Hensley Hitch is not a Jack!

[badkat]

Jackson and I just brought our trailer in for some repairs. We are full-timers and as we all know things break. It was dropped off yesterday so they could start on it today. We had to run by to get a computer charger out of Kat's Cradle and I am still in total shock. Our trailer was resting on our Hensley sway arms with the electric jack up and the stand was sitting on the ground by itself.

My blood was starting to boil! We called Terry at Hensley and he said the hitch should be inspected to be sure they did not break the welds and check the grease zerks.

We have not heard from them yet about the status of repairs but I think we need to have this conversation.

This is a Hensley and Airstream dealer.

[JMynes]

After a good look at the welds, I would hook up to it and drive away. You don’t treat my stuff like that!

[rmkrum]

In a similar situation, I would expect my conversation would be short, loud, and final. There is no way I would put up with them leaving the AS like that.

I suspect my ProPride would be damaged internally as well where the little round bar retainers are-possibly shearing them. The Hensley version probably has damage to the Zerk fittings. They are not supposed to take loads like that either. Powder paint on the bars is probably scuffed. What were they thinking???

One thing for sure, they would get no more of my business...and I would be demanding the firing of the person that left it that way...assuming it was deliberate.

[badkat]

They are a huge AS dealer and Hensley Distributor..he took a pic and said he would make it right. Just what does that mean I do not know. I waited til they picked it up off the ground so they could look at the stuff we needed repaired. I need these repairs so guess I just wait and see what they say when he calls.

[HiHoAgRV]

our 34' has a huge tongue weight and it's fairly common for me to retract the jack to the point that the Hensley bars are sitting on the ground. No damage to anything in several years of doing this. We have also pulled out of the stinger without having the jack down (oops...) and dropped the entire tongue onto the ground, hitting on the bars. That left a mark on the zerk pins but they still survived.

[SteveSueMac]

Sorry for the horrible experience. Perhaps this big dealer hired a newbie who just didn't understand. It happens. A lifetime ago I was a dry cleaner. Week one I take in a seude jacket along with the rest of the order. I didn't know suede got a different treatment (the solvent pulls oils out of fabric - suede without oil is wood....).

So when the customer came to pick up his stuff, my boss called me out from the presses to see the "presentation". He picks up the jacket and stands it up on the counter (it literally is as stiff as a board), introduces me as the new guy in the shop and asks the customer, "how much do I owe you for his tuition?"

The customer named his price, had a good laugh, and I NEVER made that mistake again.

So if the Hensley was damaged - have them pay for repair/replacement and you can bet that tech will never do that again.

Or - just never go back. Your call either way.

Whatever you decide - best of luck and safe, happy camping!!

[badkat]

We just want to know we have done everything to be safe down the road for ourselves and others following. They say they have a guy that knows Hensleys so we shall see what is said before we write the check for a $2000 of repairs.

If we are not Happy Campers you will know and recognize the dealer's name! AS are almost family members and our home should not have been treated this way. Shocked me that a service dept of this size could have someone who I guess did not care about quality of his service.

[badkat]

Do you guys honestly think we would have known this happened had we not shown up?

[rmkrum]

IMHO, unless you happened to see new scuff marks on the bottom of the bars, damage to the welds, or the bars fell out or made unusual noise underway (from damaged zerks) you would have likely not noticed. Which is no reflection on your powers of observation...you expected your rig to be treated carefully.

I know the bottom of my bars and other hardware have several scrapes and scuffs...which is why I plan to raise the AS about 3-4 inches eventually. I'm tired of the grating noise I get when I drag on a driveway, etc...

[badkat]

Would this also affect our floor inside?

[rmkrum]

Not likely. As others have noted, they have accidentally dropped their A-frame on their WD bars when unhitching. It takes a lot to bend the A-frame part of the frame...

If it was set down with the normal use of the power jack, which is what it sounds like, it was probably not a hard hit...

I managed to literally drop the curbside rear corner of our AS on the bumper skid on a bad turn out of a driveway. Dropped it about 8-12 inches, hard. I now have a nice wrinkle at the bottom of the shell in that corner. You can't see any damage to the floor inside--just to my ego....at least the wrinkle does not leak. DW has not gotten mad about it, since she was the one urging me to hurry...

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by badkat

Do you guys honestly think we would have known this happened had we not shown up?

No you wouldn't have unless something went wrong - and you may not have drawn the connection to the service since you just expect they know what they're doing. In that sense - it's actually a good thing you saw what you saw.

I really don't blame you for being upset and concerned. You need to ensure your safety and I think talking with Hensley and the owner of the dealership is critical to get Hensley's view on the possible level of damage and repair/replacement required together with the dealer's commitment to make it right.

Mistakes happen even with generally good companies. If they make it right and you're comfortable with how they handle this, it can be good to maintain a relationship with a dealer who deals with mishaps with integrity. And if you're not comfortable, go elsewhere. I've done a couple trips to the mothership - a 2-day trip each way for me - but really trust them completely. It's worth it to me. Hope all gets sorted for you to your full satisfaction.

[badkat]

Great advice!

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, shortly before our cross country trip, I decided to buy all new trailer tires. I spoke with the store manager and specifically asked about if they knew how to jack up an Airstream trailer correctly. He said that they have done many Airstreams and knew exactly how to do it. I ordered the tires. About two days before our trip, I went in to get my new tires installed. They used about five or six floor jacks on my trailer. I went out to look at it and told everyone to stop right there and don't touch anything. I took several pictures of the jacks focusing one that was placed almost dead center of my rear axle. I went inside and got the man in charge so he could see what they have done and let him know that I took pictures. I then told him that I wanted it written on the work order what was done and if I had any problem with tire wear and / or needed axle repair that they would be responsible for any related repairs and parts. This information was input in their computer and showed on my copy of the paper work.

Luckily for them and me, After towing over 13,000 miles across our country and back, there was no problem.

Hopefully your situation will end like mine did.

[badkat]

We have suffered the bent axle. Jackson Center sent us to a place in Carrollton Tx and they bent it back. No problems with tire wear since then.

[Sean Woodruff]

I wouldn't expect any damage from only sitting on the spring bars.

At the most maybe the internal plunger on the grease fittings could snap off.


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[badkat]

Just spoke to them and they had someone go over the hitch from top to bottom. All appears to be well.

The guy who moves and parks the trailers was the culprit. "Do not worry, the guy who is working on your trailer did not do this."

Getting our trailer tomorrow finally.

[guskmg]

if I were you I would call Hensley and describe the incident to them and see what they say. I doubt you could hurt the spring bars, but conceivably it could cause permanent damage to the four trapezoid bearings that hold the two halves of the hitch head together. The same bearings, races, and cups are used on automobile front axle wheels. A real hard side impact would probably ruin them too. The damage wold not necessarily be obvious to the eye or feel if you move the hitch up and down and left and right. Better be safe than sorry!
guskmg

[badkat]

We are out of the shop and hoping our Kat's Cradle is all well. Time will tell. This thought popped in my head that full-time rving you need 2 things..of course it is duck tape and a high limit credit. We have both and looking forward to having so much fun..heading W just waiting a little on the weather. We are home!