Hensley TrailerSaver TS-3 squeaks

Anyone with this hitch have a problem with squeaks?

New this season is a loud squeak only when the weight of the trailer pushes the saddle down more then an inch or so. I can eliminate the squeak by dumping all the air. Minimize it just a bit by putting 100 PSI in the bags.

I have greased the single fitting with the arm down, again with the arm up and a 3rd time with the arm down. This will have the hitch quiet for a hundred mikes or so.
It is loud enough to hear at highway speeds with the windows closed and no radio.

Hensley Support offers no suggestions.

I've got the BD3 and have had some minor noises and binding in the vertical loading/unloading. Their website calls out WD40 for the head assembly on the TS3 and a few other things. My BD3 has vertical rails and I've found the WD40 works much better than grease.

The TS model works quite a bit differently.

The TS model works quite a bit differently.

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Sure. But that's why I put in the link to the TS3 maintenance page which specifies lubricants including WD-40 in places.

On the Hensley Trailersaver TS-3 Hitch, what would one used be worth? Only used 2 times. So does not even have a scratch on it. Also was inside after that use.I almost bought it but with a short bed truck. Was not sure I wanted to take a chance of needing a slider hitch and not have it.
Pete

Took my hitch apart today, not real pleased with what I found

Shocks leak, one had no dampening left
Swing arm pivot pin is worn, I think the hitch really needs a few more grease points.

The hitch head "pivot axis bolt" is also worn and there are no grease fittings for that bolt, even though it supports the entire pin weight.

Hi ! I have a TS3 hitch and it has 2 grease zerk's on the upper part where the hitch goes up and down ! Now the shock's are another matter ! That's not right and Hensley should come up with a couple for you ! It would be easy to put some grease zerk's on the hitch ! I intend to put one on the big pivot bolt this summer some time !
chaseb

danemayer said:

Sure. But that's why I put in the link to the TS3 maintenance page which specifies lubricants including WD-40 in places.

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If you could see what I am referring to you would have your doubts about WD-40.

The saddle has 2 vertical plates with 1-1/4" holes.
The frame has a triangular, 1/2" steel plate with 1-1/4" holes.
A pin acts as the fore and aft pivot for these two parts

There is about 1/16" clearance, if that on the sides to "lube with WD-40".

No way is a shot of WD-40 going to lube a pin that is subjected to 3000 pounds of static load.

The other WD-40 lube point is the pins that the jaws pivot on. Those pins are pressed into the head. They sit in a small recess, which is where the WD-40 gets applied. How the WD is supposed to migrate down around pressed in pins is beyond me.

My hitch has been well greased, and I still have what I feel is excessive wear. The hitch has 6300 miles towing so far.

And that annoying squeak.

I've pretty much committed myself to adding some Zerks where I can, but I am concerned about getting lube into the saddle pivots.

It also concerns me that Hensley does not offer the head pins as replacement parts, only a complete Holland head assembly.
"Complete Head #44001"

Duane,

Have you shared these photos with Hensley? I think they really tell the story of what you are seeing and hearing. Hopefully they will advise on some improvements. I'll be watching this thread to see what improvements you guys make with adding more grease zerks. Not sure I'm capable of doing so, but I "know people".

jbeletti said:

Have you shared these photos with Hensley? I think they really tell the story of what you are seeing and hearing. Hopefully they will advise on some improvements. I'll be watching this thread to see what improvements you guys make with adding more grease zerks. Not sure I'm capable of doing so, but I "know people".

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Yes, I emailed Aaron Saturday afternoon and he got back to me a short time later. Expecting a phone call Monday.

If you do a search of Holland hitch failures you will be a bit dismayed. Seems to be more of an issue with the full time crowd with really heavy trailers and MDT's or bigger.
But, all the issues, failures, comments etc fall into one area, the lack of lube ability and the minimal support of the pins.

Hensley warranties the hitch for 2 years, but not the head. That is warrantied through Holland Binkly for 1 year.

I guess a real issue could be who warranties what at the Axis pivot pin???

And my searching leads me to believe the pins in the head are nearly impossible to remove without damage.

** A correction the to the above, Hensley warrants the entire hitch for 3 years. The head is a Hensley made Holland design, and apparently is a heavier built model.

porthole said:

...I guess a real issue could be who warranties what at the Axis pivot pin???...

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Try to get an answer on that. Be nice to know. My sense is that Hensley owns the pivot point.

jbeletti said:

Try to get an answer on that. Be nice to know. My sense is that Hensley owns the pivot point.

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Will do.

My take is that if the pivot pin fails is it Hensley or Holland? 50/50 on the parts.

1st picture shows how tight it is under the head. The yellow X is where I would like to add a Zerk, and on the opposite side of this.
The pin you can't see is supporting the entire tongue weight - and no way to grease!
This would require disassembly of the head, and I don't think that is an easy task.

