Best Anti-Sway Hitch?

[Blighcapn]

Originally Posted by nilesrob

Glad you are OK!

I can't compare since I don't have experience with other brands, but I can say with confidence that our Hensley was the best investment we have made. Had we chosen the ProPride, I suspect I might very well say the same thing about it.

I can't speak to the conditions present when you had your accident, but I will tell you our F250 is MORE stable towing (with the Hensley) than just the F250 alone, which I am sure sounds bizarre. Not saying it would have been the same in your situation, but when we tow in winds it is like there is no wind - we can tell it is windy from looking at the trees.

The Hensley I have found to be very easy to hook up. On some rare occasions (I'm talking 1 out of 100 hookups) it takes me a while and can be a little exasperating.

Brad, are you still there?
I am reading this 2020 and have F-150 new, with AS FC 25.The wife loves no sway having been in a horse trailer accident long ago. I have been patient with the Hensley but we have tried many tricks to line up the truck and Hensley, but it is RARE to do it easily. We find ourselves 1 or 2 inches left or right and have to do it again and again to get it nearly perfect.
Thanks, George

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by Blighcapn

Brad, are you still there?
I am reading this 2020 and have F-150 new, with AS FC 25.The wife loves no sway having been in a horse trailer accident long ago. I have been patient with the Hensley but we have tried many tricks to line up the truck and Hensley, but it is RARE to do it easily. We find ourselves 1 or 2 inches left or right and have to do it again and again to get it nearly perfect.
Thanks, George

O-rings and Hitch'n Rods work well, along with slow and deliberate.

Bob
🇺🇸

[Collyn]

Originally Posted by Friday

The 'virtual pivot' systems like Hensley or PP are 'the end' as far as it comes to sway, as they don't control it, they eliminate it. As noted though, that force doesn't disappear... it is just spread through the hitch and tow vehicle as it is essentially a virtual solid coupling. In your scenario, it is possible these forces could overwhelm even these high-end hitches and you could have a catastrophic failure...

Other VPP rigs have wrecked... so it doesn't fix everything. If you are a frequent tow-er in all kinds of weather, it's worth it. For others the finances of it don't make as much sense...

Reading the above and similar posts I have an increasing feeling that owners are not aware of the steering effects of tow vehicle rear tyre 'slip angles' when subject to a side force. They do not normally 'slip' as such, but the footprint distorts such the tow vehicle is literally steered by those rear tyres.

If that slip angle exceeds a typical eight degrees the footprint loses all grip. The result is infinite oversteer (jack-knifing).

Because of this is vital to have those rear tow vehicles tyres 7-10 psi higher - and ideally the front 2 psi lower. This will not help in a 'perfect storm'. The probability of encountering such a storm is (for any rig) speed related. That relationship involves a square law, so owners are pushing their luck if towing at much over 60 mph (that's about the speed at which the AL-KO and Dexter electronic systems are tested).

Collyn - (in Australia)

[ROBERT CROSS]

^
Spoken like a true non PPP user.
I can explain for you, I can't understand it for you.🤓
TETO

Bob
🇺🇸

[Collyn]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

^
Spoken like a true non PPP user.
I can explain for you, I can't understand it for you.��
TETO

Bob
����

Thank you - but I suggest that mine is adequate.

'A trapezoidal trailer hitch comprising first and second, spaced apart hitch members pivotally connected at their rearward ends to the forward end of the trailer and pivotally connected at their forward ends to the rearward end of a truck or the like. The intent is to move the 'virtual pivot point' toward the tow vehicle axle.'

Are you aware it was NOT invented by Hensely?

RE your: 'I can explain for you, I can't understand it for you'.

May I suggest that sounds like Donald Trump on an off-day - if you wish to be sarcastic you really need to be better at it.
Collyn

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by Collyn

Are you aware it was NOT invented by Hensely?

RE your: 'I can explain for you, I can't understand it for you'.

if you wish to be sarcastic you really need to be better at it.
Collyn

So sorry, I guess you can't stand being picked on with words.
Get the facts straight..

Bob
🇺🇸

[Mollysdad]

Best is one of those terms I wonder about.
Best working?
Best value?
Best longevity?
Best ease of use?

If a XYZ hitch worked perfectly, would a gold plated XYZ work better? How much is enough?

[BayouBiker]

Me? I preferred Obama's whit, when he referred to country bumpkins, bitter clingers and those who hang out in bars and cars listening to and believing gobbley gook. Now that's dignified, inclusive, non-stereotypical humor. At low hitch point angles of less than 1 degree (about the curvature of a 50 mph corner) where sway initiates, tire slip might be as high as 1.5 degrees but for a ppp hitch, the effective hitch point will be near or even in front of the rear axle for most vehicles. If sway can never get started, or never amplifies, one doesn't have to worry about 8 degree slip angles. The insurance of stiff rear tires and thus the tire pressure advice is good.

