and trailer (which, for those of you who haven't seen Joe's rig, is one of the most gorgeous rigs I've ever seen!), but out of the box, I'd expect it to be one of the most stable rigs on the road, even on a bare ball because of the weight and wheelbase of your truck, and the fact that the 34' tri-axle trailer is one of the most stable trailers on the road as well. If there are few issues to control, then I'd expect any hitch would work just fine.

An interesting clue is actually offered in the Trailer Life article you mentioned... it describes that the Hensley did wonders for a the lifted RamCharger short wheelbase tow vehicle attached to a trailer, but the article continues: "Of course, the new Dodge pickup exhibited nice road manners with the conventional hitch and friction sway control."

So, the question remains... is the performance of the Hensley so significantly improved over the other products on the market as to warrant spending four to five times the money for it? For those of you who own one, obviously that answer was yes. For those of us who aren't as ready to become true believers absent independent objective comparative testing results... the answer is... at least for me, probably not.

Roger

If you really wanted to know - buy one and try it. They have a trial period, with money back guarantee. That would end the discussion.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by 85MH325

My own experience was that once my hitch was set up properly, and the engineering issues resolved with my relatively short-wheelbase tow vehicle (short for towing a 34' trailer anyway) that I experienced the same kind of handling expressed by owners of the Hensley with my Excursion/34' tri axle rig and my Reese.



Roger

Have I missed your post about how dissappointed you are with your new

Hensley?............. When did you send it Back?

[85MH325]

Originally Posted by uwe

If you really wanted to know - buy one and try it. They have a trial period, with money back guarantee. That would end the discussion.

Uwe, I'm speechless.

Roger

[85MH325]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

Have I missed your post about how dissappointed you are with your new

Hensley?............. When did you send it Back?

Huh? I was talking about my Reese dual cam and how stable my 34' was behind my Excursion with it properly adjusted, and the fundamental engineering flaws in the suspension on the Excursion fixed.

Roger

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by 85MH325

Huh? I was talking about my Reese dual cam and how stable my 34' was behind my Excursion with it properly adjusted, and the fundamental engineering flaws in the suspension on the Excursion fixed.

Roger

So you never towed your Rig with the Hensley!

[85MH325]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

So you never towed your Rig with the Hensley!

Apparently you haven't read my posts? No, I have not towed with a Hensley. I believe I've been quite clear about that. What I said was that I describe my towing experience with my Reese in exactly the same terms that folks here have described their towing experience with their Hensleys.

Roger

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by 85MH325

Apparently you haven't read my posts? No, I have not towed with a Hensley. I believe I've been quite clear about that. What I said was that I describe my towing experience with my Reese in exactly the same terms that folks here have described their towing experience with their Hensleys.

Roger

Well I have towed with a Reese, now I don't

[yakman]

I'm kind of surprised that none of the HAHA users have admitted that the product might just be a little overpriced. If I ever buy one, it would be an insurance policy to allow me to travel faster in lousy weather or heavy truck traffic, but I certainly wouldn't be happy about the price.

I received my Hensley packet today and watched the DVD. After seeing the senior citizen testimonials and watching the older couple tow their triple axle AS with a Lincoln Continental, I'm assuming that Hensley is targeting the full-timer senior citizen with a questionable tow vehicle.

No owner of the hitch has bad mouthed it, but for $3000, I would expect someone to knock on my door and install it for free. Are their any machinists out there who could estimate the cost for the materials used in this hitch? I just have to believe that someone is rollings carts of dollars to the bank with this one.

Another question to ponder is why only travel trailers? What about 30 foot boats that weigh 12,000 lbs and ride on three axles? They don't run on Hensleys (at least they don't advertise to the boat crowd) and big cruisers seem to have a lot more surface area to be affected by wind/semis.

[Tim A.]

Originally Posted by yakman

I'm kind of surprised that none of the HAHA users have admitted that the product might just be a little overpriced. If I ever buy one, it would be an insurance policy to allow me to travel faster in lousy weather or heavy truck traffic, but I certainly wouldn't be happy about the price.

If you think it is overpriced, then the answer is not to buy one. I don't think Hensley owners have a problem with that. You have pointed out that we owners don't think our Hensleys were overpriced. Even if you can't fool all of the people all of the time, perhaps Hensley owners are particularly gullible, but that seems unlikely.

