Hensley Hitch Pros and Cons

[HBandWB]

Looking at purchasing a Hensley hitch. For those of you who have, or have had a Hensley hitch, what is your experience with it. What are your pros and cons?

[Seon]

Pro: Minimum/no sways


Con:

• Difficult backing stinger into the hitch but gets easier after several outings.
• Purchase cost is expensive ( I bought used)

[Cumminsfan]

Any time the truck and TT are not straight or level it makes hitching harder. The more out of level the harder it gets.
Pro's. Makes any TT tow vehicle combo tow great.

When I had mine I didn't have a back up camera so I relied on my wife or myself having to constantly getting out of the truck to check alignment. If I were to get one again I would install a license plate camera so I could get a close up look at the alignment.
It really help when my wife helped. She could would work the tongue jack or move the WD head sideways if needed.

Con. The Hensley Bump. I used mine with two different trucks. One was an F150 and the other was a Ram 2500 Cummins. Bump steer is when you start to slow down and the TT brakes don't activate early enough and the HA or PP will shift to one side or the other giving the feeling of a bump in the back.
The gas F150 rarely cause any bump steer. The Ram with the Cummins did and often enough that it was sometimes annoying. Problem was with the Cummins I had an exhaust brake so no TT brakes weren't always applied when entering corners. Then when I did hit the brakes I'd get the bump. No amount of gain change helped.

Overall I would give the HA or PP a 9 out of 10 rating.

[Seon]

Extensive ready here:
https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/f...d/15531727.cfm

[rtbroke]

i bought a hensley hitch about a year and a half ago. i really like mine and it eliminated the sway. My truck has a backup camera and it's pretty easy to hook up especially with the zoom on the camera. Only con is the price, but I feel it's money well spent.

[Pricejh]

I have had a Hensley since 2012. Bought it used and have installed it on two trailers. Absolutely love it.

Zero sway. Zero.

Hensley bump? Not an issue with my Ram 2500. Nor was it an issue on the 1500 I had previously.

As I said, I bought it used and installed it myself. Bought it for a grand. Wouldn’t sell it for less than $1500. If you buy a used one, spend the $500 with Hensley for the lifetime warranty. They will replace almost any part that either brakes or you damage for freight.

Last, but not least, I won’t tow a travel trailer without a Hensley. Period.

[move on]

Every discussion about the Hensley system seems to revolve only around trailer sway but there are two major aspects to instability. Sway is one and oversteer is the other. The Hensley will do a good job on preventing trailer sway but it is one of the worst when it comes to oversteer. This is mainly because the hitch extends the distance from the tow vehicle rear axle to the articulation point by almost 2 feet, giving the trailer more leverage to push the tow vehicle around. This could result in a dangerous jackknife in an emergency maneuver where you have to jerk the wheel to avoid an object in the road. The 200 lb weight of the hitch adds to the problem.

Originally Posted by Seon

Extensive ready here:
https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/f...d/15531727.cfm

[Pricejh]

Originally Posted by move on

Every discussion about the Hensley system seems to revolve only around trailer sway but there are two major aspects to instability. Sway is one and oversteer is the other. The Hensley will do a good job on preventing trailer sway but it is one of the worst when it comes to oversteer. This is mainly because the hitch extends the distance from the tow vehicle rear axle to the articulation point by almost 2 feet, giving the trailer more leverage to push the tow vehicle around. This could result in a dangerous jackknife in an emergency maneuver where you have to jerk the wheel to avoid an object in the road. The 200 lb weight of the hitch adds to the problem.

Disagree. The geometry of the Hensley moves the apparent pivot point about two feet forward, thus making the trailer behave more like a 5th wheel.

I have had to perform a couple of heavy braking maneuvers. Never had any indication of jack knife.

In heavy side winds there is no sway whatsoever. The truck and trailer do feel the side wind but move as a single unit. We handled 49-45 mph winds on I10 in west Texas without incident.

[move on]

That's wrong. When the tow vehicle goes around a turn it pivots two feet back from where a simple ball mount would be. Then the trailer uses that extra 2' as leverage to push the back of the tow vehicle sideways. That's dangerous. You always want the actual articulation point as close to the tow vehicle as possible.

[Seon]

This video is pretty impressive that covers all concerns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FsRXjI8W6o

[move on]

The video doesn't talk about oversteer. Ask Hensley to provide data on oversteer testing. I doubt they will give it to you.

[rtbroke]

No matter what hitch a person has, if it does what they want it to do. It's the best thing since sliced bread. My goal is to get my equipment and my family from point A to point B as safely as possible. I feel that the hensley accomplishes that for me and my situation. I have never heard anyone who has one, say that is the worst hitch I have ever owned. I believe that owning a hensley is like owning an airstream. The people who have them love them and the negative comments come from those have never owned either one. Also with the hensley if you would happen not to like it, they will give you 60 days to try it and return it. In 60 days of towing you should be able to decide if it's right for you.

[Rumline]

Originally Posted by rtbroke

No matter what hitch a person has, if it does what they want it to do. It's the best thing since sliced bread.

This sounds true. I've had the Andersen hitch which somehow gets a bad rap but it was flawless for me, never any sway even in 40+ mph crosswinds.

Regarding the Hensley my feeling is that there are lighter and cheaper options that will probably work just as well for many people. Maybe if you're at the upper end of travel trailers and trucks, but someone with a 1/2 ton truck or SUV where the tongue weight (payload capacity of tow vehicle) is the limiting factor...I'd look hard at other options. 200 lbs is a lot more than most weight distribution hitches.

[Seon]

Caution when first installing the hitch to set up the spring bar and struts. That head rotates so be alert when you grab to lift, it may rotate and catch a finger or two...don't ask me how I know .