2nd picture, the yellow circles is where you spray WD-40, these are the pins for the jaws, very tight fit, don't see any WD-40 getting in there.
Red circles is where you are supposed to spray WD-40 for the head fore and aft pivot pin.

3rd picture is where I would like add Zerk for the pivot axis pin (one on each side, opposite ends). This pin is also supporting the weigh of the pin box.

4th picture, two bare spots - maybe this is where my squeak is coming from.

Hi ! My thought on adding a place to grease the big pivot bolt is to drill a 1/8th inch hole in the middle of the bolt head and then one straight thru the bolt at about the middle ????? I don't think it would hurt the bolt ! Also the head of the bolt is easy to get at ??????
chaseb

Got my parts. What I don't like about Hensley is if you have a warranty issue what do you do?
Hopefully you are mechanically inclined and can do the repairs yourself.
That said, if you have a warranty item that needs repair, you get authorization and get the parts ordered.

You have to pay for the parts in advance - and you have to pay for shipping - both ways!

My shocks are bad, they are made by Monroe. I seriously doubt that Hensley will be paying shipping both ways to Monroe for parts warranty, actually , I doubt they will even be returning the failed shocks.

As to the steel pins I am returning, don't know why they have to go back, not like they are going to melt them down and re-forge/cast them.

I sure hope something heavy doesn't go bad (and there are four large, heavy pieces). And I have my concerns with that, as there are no replaceable bushings on this hitch.

The hitch is a nice hitch, but it is big and very heavy. After two warranty issues within a year, and the issue with paying for warranty parts, I would not recommend this hitch, nor would I buy it again.
I have some real concerns with the hitch head itself and the lack of grease points. And a search of the net shows I am not alone.

$119 for two shocks and the two pins.
$14 to return ship the items.

This is a $3000 hitch assembly - make your own judgements.

I would not recommend this hitch, nor would I buy it again.
I have some real concerns with the hitch head itself and the lack of grease points.

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Duane, I recommend you write Hensley a nice letter expressing these same concerns regarding how they handle warranty. Let them know that you share your service experiences online with a large community of RV owners. You can tell them that you prefer to write positive reviews, and ask them if they've done everything they'd like to do to make you a satisfied customer so that you can write a positive review of your warranty experience.

While I'm sure you've already had a discussion like that over the phone, sometimes letters get to people who see things differently from those on the phone.

Duane,

Thanks for the update on how the system works at Hensley.

By the way - I have "The Squeak". Or at least I have "a squeak". Can't be 100 % certain it's in the hitch but the timing of squeaks matches the up and down motion of the hitch/RV.

porthole said:

I would not recommend this hitch, nor would I buy it again.
I have some real concerns with the hitch head itself and the lack of grease points.

Click to expand...

danemayer said:

Duane, I recommend you write Hensley a nice letter expressing these same concerns regarding how they handle warranty. Let them know that you share your service experiences online with a large community of RV owners. You can tell them that you prefer to write positive reviews, and ask them if they've done everything they'd like to do to make you a satisfied customer so that you can write a positive review of your warranty experience.

While I'm sure you've already had a discussion like that over the phone, sometimes letters get to people who see things differently from those on the phone.

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Dan, Not my first rodeo.

jbeletti said:

Thanks for the update on how the system works at Hensley.

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Jim, you can add this to your update.

$24 to have the parts shipped to me (just got my invoice)
$13 for me to ship the parts back.
I wasn't using a commercial account and I was shipping to a business address, both of which should have knocked the price down.

And I am still doing all the work at no warranty cost to Hensley.

While waiting for answers from Hensley (which I still haven't received) I decided I would tackle taking the hitch head apart.
I picked up a good assortment of grease fittings yesterday and got my long drill bits out.

Taking the head apart is a chore, all the pins are press fit.

1st picture shows the cotter pins in the jaw pivot pins (red arrow). Cotter pin removed and pin hammered out with a brass drift.

If you look on either side you can just see the ends of the pivot pins that hold the saddle to the frame (blue arrow). These are held in by interference fit pins in the ends (green arrow).
The locking pins are hammered into the pivot pin and then the end is hammered so as to spin the pivot pin in the saddle, thus forcing the locking pin in between the saddle's web framework.

So you first have to force the pivot around using a punch and line it up vertically..

After getting the pin aligned you flip the assembly over and punch the pin out from the top, blue arrow. You then have too, with some difficulty, punch the pin outwards from the inside.

Note, according to the manual, you lube the jaw pivot pins by spraying lube in the small well around the pin (yellow circle), allowing it to weep down the pin. Remember now, this is a "press fit" pin.

You are also supposed to lube the saddle pivot by spraying lube down the two holes marked with the red circle. It is hard to see in the picture, but you can't see the pin, only the top of the triangular plate that supports the pin. Keep that in mind also.