USAntigoon
USA
New Member
Joined: 11/24/2007
View Profile
|
Ron Gratz wrote:scbwr wrote:Anyone able to find a web site for ProPride Mfg or any web site for this new hitch. It would be interesting to read what has been redesigned any why. I'm not sure I understand why they would start taking orders without having more information available......sure wouldn't convince me to make a purchase.
I Googled "ProPride" and found a website for ProPride Vinyl Siding.
I have not been able to find a manufacturer's website which contains information about the new hitch.
Ron
Google doesn't show data about websites which are NOT up and running...
A WHOIS search is much better and will reveal:
www.propride.net and www.propridehitch.com are registered by Sean Woodruff.
They don't seem to be operational yet..
Just for your info..
USAntigoon
|
willald
NC
Senior Member
Joined: 07/15/2002
View Profile
|
IMHO, Sean has improved a LOT of things about the current Hensley. Basically, he's taken all the 'negatives' people have mentioned here and other places over the years, and addressed nearly every one of them.
Carringb: the linkage is beefed up considerably, to address concerns about tongue weight, or stress on the WD bars. Read that thread, you'll see some of the specifics of how its been beefed up.
Chad Brooks: The effect you're referring to is the 'bump' effect. The new hitch and the way it mounts to the A frame does indeed reduce the chances of such happening. Although, as long as you set up your brake controller right, and don't overdrive your vehicle, such would almost never happen anyway.
No, ProPride (Sean Woodruff) doesn't really have a web site up yet (except for the one already mentioned). As I understand it, thats all still being built/set up. Last I heard he wouldn't be ready to start shipping the new hitches until some time early in the spring. He is taking pre-orders though, which I'm guessing is what that Ebay advertisement is about.
Lets give the guy some time to set up and establish his company, and lets actually see some of these actual hitches in use, before we start 'bashing' it, folks..
* This post was
last
edited 01/18/08 12:12pm by an administrator/moderator *
View edit history
Will & Angela
2 children that love camping, Stephen & Allison
2003 Ford Excursion V10 4x4 ("No Taxpayers were harmed by the makers of this truck")
2003 Thor Citation 33M, Hensley Arrow hitch, Brakesmart Brake Control
Our Rig
|
carringb
Corvallis, OR
Senior Member
Joined: 07/28/2003
View Profile
 Offline
|
Willald, I don't see any info about the hitch on that thread, just a little blurb about starting the new company and the logo.
PS - If they need a product tester... I'm available. If anyone can break it its me.
Bryan
2000 Ford E350 DRW Wagon (14-pass all captains chairs)
V10 w/ Banks PowerPack, Diablo Predator, 4.56 LS, 250,000+ miles
Had: Weekend Warrior 41' FSW
|
Ron Gratz
full time RVer
Senior Member
Joined: 12/27/2003
View Profile
|
willald wrote:---
---No, ProPride (Sean Woodruff) doesn't really have a web site up yet (except for the one already mentioned). As I understand it, thats all still being built/set up. Last I heard he wouldn't be ready to start shipping the new hitches until some time early in the spring. He is taking pre-orders though, which I'm guessing is what that Ebay advertisement is about.---
Will, I think your comment about "early in the spring" might mislead some people. I would take "early in the spring" to mean late-March or early- April.
On 12/13/07, Sean posted the following:
"The last week of January is the target date to begin shipping. I don't think the UPS man will take all of the orders we have by then in one day but maybe they'll bring one of their BIG trucks."
Have you heard something different since 12/13?
Ron
* This post was
edited 01/18/08 12:14pm by an administrator/moderator *
|
Ron Gratz
full time RVer
Senior Member
Joined: 12/27/2003
View Profile
|
carringb wrote:Willald, I don't see any info about the hitch on that thread, just a little blurb about starting the new company and the logo.
Bryan,
At last count, there were 147 posts in the thread which Will cited.
If you do some "digging", you might find the info you were looking for.
I found 8 posts by Sean Woodruff which contain some "details" of his hitch:
#18, #61 w/photo, #66, #68 w/photo, #70 w/photo, #86, #122 w/photo, and #130.
Ron
|
|
|
Ron Gratz
full time RVer
Senior Member
Joined: 12/27/2003
View Profile
|
willald wrote:-
---Carringb: the linkage is beefed up considerably, to address concerns about tongue weight, or stress on the WD bars. Read that thread, you'll see some of the specifics of how its been beefed up.
Will, in the thread you cited, I found one post (#18) which gives some linkage dimensions:
QUOTE
3/4" thick links
1.5" link spindle into the lower main unit and 1.0" link spindle into the upper main unit.
UNQUOTE
Are the links in the ProPride hitch thicker than the Hensley Arrow links? If so, what are the dimensions of the HA links? Are the link spindles in the PP hitch larger than those in the HA? If so, what are the dimensions of the HA spindles? Have you heard any reports that the HA linkages are "undersized" and causing problem?
