Hensley Arrow advanced towing system

[tommyturbo]

GAmes. It is refreshing to hear that you admit that I installed a band-aid. It is a true band-aid through and through.
Yes, the curiosity and suspense is killing me too, to find out what is wrong with the Cherokee TT.
In the mean time, our towing days are quite enjoyable now that we can relax and enjoy the scenery.
Checking out the trailer would also take time and money so this route would have to be shelved for the
time being. For us, the swaying issue has vanished, so we are not interested in the trailer inspection option.
Every season is simply just load and go. Maybe I will never know what is wrong with my TT and may never know
why the band-aid worked so well. At this point, I could care less. Perhaps another member could pick up on
this stuff and provide a report. I still recommend to those hitching up on the ball first and then finding a wiggle problem
that is unsatisfactory, to consider a band-aid option.

 

[GAmes]

Tommy, it is also possible you inadvertently solved the issue totally unaware of the cause. A brake job, repack/replacing wheel bearings or you have simply loaded the trailer to the point of dominating the cause. If the cause hasn't been repaired and you are content pulling a time bomb, then keepon truckin'.

 

[SnoKing]

Tommy, it is also possible you inadvertently solved the issue totally unaware of the cause. A brake job, repack/replacing wheel bearings or you have simply loaded the trailer to the point of dominating the cause. If the cause hasn't been repaired and you are content pulling a time bomb, then keepon truckin'.

Geezeee! Give us a break from your misguided crusade! 99 percent travel trailers manufactured have towing issues when towed on a dead weight hitch. You are crusading to the wrong group, take your rants to the manufacturers. SNOKING

 

[GAmes]

99 percent travel trailers manufactured have towing issues when towed on a dead weight hitch.

And of course you have an impeccable source for that statistic, but as normal, any question to you will be ignored. How did I get so lucky, not to mention all my fellow transporters, to only be assigned the 1%? Who takes the 99% to the dealers?

 

[SnoKing]

http://www.direclink.com/Sway Control Guide 4C.pdf

SNOKING

 

[GAmes]

NO dice. Just another BS advertisement from someone trying to sucker the gullible into spending their money needlessly.

 

[AH64ID]

http://www.direclink.com/Sway Control Guide 4C.pdf

SNOKING

I give them some credit as they do cover the main causes of sway and talk about fixing those first.

"The driver has control over these items and is responsible for resolving the root cause of the problem."

It also is not a prevention product but rather a if you are doing everything correctly and sway happens we can help stop it. While it shouldn't happen if everything is done correctly I do like their business approach.

 

[GAmes]

I give them some credit as they do cover the main causes of sway and talk about fixing those first.

"The driver has control over these items and is responsible for resolving the root cause of the problem."

That is how scams and con artists work. They give you just enough fact to fool you into believing their whole spiel.

 

[AH64ID]

That is how scams and con artists work. They give you just enough fact to fool you into believing their whole spiel.

Typical marketing. They are actually doing a decent job thou. Braking is the best way to stop it if it happens so good for them.

I'm not buying one, nor do I suggest buying one, but simply giving them more credit than the other manufacturers.

 

[GAmes]

It might be marketing, but I can't believe people don't see through the pushy, scare tactics. Most notably; "You’d want it to protect your family"

 

[RUSSELL5000]

I have been following this thread with some interest, as I don’t know all that much about this stuff. I use an Equal-I-Zer hitch for my bumper-pull travel trailer.

Weight-Distributing Hitch (WDH): my understanding is that if you simply hook the trailer to the ball, the tongue weight of the trailer is transferred to the rear-end of the truck. This can make the weight on the front of the truck less, possibly reducing steering traction and handling. The WDH redistributes tongue weight to the front of the truck. I know this works because: (1) I saw how the front and rear axle weights changed when I went to the Cat scale, and (2) a four foot level on the truck bed and the floor of the travel trailer shows that the truck is nose up/trailer is nose down prior to application of the spring bars while the level bubble is almost (really close but not exactly) in the middle after application of the spring bars (truck and trailer sit an eyelash away from perfectly level – I can’t see anything else to adjust to make it perfectly level).

Sway Control (SC): my understanding is that friction is introduced at the hitch pivot point so that side-to-side movement is dampened when the trailer is pushed suddenly sideways by wind gust or a large truck passing by; the idea is to dampen this motion before the rhythmic oscillations can build (the rhythmic oscillations being the trailer behavior observed in the many sway videos seen on youtube). I have experienced the feel of the trailer moving from side to side from a passing truck when I was too lazy to swap hitches and was just taking my travel trailer back from the dealer lot to the storage lot (a little less than five miles). The feeling is noticeably different when a large truck passes depending on whether the plain ball hitch is used or the Equal-I-Zer hitch is used. I have no idea if the Equal-I-Zer hitch is "preventing" sway; I can just say that it DOES feel more stable with the Equal-I-Zer hitch.

I want to agree with the statement that all that is needed is proper trailer construction and loading; that makes sense. I have also felt how the boy scout trailer waggled when loaded with weight ion the back of the trailer and how it did not waggle at all when I put the heavy articles in the front of the trailer (no WDH, just a plain ball). So, that aligns with my experience. However, a little reality intrudes:

(1) When purchasing the travel trailer there were concerns beside the proper trailer construction and balance; i.e., what the wife likes and does not like as well as the depth of my wallet. It may well be that the travel trailer I purchased is not constructed all that well and is not all that well balanced. I don’t have infinite funds, nor does my wife like all offerings. The particular selection is a compromise of many factors.

(2) When loading the travel trailer, there is some limit to what may be accomplished. I cannot change the location of the furnishings inside the trailer, etc. There is also the factor of where the wife decrees things should be placed. I can readily believe that the loading of my travel trailer for any particular trip is not optimal.