[Collyn]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

So sorry, I guess you can't stand being picked on with words.
Get the facts straight..

Bob
🇺🇸

Re:the 'Hensley' hitch. It was invented and patented in 1971 by W. Gallaher.
https://patents.google.com/patent/WO1988000149A1/und

Collyn

[Tim A.]

Originally Posted by Collyn

Re:the 'Hensley' hitch. It was invented and patented in 1971 by W. Gallaher.
https://patents.google.com/patent/WO1988000149A1/und

Collyn

So I looked at the 1971 patent and agree that it describes a trapezoidal system for connecting a trailer to a tow vehicle.

I have a hard time calling the Gallaher concept a trailer hitch. Unlike the Hensley/Propride systems, it is not separate from the trailer and does not attach via the A-frame's coupler and provides no weight distribution. I think I will, without guilt, continue to give Jim Hensley credit for inventing the Hensley/Propride hitch.

Tim

[PKI]

The PPP is the recognized best. However, any hitch lash up requires testing, tuning, and the application of appropriate driving skill, tactics and attentive focus to yield a safe result. Doing a route cause analysis of your accident might be in your best interest as it could lead you to other helpful improvements. Pat

[Collyn]

Originally Posted by Tim A.

So I looked at the 1971 patent and agree that it describes a trapezoidal system for connecting a trailer to a tow vehicle.

I have a hard time calling the Gallaher concept a trailer hitch. Unlike the Hensley/Propride systems, it is not separate from the trailer and does not attach via the A-frame's coupler and provides no weight distribution. I think I will, without guilt, continue to give Jim Hensley credit for inventing the Hensley/Propride hitch.

Tim

I do not wish to push this too hard (and agree that PPP is great concept) but I do feel that Hensley is not giving the Gallaher basic concept and patent a fair go.

The Hensley site states '
About 1976, with plans to pursue his hitch idea, Jim ran a patent search and found there was nothing even close to his idea in the patent office.

It is had to accept that the Gallaher hitch is 'not even close to his idea'. It was certainly not in detail, but the basic concept of 'projecting the point of articulation forward via a trapezoid linkage' is identical.

An interesting one is the WDH (Weight Distributing Hitch). It was invented in Australia in 1950 but we were all to dumb to see its benefits (it also has major downsides - maybe a new thread re that?). It was taken up almost immediately, however, in the USA.
Collyn

[BayouBiker]

Collyn, I would be interested in a thread on "When not to use WD". Off the top of my head I can only think of two issues that might steer some away from WD and I since they both apply in atypical cases, I can't call either of them "major"

[Collyn]

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, so sorry to here about your accident. And glad that no-one was hurt. The VPP hitches are good, but I agree with Friday. More than likely you were going too fast, down hill, in the wind, and being passed by speeding big rigs. These are all bad especially when combined. Whatever hitch you decide to buy and use should not give you the feeling of over confidence. Slow down, going down steep grades. This seems to be where I have read the most loss of control trailer accidents have happened. I'm very happy to say that in the eight years that I have owned my trailer, driven in all kinds of weather, for many thousands of miles, through all of the Western states including Canada and Alaska, my trailer has only swayed violently out of control once. This was when my trailer was parked in my driveway during a 5.0 Earthquake.

The reason why many trailer accidents happen on downgrades) is that, added to the sway forces, (particularly at the extreme of each sway) to the trailer sway there is now the added vectored gravitational force). It is an unholy situation!
Collyn

[rmkrum]

Which is exactly why the ‘rule of thumb’ is to go down the grade no faster than when you went up.

That said, the main reason I looked into the Hensley design hitch systems was the ride down the Cajon Pass from Victorville toward Riverside, CA with the hitch system that originally came with our Airstream. No sway control whatsoever, lousy WD setup, and basically cheap crap. The point of no return was when the Airstream felt like it wanted to take the lead.

Once I got the rig slowed to a literal crawl with the trailer brake controller
Manual lever, and my hands unclenched from the wheel I started looking for a safer setup. I’m not a lover of ‘white knuckle’ rides.

Hence the ProPride system. No more white knuckle rides, easy WD adjustments, zero sway on the exact same hill. The other think I like is that I don’t have to take the WD bars off or fight them into position. Now I just hit the switch on the powered WD jack system I added to the system. Easy to handle even at my ‘advanced age’. And yes, I had no trouble hitching up even without a backup camera on the old truck. The new Tacoma has a backup camera that makes it even easier.

The big reason I went with ProPride is that it is a strong beast, designed better than the current Hensley Manufacturing versions, requires no drilling to install, and the stinger assembly is easy to adjust for height. No shipping HEAVY stuff back and forth to get the right drop or rise.

