Re: Looking for a hensley hitch
One thing - it is VERY different hooking up your old style ball-hitch. We are still getting it down to an exact science - but we figure a couple more trips and we should et most of the kinks out. The first time - we were fussin' and cussin'. Just saying - be prepared for a big learning curve on hitching up.
And it took a while to put on. I think the instructions said a couple of hours - hah!. But I also had to move the propane tanks forward, and while I had them off, I scraped off and repainted the rust (on my 1-month old trailer
) and then there was an electrical junction box under the propane tank base that had to be moved. And when I did, I found a connection that was loose and slipped right off - so I had to repair it. (guess I'm glad I found it then, rather than wondering where the loose connection was later). Plus the end of the stinger that goes into my hitch carrier was too tight and I had to grind the corners down to get it to fit - so a couple of runs to hardware store later, etc. the two-hour job ended up being a day and a half.
And things are TIGHT on my trailer tongue. I was just able to squeeze the propane tank cover on in between my electric tongue jack and the towers that the weight distributing bars hook into. The towers can only go one place on my trailer due to cross-supports welded underneath my tongue. I didn't have to cut anything on my actual trailer tongue. Just had to drill some new screw holes to remount the pan for the propane bottles and the electric junction and wire brackets. But it took a while to figure it all out and there is zero extra room. Your trailer will probabably be totally different.
Just wanted to let you know the downside. But like I said before - I found it cheaper than even the used Hensleys and it's pretty much the same design. Neither company likes the other so both will bad-mouth the other somewhat.
If you go on Ebay, you can see the Pro-pride for cheaper sometimes. (new) I called up Pro-pride itself and he matched the eBay price for me. I also bought the extension kit (longer safety chain and seven-way plug extender) and I needed it for my rig. BTW - it came in four boxes - heaviest box was about 85 lbs. Whole thing weighs about 220 lbs. It's a pretty serious hitch. But we like the way it pulls. Like I said if I can eat a hamburger and pull a 34' TT at 65 mph without swaying all over the road, I'm a happy camper.
Now I just need to upgrade my tires so I can go faster.