Willald wrote:Chad Brooks: The effect you're referring to is the 'bump' effect. The new hitch and the way it mounts to the A frame does indeed reduce the chances of such happening. Although, as long as you set up your brake controller right, and don't overdrive your vehicle, such would almost never happen anyway.
Post #18 also states:
QUOTE
---It does not have strut bars so there is no frame bracket slipping from the forces.---
UNQUOTE
The "bump" effect has been well explained by Les Adams. His "bump" was not caused by frame bracket slippage. Mr. Hensley has alluded to the "bump" effect as being caused by the TT pushing against the linkage. His recent patent application describes a mechanism which eliminates the pushing force; but that mechanism has not been incorporated into the PP hitch design.
The PP hitch replaces the struts with a "yolk" assembly. The yolk assembly is just a different means of preventing the coupler from rotating relatively to the ball. The PP modification does nothing to prevent the TT from pushing against the linkage. So, I see no reason to believe that the PP hitch and the HA would have any significant difference in their "bump" characteristics.
The HA's shear bolts and frame brackets are designed to shear and slip in order to protect the linkage from damage due to overload. The yolk assembly of the PP hitch also has a "breakaway" feature which is described in Post #86:
QUOTE
---The weak point is in the frame bracket that accepts the yoke tail. One of the down down tubes, on the side of the yoke tail, is only welded on ONE side and the yoke will pry that space apart if the hitch stop is reached.---
UNQUOTE
Perhaps we'll get more information later which explains how this "yolk" design is an improvement over the HA struts.
Ron
* This post was
edited 01/18/08 12:38pm by an administrator/moderator *
|
carringb
Corvallis, OR
Senior Member
Joined: 07/28/2003
View Profile
Offline
|
Ron Gratz wrote:
Bryan,
At last count, there were 147 posts in the thread which Will cited.
Got it now. The display mode had to be changed to "liner" for me to see them. Thanks.
|
carringb
Corvallis, OR
Senior Member
Joined: 07/28/2003
View Profile
Offline
|
I see the spring bar jacks have been improved. That's good since I bent the mounting brackets on my Hensley (pics up later due to website maint.).
But I don't see where anything had been changed to the lower plate that see nearly all the tension from the WD bars. Even if the bushings are changed, that's not where the failure occurs. My bushings essentially pulled right though the lower plate.
|
USAntigoon
USA
New Member
Joined: 11/24/2007
View Profile
|
carringb wrote:I see the spring bar jacks have been improved. That's good since I bent the mounting brackets on my Hensley (pics up later due to website maint.).
But I don't see where anything had been changed to the lower plate that see nearly all the tension from the WD bars. Even if the bushings are changed, that's not where the failure occurs. My bushings essentially pulled right though the lower plate.
You mind to share your GVWR of the Weekend Warrior FSW 3400 (41' actual length)..
|
willald
NC
Senior Member
Joined: 07/15/2002
View Profile
|
carringb wrote:I see the spring bar jacks have been improved. That's good since I bent the mounting brackets on my Hensley (pics up later due to website maint.).
But I don't see where anything had been changed to the lower plate that see nearly all the tension from the WD bars. Even if the bushings are changed, that's not where the failure occurs. My bushings essentially pulled right though the lower plate.
Yep. it failed, when you subjected it to nearly 2,000 lbs of tongue weight (yet Hensley still honored their warranty for you).
Its hard to find receivers or WD bars rated to handle that much tongue weight, anyway, so I'm not sure Sean would gain much by making the hitch strong enough to handle 2,000 lbs.
I don't believe they have decided yet on what tongue rating the new hitch will have, although he (Sean) told me it has been beefed up in several ways (most notably, the linkage), so it can handle more tongue weight than the old design. He did indeed say at one point in a PM, that the bushings you speak of were upgraded as well. He was also considering beefing up that lower plate you mentioned.
Just how much more tongue weight they will certify it for, we'll have to wait and see.
If you want a 'high-end' hitch for something with 2000 lbs of tongue weight, a 20K pullrite is just about your only option.
Ron: Concerning when the new hitch will ship: You're right, it did say end of January in there. Not sure where/how I was thinking early spring. Perhaps because that would be when most people would be thinking about camping again.
Yes, Ron, the new linkage size, IS indeed larger than the existing design. Dont know exactly how much bigger, but it is indeed an improvement there.
Annnyyywaaay, like I alluded to earlier, its way too early to make any kind of statements about how much better this hitch will be. Lets wait until we see a few of them on the market, and have some good, real life experience with them, before deciding how much better it is or is not.
Will
* This post was
edited 12/15/07 11:48am by an administrator/moderator *
|
|
|
|