As for how much one SHOULD cost, I haven't a clue. To the best of my knowledge, it is a small American company with a very limited market which means that they probably have low volume sales. If someone got rich off of my single purchase of a Hensley five years ago, more power to them. When I look at the thing now, at least another 25 years of service from it seems likely. Spread over 30 years, if I am still towing my Airstream, my annualized purchase price (which was less than $3000) will be quite low, even counting the loss of interest if the money had been in the bank instead.

[Buttercup]

What SWAYED us was the security. I saw the video that they sent and when that little sedan rode that 31 footer onto the gravel and then smoothly pulled back out - that sold me. I mean if anything from a 2 door sedan to a full sized truck can tow without any sway, I'll take that. And It truly is the only hitch that will eliminate sway, unlike the others on the market that can only mechanically dampen the sway. The Hensley eliminates, the others only dampen - that's all.

But as a confirmation, the last trip we took had us on Intestate 40. If you have ever been on that road you know that the truckers own that road - period. They ride fast and hard. And despite cross winds, head winds and tail winds we did not feel even the slightest tug on us at all. And we had some winds for sure!
We watched the semi's and high profile 5th wheels and of course the u-haul trailers that have that "45 mph MAX!" sticker on the back fender swimming like a fish on the highway - but we didn't even budge, not even once. I even saw a trailer with a WD hitch and a sway bar swinging back and fourth during the onset of a storm we experienced on the way home. 50 MPH winds and all - they swayed and we didn't.
I do not care what the nay-sayers say. That Hensley does exactly what it says - period!

[Mike Lewis]

Ok it seems there are some out there who want to hear this---I am a Hensley owner---I think it is way way way to expensive ---in fact i can't really afford it---but i love what it does and the only way to get one is to step up and pay the price---I can't afford my wife either but after 46 years of having her and loving the way she performs I think i'll keep her too. I've bought a lot of things I thought were too expensive, some were worth it , others not. I just find the Hensley to be one of those things I splurged on and feel good about. ---- pieman

[hiker]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

Ok it seems there are some out there who want to hear this---I am a Hensley owner---I think it is way way way to expensive ---in fact i can't really afford it---but i love what it does and the only way to get one is to step up and pay the price---I can't afford my wife either but after 46 years of having her and loving the way she performs I think i'll keep her too. I've bought a lot of things I thought were too expensive, some were worth it , others not. I just find the Hensley to be one of those things I splurged on and feel good about. ---- pieman

I don't own a Hensley because our towing experience has been so good without one. But your post is so funny and so right on, I think I should go out and buy one for my wife for our upcoming 40th wedding anniversay.

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by hiker

I don't own a Hensley because our towing experience has been so good without one. But your post is so funny and so right on, I think I should go out and buy one for my wife for our upcoming 40th wedding anniversay.

Please let us know how that works out for ya!

[ROBERT CROSS]

[quote=hiker]I don't own a Hensley because our towing experience has been so good without one. But your post is so funny and so right on, I think I should go out and buy one for my wife for our upcoming 40th wedding anniversay.[/quote

My wife thought is was the bestest SWEETEST DAY gift she ever
got.

I'm not happy til she's HAPPY

[Garfield]

I don't mean to be rude, but doesn't anyone else besides me find it ironic that some folks on this forum would complain about a unique, functionally superior hitch being expensive? You know, kind of like an AIRSTREAM travel trailer?

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by Garfield

I don't mean to be rude, but doesn't anyone else besides me find it ironic that some folks on this forum would complain about a unique, functionally superior hitch being expensive? You know, kind of like an AIRSTREAM travel trailer?

BINGO

[moosetags]

Originally Posted by Garfield

I don't mean to be rude, but doesn't anyone else besides me find it ironic that some folks on this forum would complain about a unique, functionally superior hitch being expensive? You know, kind of like an AIRSTREAM travel trailer?

DUH!! Very well put. You are absolutely correct.

Don't be so stupid as to go out and buy a $60,000 Airstream when you could go out and buy a $25,000 SOB that is virtually the same thing!

[RIstream'n]

Ok How about this question. If spending $3k makes sense for a Hensley, how much doesn't make sense? I mean as proven Hensley owners where would you stop spending and go with something else{less$}?

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by RIstream'n

Ok how much doesn't make sense? I mean as proven Hensley owners where would you stop spending and go with something else{less$}?

When something else comes along...we will consider it and decide

It doesn't have to be expensive, Just Good


If it makes Stream'n more enjoyable, Go For It