Hensley hitch

[Mattman]

Any one use one of these? I watched the video they had. I didn't agree with a Dodge intrepid towing a 20' trailer and calling it safe. Any way looks like a nice hitch. Curious if any one has / had one.
https://hensleymfg.com/the-hensley-story/

 

[Geodude]

We towed with one for a number of years. It works as advertised and is well worth the price. We towed a 32' travel trailer with a Toyota Sequoia SUV over much of Canada and the US and the hitching system performed well in all terrain and all weather, plus held the whole rig together in a couple of emergency maneuvers.

Two or three of my friends have or had them and were also very happy.

 

[katkens]

Might want to check this one out ,Jim Hensley's last design.......https://www.propridehitch.com/propride-3p-trailer-sway-control-hitch/

 

[Mattman]

I saw the p3. I was just curious as why I don't see lots of them at the camp grounds. That orange is hard to miss. I can't say I have spotted one yet. I usually look at hitches out of curiosity to see what people run.
I was looking at the prices and have a hard time with the extra cost. I'm all for spending a few more dollars for better and safer equipment. But those are 5-6 times the cost of regular hitch. I will probably look to replace mine in a few more years. Saw this and I was curious.
I'm still curious as to how a hitch can claim to make it safe to tow when you are clearly over your Gross combination rating.

 

[MikeR]

I previously had 2 travel trailers before our 5th wheel. I installed Hensley hitches on both trailers. I would never pull a travel trailer without one. Makes towing a trailer easy and worry free. I'm now using a Hensley BD3 to tow my Big Country. Since you are in Michigan, you can pick it up at Hensley in Romeo. Also, when talking to Hensley sales tell them you would be interested in a "reconditioned" unit.

 

[Mattman]

I previously had 2 travel trailers before our 5th wheel. I installed Hensley hitches on both trailers. I would never pull a travel trailer without one. Makes towing a trailer easy and worry free. I'm now using a Hensley BD3 to tow my Big Country. Since you are in Michigan, you can pick it up at Hensley in Romeo. Also, when talking to Hensley sales tell them you would be interested in a "reconditioned" unit.

Have you used another hitch previously? Just curious if you had a chance to compare to other models. If so which models.
Thanks

 

[57chevyconvt]

Used the Hensley hitch on a Mobile Scout TT for a number of years. Also used other TT hitches. Nothing compares to the Hensley hitch. They are expensive but well worth the expenditure. I sold my Hensley for almost the initial purchase price when we upgraded to the Big Horn.

 

[Geodude]

The re-sale on a Hensley is excellent. I used mine for about four years and given what I sold it for, it only cost me about $700, the price of an Equalizer. I figured it was a small portion of the cost of the SUV and trailer, plus the cargo inside, i.e. my family, made it worth every cent.

I saw the p3. I was just curious as why I don't see lots of them at the camp grounds. That orange is hard to miss. I can't say I have spotted one yet. I usually look at hitches out of curiosity to see what people run.
I was looking at the prices and have a hard time with the extra cost. I'm all for spending a few more dollars for better and safer equipment. But those are 5-6 times the cost of regular hitch. I will probably look to replace mine in a few more years. Saw this and I was curious.
I'm still curious as to how a hitch can claim to make it safe to tow when you are clearly over your Gross combination rating.

- - - Updated - - -

A friend of mine set out to buy a Hensley and ended up with the Propride. Still has it. He likes the improved yoke design, which he says is stronger. He also had the drawbar break but it was apparently a very rare occurrence.

I saw the p3. I was just curious as why I don't see lots of them at the camp grounds. That orange is hard to miss. I can't say I have spotted one yet. I usually look at hitches out of curiosity to see what people run.
I was looking at the prices and have a hard time with the extra cost. I'm all for spending a few more dollars for better and safer equipment. But those are 5-6 times the cost of regular hitch. I will probably look to replace mine in a few more years. Saw this and I was curious.
I'm still curious as to how a hitch can claim to make it safe to tow when you are clearly over your Gross combination rating.

 

[Mattman]

I contacted Hensley about hitched just to see what they had to say. I got that weird feeling like there selling Amway or pyramid schemes. I just can't see how there set up is 5 times as much as new equalizer, Reese or Anderson set up. They don't show up on any ones top 5 hitches when I search for it. Not that I hold a lot of weight to that.
Before we got married we went to one of those seminars and they tried to sell us a set of cook ware for 3,300 dollars. It was nice. But not that nice. Then they give you the voucher for a free 2 night Bahama cruze but you gotta sit through the 2 hour time share deal to get your money while the guy doing it tells you he's the guy who trains people to do this. And he's so smart and makes all kinds of money.
That's kinda the same way I feel about this. Maybe I am wrong.......