So, it does not seem to me that it is always possible in practice to achieve “proper trailer, proper loading.”

In my opinion, another significant factor is simply having enough truck. I conversed on this issue extensively here on the forum, and every aspect of my rig is set to around 80% or less than the specified capacity.


So, I am glad I bought the Equal-I-Zer hitch; I am glad I bought enough truck; and I am glad that I set everything up as best I could, including the trip to the Cat scale.

 

[SnoKing]

Now bend over and grab your ankles, as the GAmes begin! SNOKING

#ad

 

[SnoKing]

#ad


#ad


I wonder is this guy had a gimmick?

#ad


Or this one?

#ad


Oh, look a RAM!

#ad

 

[SnoKing]

The statement at the end of page three is interesting given all the new air ride systems.

"Automatic leveling is an absolute no-no. You must “defeat it”
when towing a travel trailer when using a load equalizing hitch"

http://www.inlandrv.com/articles/towing_myths.pdf

SNOKING

 

[RUSSELL5000]

Another point occurs to me as I think about this. Many on this forum have extensive experience towing and hauling. Some, like myself and my wife, are inexperienced. I would guess many of you experienced members could look at a trailer and pretty much tell whether it will be a problem to tow. I spent many hours reading, conversing on the forum, setting up the hitch, measuring, and going to the Cat scale in preparation for our trip west this year. I still felt anxiety watching my wife and son drive away.

Perhaps it is my inexperience which makes me feel the trailer moves less when a large truck passes when I am using the Equal-I-Zer; perhaps Games and AH64ID are correct ( and they may be, as they have probably multiples of hundreds more experience than I do. ) Regardless, if I feel better and more at ease when a large truck passes or a sudden wind gust, then I am less likely to make an error in my own driving. So, until I have the hundreds of thousands of miles of experience rather than the two or three thousand that I do have, I see no harm in using the Equal-I-Zer. The cost wasn't much different than a WDH alone, so seemed like a reasonable approach.

I would have to give considerable thought to whether the very expensive hitches (e.g., Hensley) were worth the money.

Finally, is this subjective at all? Does anyone know if there has been testing of "sway control" hitches? Could one measure the reaction of a trailer with and without the "sway control" hitch? Seems like a great experiment (and a great future article for the TDR)!!

 

[GAmes]

Nice pictures. Since the Toyota in the first picture clearly has a sway type hitch installed, I'm pretty sure the second picture is a CTD too. Once again, since there isn't any way of know if they had "sway control" hitches installed. The PDF was a confirmation of what I have been saying all along. Thanks. I guess I've been preaching to the choir.

 

[GAmes]

Many on this forum have extensive experience towing and hauling. Some, like myself and my wife, are inexperienced. I would guess many of you experienced members could look at a trailer and pretty much tell whether it will be a problem to tow. I spent many hours reading, conversing on the forum, setting up the hitch, measuring, and going to the Cat scale in preparation for our trip west this year. I still felt anxiety watching my wife and son drive away.

Perhaps it is my inexperience which makes me feel the trailer moves less when a large truck passes when I am using the Equal-I-Zer; perhaps Games and AH64ID are correct ( and they may be, as they have probably multiples of hundreds more experience than I do. ) Regardless, if I feel better and more at ease when a large truck passes or a sudden wind gust, then I am less likely to make an error in my own driving. So, until I have the hundreds of thousands of miles of experience rather than the two or three thousand that I do have, I see no harm in using the Equal-I-Zer. The cost wasn't much different than a WDH alone, so seemed like a reasonable approach.

Does anyone know if there has been testing of "sway control" hitches? Could one measure the reaction of a trailer with and without the "sway control" hitch?

The first trailer I was assigned when I took this job was the first TT I ever pulled. I spent quite a bit of time, like you, setting the WD hitch up that day. The person I had bought it from (a TDR member BTW) had given me some verbal instruction and I had little else. Over time I found the same height and angle worked for every TT I hooked to, all the couplers are essentially the same height. I can't be hauling around a bunch of different spring bars, so I made do with the 750 lb bars he had sold me. A few months later I bought another hitch with 1000 pound bars. If the trailer is less than 3000 pounds I don't use any bars. No, I can't "look" at a trailer and determine if it will be a problem, and I'm not sure anyone can. I don't have a pick & choose option. I get the dispatch, hook to the trailer and tow it to the destination. There are plenty that were poorly maintained. In those instances lights and sometimes tires were repaired or replaced to make the trailer road legal. DOT regs mandate all safety items are in good repair. There isn't any harm in using the Equalizer, the harm comes from believing it will prevent sway. The push of passing trucks is not sway, and believe it or not, even 5th wheels and gooseneck trailers suffer the same phenomena.

There has to have been tests to gauge the effectiveness of sway devices. That is how the mandated safety items that are part of our life were instituted. Seat belts, safety chains, break away trailer brakes and more were all proven to be worth the expense. That is the crux of my opinion, and, even though dismissed by some, proven by experience.

 

[NIsaacs]

Nice pictures. I'm pretty sure the second picture is a CTD too.

It has IFS, also it looks like it has coil springs or air bags on the rear, must be GM? Does the Eco-Diesel have IFS?

Anyway, those crashes could have been caused by any number of reasons.

Nick

 

[RustyJC]

It has IFS, also it looks like it has coil springs or air bags on the rear, must be GM?

Until the new 3500 frames came out, 4x2 trucks had IFS - my 2011 dually does.

Rusty

 

[NIsaacs]

Until the new 3500 frames came out, 4x2 trucks had IFS - my 2011 dually does.

Rusty

This one is 4x4 note the t-case.

Nick