Do they really work sway control

[Donedroolin]

I was wondering those who have a Hensley or Pro Ride tow system. Does it work, how do you like it and was it worth the price. Considering buying one but the price is high. If they are really with it, then I would pro ally get one. But then witch out of the two is better.

[s1njin]

My dealer is pushing the Blue Ox Pro Sway. He said its cheaper then the Hensley, less set up than the Hensley, and works almost as well for a fraction of the price. FWIW.

[Canadian couple 1983]

I have a cheaper friction sway control and I'll tell you it made a HUGE difference! If it was a $1000 system I'd still pay it as I do believe it saved my life adding 1

[Brownie]

When I bought my Eagle, I was going to go with just a beefed up insert, and forego the wd/sc hitch. They are pricey, and my truck already has wd & sway control. Then I got to thinking: How much are you paying for this trailer? How much did you pay for the truck? Do you really want to "cheap out" on the only link between the two? My dealer carries Husky, so that's what I went with. Makes a lot of noise, but it's been too cold to lube it & fine-tune the friction-style sway control. It's another form of insurance. Hopefully, you'll never find out if you really needed it.

[s1njin]

That Blue Ox isn't cheap at $799 installed w/ the bars that I'd need for my relatively light trailer.

[TexasA&M]

I found a used ProPride for a very reasonable price and just installed it on my trailer last week. I haven't towed with it yet, but from everyone I've talked to (I researched them for three years), they truly are worth whatever price you pay for them. I think on a large trailer like the OP has, it will make a substantial difference. I will be taking a trip in a few weeks and will give a report back then. I am fully expecting to come back and say something along the lines of 'works just like everyone said that it would, and well worth the money.'

Keep an eye on Craigslist and see if you can score one for fairly cheap. I've seen them advertised from anywhere between $1,000 and $1,800, both of which are quite a bit cheaper than new. If you can find one local, you can save the $200 or so that it costs to ship such a large piece of equipment.

[RUSSELL5000]

I am a newby to the world of RV, but I will offer my experience to date.

I am not an engineer and so don’t understand all of the issues. However, I did a lot of reading on this. I got the Equal-I-Zer and sized it so that my load is about 80% of the hitch capacity.

We only had our travel trailer one season; already had one instance where I was thankful for the sway control hitch. A semi-truck loaded with logs flew by us on a two lane road in West Virginia going way over the speed limit; it cut in front of us to avoid running into a car in the oncoming lane, hitting the brakes hard (smoke rolled off the trailer tires). My trailer never swayed; there was no sway when the semi flew by and there was no sway as I braked hard.

My shorts were so brown I didn’t even try to clean them; I swear I could count the rings in the cut end of the logs stacked on the trailer when he flew by and cut in front of me. I realize that this was not the reality; but perception sure means a lot at the moment!

The Equal-I-Zer got the job done and at a good price.

[Bird Dawg]

A friend of ours was actually thinking of selling their TT as the swaying was a real issue even with the friction sway control. Not sure which Hensley they went with, but they said the difference was night and day. According to them, you get what you pay for.

Fred

[Bluestreak]

I have flipped a 33' TT, towing at speed on the Interstate with a regular length Ford E350 and a standard WD hitch & sway control. Not a fun day, but nobody was hurt and when the dust and ammonia vapor cleared (the fridge cooling system was ruptured when the trailer was righted) I wanted to do better the next time. On that day, for me, Friction Sway Control was not very effective at controlling sway. I’d been towing almost 10 years at that point and in my opinion, Friction Sway control is almost, but not completely, useless. It’s not dampening any sway, in the engineering sense, it's just friction added to the system. When it was developed, it was the most reasonable way to try and control sway, but that was 50+ years ago.
My next TT was 34' and I wanted the best, and at that time (2005) that meant a Hensley. I bought it used and installed it myself at the dealership where I bought my new trailer, so I really knew how it worked and went together. Towing home from Nevada to the SF Bay, I got to see what it was like to tow 34' with Semi's, high winds and curves. In a word: Awesome. I never felt any buffeting from big trucks, there was no "suck in" when they passed or I passed them, the trailer was unaffected by anything we take as the "normal" disturbances. I could not be more pleased. For the next eight years, the Hensley meant that I did not worry about my trailer going out of control, EVER. It provided great peace of mind, and in a very proactive way.
I think that if you have a long tall trailer, a Hensley is a very good investment. If you have a marginal tow vehicle, get a better vehicle. If you want to never worry about external forces effecting how your trailer tracks and tows, get a Hensley.

