Hensley Arrow Hitch

[hogbody]

Does anyone on this board have any experience with the Hensley Arrow Hitch. Looks expensive but if it does what it says it does it may be worth it.

Wanna be DMAX owner next year.

1997 Chev. Silverado
2000 Impala
1971 Chevelle

hogbody

[pinehill]

I've used a Hensley Arrow for 3 years to pull my 10K lb. 25 ft. "toybox" travel trailer, first pulling with a 6.2L 3/4T suburban, and now with the DMax. Some would say that the Hensley is overkill for a trailer of this size, but I think not.

Yes, the Hensley is big bucks, but the heavy duty, high quality construction and the rock solid towing performance make it worthwhile to me. Passing 18 wheelers don't cause so much as a twitch. There have been 2 instances when I've had to take violent evasive maneuvers on the road: once to avoid a wooden pallet dropped by the truck ahead of me (65mph), and another time while threading my way through a group of hay bales which had been dropped by another truck (50mph). In both instances, I would probably have been in big trouble with a lesser hitch. Turning radius is also very good.

I did the installation myself using Hensley's excellent instructions. The only negatives are that hooking up on uneven ground takes a little effort, since you're poking the 2" square tow bar into the 2" square receiver, and the periodic ball greasing requires either a floor jack to raise the hitch body off the ball, or a couple of strong helpers (total hitch weight is 175 lb.).

The Hensley people are great to deal with, and have a tow bar exchange program if a new tow vehicle has a different receiver height that requires a change in bar offset.

[Wont Goof Again]

I tow a 27ft travel trailer using the Hensley system. The "main" reason I purchased the Hensley was the tow vehicle - a Ford Expedition. Although the Expedition is a full size SUV, it does have a relatively short wheelbase and in talking with some other folks, I was told that sway might be an issue.

Given that I was just purchasing the RV and did not have any previous hitch, I decided to go with the best. Even with a shorter wheelbased vehicle like the Expedition, sway was non existant.

When I purchased my first Crew Cab D/A Short Box (stolen a couple of weeks ago), I just exchanged the tow bar, hitched up the trailer, and was on the road. I figure that for a vehicle with such a long wheelbase, the Hensley is overkill, but given that I already have the Hensley, I am keeping it...

Paul

[Disney Campers]

Its expensive but worth it, its make for a very smooth ride and no white knuckle driving. its on my second trailer now, a 31 foot with slide which was a better test of the hensley compared to our 25 foot lite weight trailer prior.

[Mike O.]

I've pulled a 30'TT and Hensley Arrow with a F--d F150 E/C and it was a great experience, hitch-wise. Absolutely no control/sway problem (just getting up hills! -- that's why I traded for a 2500HD D/A).

[Dave]

Unless hensly changed in the past two/three years its not rated high enough for me. I believe it rated for 10,000 trailer and 1000 hitch. My trailer is at 12,000 pounds and the hitch is at 1350. Need a true class five hitch.

I have been using the reese dual cam for 20 years now. Its available in class 3, 4 and 5 depending on your needs. I personally like the reese daul cam a lot and never found a need for a more expensive hitch. Then again my trucks have all had 8 ft boxes and extra cab or like the last two crew cab. Cant get more wheel base than that.

[pinehill]

Dave,

Yes, you need a heavier hitch. Hensley specs when I bought mine 3 years ago were 10,000 lb. gross trailer weight and 1,300 lb. max tongue weight (with a conservative safety margin). Most of the time, my trailer is at 9,500 lb. gross, 1,100 tongue.

[Tinbender]

I agree with everything good there saying about the Hensley Arrow. I'm towing at the max limits with the Hensley hitch and like the security of knowing it's there to save the bacon if needed. I towed with a Pullrite for 16 years and liked it also. I just got tired of having to buy a new hitch ($2000. +) each time I traded trucks.

Pinehill,
I drilled and put a zerk fitting in the coupler on top of the ball, give it a squirt each time I grease the tension bars.

By the way I have a pullrite system for sale that will fit most Chev/GMC long bed through 00.

[letsgo]

An e-mail was sent to hensley arrow with my concerns,(they did not respond)
I believe there is a serious fault with the hitch with reguards to our diesel exhaust braking going down hill on a wet road, I have experienced the affect of the rear end being throw out (mildly at 30 mph) it was a dealer demo unit I was driving.
The hitch by design can float 6"(approx.) either side of the truck ball, when the truck and trailer are traveling in a straight line the mechanical geometry of the hitch locks the 2 entities together thus no sway at highway speeds, however when the truck starts into a curve the locking geometry ceases, this is where the problem could arise.
If you were to break (foot brake) on a hill with a curve and the road is wet and the trailer brakes do not come on first and maintain more braking force than the truck at all times, the hitch will allow the tonge of the trailer (1000pounds) to swing out past the center line of ball 6" plus, (in all fairness to hensley there response is the trailer brakes are not set up properly if this happens), but if your exhaust brake comes on going down that hill in the rain on a curve the truck brakes but the trailer keeps on going I can see that floating hitch spining you around.
just my $0.02