Trailer hitch recommendation

[rostam]

Originally Posted by dznf0g

Rostam,

For true receiver weight, place the scale under the stinger at the witness marks from the mouth of the receiver.....makes more of a difference than you would think.

Its difficult to put a Sherline scale there, but you are correct. The weight increase will be less than 250#. Maybe 150#? My point is I doubt it'd be zero. The extra length of the hitch does not seem to cancel out the extra weight of the hitch -- unless someone has a weight measurement that shows zero weight added (the thread I cited is only actual measurement I've seen anywhere).

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by rostam

Its difficult to put a Sherline scale there, but you are correct. The weight increase will be less than 250#. Maybe 150#? My point is I doubt it'd be zero. The extra length of the hitch does not seem to cancel out the extra weight of the hitch -- unless someone has a weight measurement that shows zero weight added (the thread I cited is only actual measurement I've seen anywhere).

Just apply some wd...enough to support the TW. Not hard at all.

[dkottum]

Originally Posted by rostam

. . . The extra length of the hitch does not seem to cancel out the extra weight of the hitch -- unless someone has a weight measurement that shows zero weight added (the thread I cited is only actual measurement I've seen anywhere).

Our ProPride and stinger assembly weighs about 180 lbs. Bono weighed his sob 33 at the tongue jack and then at the receiver position on the ProPride, it lost 200 lbs.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f464...ml#post1924420

Each trailer will be different making this comparison on a Shoreline scale due to trailer length and position of weight along the length of the trailer, and the trailer must be level when weighed.

What you really want to know is the weight the trailer tongue adds to the tow vehicle as found at the CAT scale with weight distribution set, and in our case the ProPride adds nothing because of its additional length.

As for your receiver rating with weight distribution applied, what really matters is it's ability to resist the vertical twisting applied by the w.d. bars rather than the dead weight sitting on it.

Rostam, I'm not trying to convince you but this is for others who may be interested in some actual experience about the Hensley/ProPride design.

[rostam]

Originally Posted by dkottum

Our ProPride and stinger assembly weighs about 180 lbs. Bono weighed his sob 33 at the tongue jack and then at the receiver position on the ProPride, it lost 200 lbs.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f464...ml#post1924420

Each trailer will be different making this comparison on a Shoreline scale due to trailer length and position of weight along the length of the trailer, and the trailer must be level when weighed.

What you really want to know is the weight the trailer tongue adds to the tow vehicle as found at the CAT scale with weight distribution set, and in our case the ProPride adds nothing because of its additional length.

As for your receiver rating with weight distribution applied, what really matters is it's ability to resist the vertical twisting applied by the w.d. bars rather than the dead weight sitting on it.

Rostam, I'm not trying to convince you but this is for others who may be interested in some actual experience about the Hensley/ProPride design.

Of course, the weight under the singer is less than under the jack. What bono's measurement does not say is what was the tongue weight before ProPride was installed? Thats the point of reference to start with (Denis4X4's measurements had that).

You also seem to have a very different interpretation of what a receiver rating means. Clearly you have made up your mind and no point us discussing it.

[ArkFortyCal]

Originally Posted by dkottum

Yes, some repair shops can't deal with moving the ProPride trailer, so you can leave the stinger with them. These hitches are no longer unusual, a good shop should handle it without a fuss. Storage yards that want to move your trailer around present a greater problem. Think of it another way, when the thief backs up to your Airstream with his conventional hitch ball, he'll be scratching his head for awhile.

Originally Posted by Jammer

It is possible to leave a stinger, and I do, but the shops still don't like it. I find that typically they'll try to figure out a way to work on the trailer wherever it is parked rather than fiddle around trying to get their yard guy to move it. Depending on the shop they may have to switch to a pickup truck rather than a skid loader.

We recently purchased the ProPride Lot Bar to help others move our trailer around. Our storage location and one of our favorite RV Parks are challenged as their tractors can't handle a normal hitch receiver. It also does not help that we use an HD class5 2.5" stinger.

I'll report back once we have more experience using this.

https://www.propridehitch.com/propri...locking-plate/

[aftermath]

Originally Posted by Rgentum

...

What I'm wanting is to read a critical review of the various hitches written by an independent testing service that has actually hooked up the hitches, road-tested them under standardized conditions, and made objective, repeatable observations. If anyone knows of such a comparison, please tell me.

...

Wouldn't this be nice. I really doubt that you can find such an unbiased report here.

Emotions run high when discussing hitches. People naturally have a bias when discussing the one they own. The HA and PP hitches are no doubt, the best, if you read all that is said about them. But, Equalizers and Reese hitches are also good dependable hitches given proper equipment and setups.

The HA and PP are heavier hitches. They, at least at first, are more difficult to hook up and they cost significantly more that the others. These factors led me in a different direction but to each his own. I boondock often and have been on uneven ground many times. I simply back up and connect. No need to get out, adjust springs, hook up and readjust springs before I go.

Good luck in your search. There are many options out there for you to choose from.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by Rgentum

....

What I'm wanting is to read a critical review of the various hitches written by an independent testing service that has actually hooked up the hitches, road-tested them under standardized conditions, and made objective, repeatable observations. If anyone knows of such a comparison, please tell me.

....

Hi

Ok, so let's start constructing a test plan to execute this very good idea:

Three speed conditions (moderate, fast, and very fast)
Three road conditions (interstate highway, curvy, and insane)
Three wind conditions (not much, heavy wind, and you should not be here)
(some set of maneuvers done under each condition above)
Four trailer sizes ( 16', 20',26', 33')
Four TV sizes (small SUV, large SUV, 1500, 3500)
Five hitches have been mentioned so far.
(yes, you could probably pick other / better choices for any line above)

So that's 3x3x3x4x4x5 = 2160 things to test. You have 27 test conditions that you subject the various towing combinations to. We do indeed want measured data rather than "I thought it was OK" sort of stuff. Each case needs to be instrumented on both the TV and the trailer. Data needs to be recorded and analyzed. Any bugs in the testing methodology need to be worked out. Suspect tests need to be repeated. In order to be useful, the data needs to be written up in a nice report.

As a very arbitrary number, let's guess that this is a 10 hour per test kind of thing. That gets you up to around 21,160 hours. If anybody knows of a lab that does this kind of thing for < $200 an hour, I'd *love* to know who. I am aware of a *lot* of places that will happily charge you way more than that. Roughly you are at $4M for the testing. It could be less but I'd bet it's far more.

Just like everybody else I'd love to have this sort of data to look at. Here's my guess at what it would show: More data is required .... Put another way, the test matrix is too small and does not cover enough cases. If you think that we have fun as it is, just watch people pick apart test matrix structure. I've spent decades having that sort of fun ....

I know this sounds a bit doom and gloom. It's not intended as such. It simply is a somewhat vague shot at what it would take. I believe the conclusion is fundamentally correct. There simply is no way to fund such a study on a "cash up front, data in a year or two" basis.

Bob