 

[Westwind]

My first trailer was a 26 FT Sunnybrook TT that I pulled with a 2000 Toyota Tundra short bed xtra-cab, we pulled it to and from Florida for 9 years and I never knew it was behind us because of our Hensley hitch, I had read about it before I bought our trailer and I was nervous about trailer sway which I had read about over and over in RV publications and had seen numerous times as we traveled to and from Florida and on trips to northern New England on family vacations by car. I felt the price tag was worth the money for the guarantee of safety. Over the years we had numerous occasions where I know that hitch saved us from an accident or near accident. It was well built and I was never sorry that we spent the extra money. Hitching up was a learning practice but even after I traded up to a 3/4 ton GMC and had to upgrade the hitch bar I quickly learned to back that bar into the receiver hole on the hitch in order to hitch up, after a while I could do it on the first try.
The ProPride product is a great product and I would recommend it on the experience of owners on a forum that I belong to, everyone with a Pro Pride is just as happy as someone with a Hensley. So it's a choice the purchaser has to make.
When I moved to a FW I ended up with another Hensley product a Trailersaver FW Hitch which I have been extremely happy with for the last 6 years again another Hensley product that lives up to it's claims and performs providing a great tow.

 

[Todster]

My father uses the Hensley to this day and loves it. I used to pull a 34ft tag toyhauler behind a lifted f-250. All things that should not have been. I did the dual cam etc. and nothing eliminated the white knuckles until I bought a used pullrite 2k/20k hitch. Built very solid and NEVER had another squirrelly drive again. Wife then drove half the trips also. Loved it until the day I sold the trailer and hitch.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Westwind]

There are used Hensley Arrow's out there and ProPrides also, Hensley does sell used hitches that they have refurbished. I sold mine back to them and applied the credit to my new Trailer Saver.

 

[Geodude]

There are two certainties about the Hensley and Propride hitches:

1) everyone is shocked at the price of them
2) those who get over #1 and buy one of these hitches wonder how they ever towed without them

It's funny how people will spend $50K on a tow vehicle and another huge chunk of money on the trailer, then throw their loved ones in the vehicle and hit the road, yet get wound up about spending $2.5K on the best hitch out there. I bet for most people the cost of the hitch is 2% to 5% of the total cost of their rig. You can't put a price on your family's safety.

One year we were driving across the US west and had just left Scottsbluff, NE when we had a situation arise that required a full blow panic stop. My buddy was ahead of us and saw everything. The first thing he said was how amazing it was the truck and trailer stopped straight as an arrow (pardon the pun). The second thing he said was in his opinion any rig without that hitch would have jackknifed and likely rolled. Actually, I think the second thing he said was "do you need to pull over and change your underwear...".

 

[bigjohnjeep]

There are two certainties about the Hensley and Propride hitches:

1) everyone is shocked at the price of them
2) those who get over #1 and buy one of these hitches wonder how they ever towed without them

It's funny how people will spend $50K on a tow vehicle and another huge chunk of money on the trailer, then throw their loved ones in the vehicle and hit the road, yet get wound up about spending $2.5K on the best hitch out there. I bet for most people the cost of the hitch is 2% to 5% of the total cost of their rig. You can't put a price on your family's safety.

One year we were driving across the US west and had just left Scottsbluff, NE when we had a situation arise that required a full blow panic stop. My buddy was ahead of us and saw everything. The first thing he said was how amazing it was the truck and trailer stopped straight as an arrow (pardon the pun). The second thing he said was in his opinion any rig without that hitch would have jackknifed and likely rolled. Actually, I think the second thing he said was "do you need to pull over and change your underwear...".

This post is exactly right. We tow a 2015 Heartland Mallard M28 with a Jeep Grand Cherokee HEMI. We went through the first year or so with our EZ Lift 1000 system doing fairly short trips around where we live. But last fall we were returning from a 100 mile trip and a storm system had brought in gusty winds and it was the most uncomfortable trip home. Even with both anti-sway bars tightened down the trailer was pushing us around. We made the decision to buy the ProPride 3P that day. I have no need for a "big truck" and refused to pay big money just to overcome the sway with a vehicle I didn't want or need. I installed the ProPride this spring and wow it is awesome! Within the last month we completed a 1000 mile round trip down I-65 to the beach and it was so nice. On the trip home it was quite breezy and we passed several travelers towing campers smaller than ours with 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton trucks and they were having to slow down due to the wind swaying their trailers. We could see it. The ProPride will be with me as long as we tow a travel trailer - regardless of whatever tow vehicle we have in the future. Because it is NOT a sway control system - it is a sway ELEMINATION system. I know by experience.