[s1njin]

Is it safe to assume that the longer, heavier, and higher your trailer sits, the higher the chances of sway? Assuming tongue weight is appropriate.

I'm towing a relatively short and light trailer. I'll be outfitting it w/ that Blue Ox Sway Pro WDH. My dealer tells me its the best hitch they sell; granted there are better hitches out there but he maintains for my rig I'm well into the safe/comfortable zone.

[David472]

I've never towed with a Hensley hitch, but everyone I speak to who has one, will swear by it being the best for sway control. A local dealer here has a scale mock-up of the Hensley, and takes it to all the TT shows he goes to. You can play with the scale model, push sideways on the tongue of the trailer, and nothing happens. Push on the TV to make a turn, and it turns easily. I'm sold on that. Having towed for three seasons with the Equalizer, it is very good, but not as good as what that scale model demonstrated for me.

[Salsa03]

That Hensley system really looks like something awesome, but the price asked for it is ridiculous.... I was quoted at something like $2700US if I recall properly.

I know you cannot put a price on safety, but that is really expensive...


On my previous TT, I had a friction Husky bar that you had to tight.... it served its purpose, but not always, tried tightening it more, and found at after a litte while that I wasn't getting a good sway control because I had not enough weight on the tongue... the tongue weight of my 4690lbs TT was only 385lbs. When I learned to rebalance the weight better to the front, I had better results at controlling the sway.

On my new one, I'll move to an Equal-I-Zer setup, because the RV is bigger, heavier and longer... It will cost me around $900CAN for the unit I require, if the Hensley was $1500CAN or less I would consider it, but at something like $3000 CAN from a straight rate exchange conversion, I can't get myself to say yes to that unit.

[Bluestreak]

Originally Posted by s1njin

Is it safe to assume that the longer, heavier, and higher your trailer sits, the higher the chances of sway? Assuming tongue weight is appropriate.

I'm towing a relatively short and light trailer. I'll be outfitting it w/ that Blue Ox Sway Pro WDH. My dealer tells me its the best hitch they sell; granted there are better hitches out there but he maintains for my rig I'm well into the safe/comfortable zone.

Yes, those are reasonable assumptions regarding the trailer. There are tow vehicle dynamics as well, and the basic design of the trailer, location of the axels, size of the tires, stiffness of the sidewalls, presence of shocks on the trailer axels, all work into the equation.

The Blue Ox looks like a nice hitch with several features that improve the user experience. I don't know that it is fundamentally better than a basic WD hitch with friction sway control, and it is 2x the price, so belief and faith are important. Is it a bad hitch or the wrong hitch to buy? Probably not. Some people, as reported in web posts, appear to have problems with the hitch, but people have problems with hammers, bricks and refrigerators all the time. (Nothing made by man is defect or trouble-free).
As far as your dealer is concerned, how much towing do they do themselves? What is their actual experience, as opposed to what their customers tell them? How long have they sold the Blue Ox line? What other hitches do they sell? If you are happy, the rig performs well and towing does not scare you, your family or anyone else on the road, then I think you are doing fine. Have fun camping!

[Rustic Eagle]

Originally Posted by s1njin

Is it safe to assume that the longer, heavier, and higher your trailer sits, the higher the chances of sway?....snip

In theory yes, more exposed surface area for the wind to catch.

Originally Posted by s1njin

snip..... I'll be outfitting it w/ that Blue Ox Sway Pro WDH.....snip

IMO if your WDH is properly sized and adjusted you should be fine with your X213.