There are other reasons related to excellent before and after the sale treatment by Sean at ProPride that really sealed the deal. I flat won’t tow without a ProPride system.

[Collyn]

Originally Posted by BayouBiker

Collyn, I would be interested in a thread on "When not to use WD". Off the top of my head I can only think of two issues that might steer some away from WD and I since they both apply in atypical cases, I can't call either of them "major"

Brian
The main and often overlooked issue with a WDH is that it inherently reduces 'cornering power' by about 25%.

The cause is that the WDH moves part of the tow ball mass from the rear tyres of the tow vehicle to the front tyres. That reduction reduces the 'cornering power' of the tow vehicle' rear tyres.

The WDH, however, does not reduce the trailer's yaw forces - that are now imposed on those rear tyres (that have reduced cornering power).

This is recognised in SAE J2807 - that quotes a loss of about 25%. In terms of 'g' force it is from 0.4 g to 03 g.

I do have a major article re this - can provide it if the forum rules allow this.

Collyn

[BayouBiker]

I am aware that when a car trailer combination is at or near its combined weight limit and at maximum trailer weight limit and the limit is because the understeer gradient is near 0 at 0.4 g in the J2807 test, then adding WD to achieve 100% of FALR can result in loss of cornering performance by 15-25% but this is an atypical case. On this forum, I have only seen this case with SOME European SUVs and sedans, when the owner is pushing vehicle capability. For over 95% of the cases presented on this forum and certainly for most all of the CTCs on American roads, this is not the case at all. Instead WD reduces understeer gradient closer to the 0.1-0.05 ideal, and improves overall cornering performance over no WD or <=50% FALR while driving and cornering on US highways at speed.

I have read your article and like the discussion in SAE J2807, I find it lacking for what it fails to say.

The vast majority of CTCs on American roads are towing with trailer loads below 75% of rated capacity or when they are not, are using tow vehicles limited by engine, transmission, braking, or passenger comfort issues. These vehicles all have significant understeer gradients while towing and benefit from WD.

[Collyn]

Brian
One issue that may not be realised by all readers is that, by and large, most major US highways have less camber than European and Australian roads. This requires a higher degree of understeer to avoid the vehicle needing ongoing correction.

As long as you are into relatively heavy maths read anything written by Pacejka. He explains tyre behaviour in more detail than most people probably had in mind. It shows how horrendously complex it can be (His main book is over 700 pages).

I am aware that some that which I write (and publish) is less applicable to American roads and trailer usage. I cannot do much about my published articles and my major website (rvbooks.com) but I have considered (not as least as my business partner is American (but lives in Australia) having US editions of my books. I would however retain metric units as Imperial units are simply too limiting and virtually all US engineers use it - (not least since that space shuttle disaster where an Imperial unit was accidently used).

Collyn

[BayouBiker]

As we discussed, the first atypical issue with Weight Distribution hitches applies to the infrequent case where redistribution causes the vehicle to shift from near neutral steering to significant oversteer. This is most common with performance SUV's towing large trailers at or over their labeled capacity. Most US tow combinations don't fit this case. For example, my Ram 2500 doesn't experience trailer induced oversteer until the trailer weight is north of 14,000 lb, or nearly twice what I'm towing.

The second atypical issue is the unbalanced stress WD tension can impart to the vehicle and trailer structural components in unusual circumstances. One is in front end collisions, another is while navigating large drainage swales or highly variable and severe lateral roadway camber. Smaller trailers and vehicles (like European SUVs) are susceptible to damage in these rare cases.

[Ted S.]

Originally Posted by kswelsh

Thank you all for your posts about the Hensley and ProPride hitches. After careful consideration and soul-searching, we decided that we love our Airstream adventures too much to not be part of that anymore. We have carefully considered all the posts to our inquiry and have put a deposit down on a 2006 Airtream Classic and have contacted ProPride to order a new anti-sway hitch. We will do whatever we can to avoid this situation happening to us again. We look forward to going to Forum Rallies and getting to know you nice people! Looking forward to getting back on the road again (with lots of prayers for safe travel!)

Sorry to hear about your accident. I tow a 30 foot Airstream with an Excursion so it’s very similar to your previous rig. The difference is I had a Propride from the start.

I have towed plenty and can attest to the fact that the Propride will take sway out of the experience. You will still feel the push and pull from passing semi’s, but the sway will be gone.

My one recommendation would be to install the hitch yourself. Sean will help you over the phone and there is a user group on Facebook that will give you tons of help. The reason why you want to install the hitch yourself is to truly understand it and be capable of maintaining it and making fine-tune adjustments which is essential as small adjustments make substantial improvements.

There are plenty of good hitches, however I truly believe that the Propride is what you want when towing conditions are marginal