Bob

[TexasA&M]

Originally Posted by Salsa03

That Hensley system really looks like something awesome, but the price asked for it is ridiculous.... I was quoted at something like $2700US if I recall properly.

I know you cannot put a price on safety, but that is really expensive...

This is exactly why it took me three years to get one. This past summer, I was in the market for some kind of hitch upgrade because one of the cams on the dual cam I had been using had gotten bent up pretty badly (I think it was overloaded). I was prepared to spend up to $1,000 on a ProPride, which is doable if you wait long enough and are willing to travel a bit to pick it up (I had seen some in this range that were too far for me to get to). I ended up getting really lucky though and finding one for $350 locally. I went and snagged it as soon as I could, before the seller could realize what he had. I just installed it last week and am really looking forward to trying it out on my next trip.

[dalenoel]

Since having my Hensley I realize there is a difference between 'sway control' and not having sway to start with. The Hensley has not just controlled the sway for me but it does not exist. I got my unit as a rebuilt from the factory for $2300 and it has been worth every penny.

All I need to think of is the windy days and being cut off by people and then having 'no sway' to deal with. Not a question in my mind but each must make up their own decisions.

Dale

[Bird Dawg]

Sometimes it is not the size of the trailer I have seen even small trailers get pushed around by trucks and/or wind. When we used to tow a cargo trailer behind our motor home, certain types of trucks would push us more than others. We found that a large box truck would push more than a tractor trailer.

Fred

[mraplx]

I can only speak from my personal experience regarding the Hensley Arrow, and I can tell you the experience towing is very different from a traditional friction style WDH setup. I initially started out using a Equalizer brand 10k lbs friction sway control setup on my 28BHS with my 2008 Dodge Durango 4x4, and I felt uncomfortable in several towing situations. These unpleasant experiences included every time I was passed by a tractor trailer, or larger vehicle, and in gusty wind conditions. What really pushed me over the edge was a towing experience where I was headed into a 20 MPH sustained head wind with 40 MPH gusts. When I was headed into the wind, I knew it was blowing, but I didn't realize how hard. As our trip was nearing completion I had to turn perpendicular to the wind, and my towing experience became very unstable. I was on HYW 99 going 40 MPH trying to keep the TV and TT in my own lane. When we got home my wife asked if I was okay, because as she described it, I just stopped talking.

After towing in those windy conditions I knew I had to make a change. Initially I though I would invest in a different TV, but my budget didn't match my desires, so I decided to starting google'ing trailer sway solutions, and I found the Hensley Arrow. Since the installation of the HA, my towing experiences have been down right pleasant despite towing in very similar wind conditions on the Grape Vine recently. Simply put, the Hensley Arrow does what is advertised in my mind, it eliminates trailer induced sway via physics.

Although I truly love the safety provided by my HA, it can be a bit of a pain in the butt to use, specifically hitching on an non-level surface. Additionally the HA design dictates that brakes must be used instead of engine braking. I would be happy to answer any questions anyone might have about the hitch, but I would not hesitate to recommend the setup to a fellow TT owner.

[skylarkva]

Picked up a used ProPride for our new 26bhs, had the dealer install it, and towed home 120 miles on interstate 81. If you aren't familiar with the east coast highways, 81 is loaded with semi traffic. I can't say enough about how much I love this hitch; I was completely comfortable all the way home. One hand on the wheel as trucks blast past me comfortable.

One of the kickers for me was a video I found on YouTube where a guy built a lego model of the Hensley/Pro-Pride design to demonstrate the physics. Worth a watch, it's pretty impressive. *here it is:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v2otJAgYiTo

[gtsum2]

Spending 60k on a truck and 25-30k on a trailer, 2500 or so for a pro pride or Hensley is cheap IMO. I have never, ever heard of anyone that used one of those hitches who sold it for something else ( aside from a fifth) or didn't think it was worth it. I would certainly pay for and use one (propride would be my choice)