quantumleap39
wilmington
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Joined: 10/10/2005
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I had this same problem. took the Hensley out for a ride with everything all set so I thought. normal stops were no problem, a "emergency" stop though the unit pulled hard to one side. What I had though was not a breaking issue, but on the hensley, there are 2 bars on the top that make the unit hardened to the tow veh. One bar was cranked over more than the other forcing the hensley to operate normally under normal conditions, under extreem conditions though, it would pull to the side that was cranked tighter. The left bar was cranked to 21 inches, the right to 23 inches. Once adjusted to 22 each and tight the trailer stopped with no issues. I have put many miles on mine now with not a single issue.
hensley IMO is still the best TT hitch around, I would never travel without it.
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Kenneth
Washington, the state
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Joined: 03/20/2001
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Mike,
If you haven't had your trailer brakes visually inspected in a year or two, pls do so. Also, trailer brakes must be manually adjusted for wear. They do not self adjust.
Your brake controller might be working as designed; it isn't the best design. It does not send a braking signal to your trailer until it senses the truck decellerating...this time lag might be part of your problem. Don't assume that there is just one contributing factor to your problem. You might have several small things combining to create your unacceptable situation.
Ken
I'm free of prostate cancer for 5 years now.
All men over age 50 should get an annual PSA blood test. Mine had a low reading, but the yearly jump was significant. The biopsy showed cancer just entering the aggressive stage. Dr. Hackenslash removed it.
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Mark Kovalsky
Central Florida
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Joined: 11/26/2002
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Try a stop using the manual trailer brake activation to bring the trailer brakes on sooner. If it stops straight, then there is nothing wrong with the trailer brakes. It is the one eccentricty that I've found with the Hensley. It requires the trailer brakes to activate before the tow vehicle's brakes or the hitch moves to one side, which will push the tow vehicle to the other side.
Mark
2002 Ford E350 van connected to a 1998 SunnyBrook 33 FKDS travel trailer by a Hensley Arrow hitch
Former Ford Automatic Transmission Engineer, 1988-2007
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TheLuvShack
Indiana
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Joined: 11/03/2004
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BurbMan is correct. Check your installation instructions under FAQ and this question is addressed there. FAQ is in the very back of the instruction booklet. Crank up your amps on the Prodigy. The TT brakes must engage before the TV brakes engage.
"If the women don't find you handsome, they better find you handy". Red Green
Daryl
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6MISFITZ
Fort Erie, ON, CANADA
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Joined: 04/15/2003
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Thanks for all the ideas on problem solving the hitch and brake controller.
I have double checked the condition of the wiring, double checked the hitch installation, the FAQ section of the Hensley Manual and the distances on the hitch strut bars but, short of pulling the wheel and drum to look inside, I can only speculate about a corrupted grease seal, bad magnet or other internals that could go bad inside the drum.
I will keep my eyes on sale prices for the Prodigy or Ultima and crank the gain on my controller for one more week. When the trailer goes in for winterizing, I will have them check the electrical brake system, clean and adjust the shoes and repack the bearings along with new seals so that everything is fixed and clean before it is put away.
Mike.
Mom, Dad, 4 kids, 2 Camping Dogs
Express 2500 LS (135"WB) 6.0L, 4.10, G80, PYO wheels, HENSLEY & McKesh
--------------------
MISFITZ RACING
MFCC Member
Rallies Attended 4, 7 Un-Rallies
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legryz
Fraser, Michigan, USA
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Joined: 09/08/2003
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Mike, I also had a similar problem. Your brakes should be going on a bit sooner and harder than on your TV, if the brakes are working right, Take your setup to a safe place where you can do some somewhat hard stops from 20/30 MPH.(You could measure the strut bars and make them equal lengths, but this will show you that they (struts) are exerting equal pressure on the hitch head) Do a stop, get out and look at the hitch head from the top, the links (black) that attach the top (orange) part of the hitch to the bottom part (black) should be protruding out equal amounts from the top part of the hitch head. IF it's not equal, adjust the strut bars (loosen/tighten) to bring the links so they are protruding equally. You will probably have to do this several times to get it right. It sounds complicated here but when your looking at the hitch it will all make sense. This should solve the problem of the trailer pushing the hitch to one side.
* This post was
edited 10/11/05 06:19pm by legryz *
Larry G
2002 National RV Dolphin
F53 Chassis
V10
New/Used MotorHome & More
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Kenneth
Washington, the state
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Quote: will keep my eyes on sale prices for the Prodigy or Ultima
Jordan Ultima 2020 $110 delivered
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daveyandkids
Milford,N.J. U.S.A
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Joined: 11/07/2003
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I also agree with burb man and others, brakes on the trailer need to be aggressive. One problem we had on our other trailer and the hensley was brought to our attention rather abruptly in Washington, D.C. when we had to brake quickly in a panic stop. Our old Tekonsha voyager didn't have the gain up enough and the trailer, because it tried to swing in it's pivot, bent one of the struts and snapped off the shear bolts, except for the one grade 8 bolt that I had in the bracket because I ran out of the shear bolts during installation, try repairing something like that along I95 during afternoon rush hour! ANYWAY.... what I'm getting to is to make sure your controller is operating correctly with a hensley, we have a prodigy now, it's good, but still a bit grabby at very low speeds, guess that's normal.
Dave
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6MISFITZ
Fort Erie, ON, CANADA
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If it were just the brake controller, why would this issue not have shown up with the old hitch?
Mike.
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Mark Kovalsky
Central Florida
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Because of the way the Hensley works. It allows some side to side movement. If the tow vehicle brakes before the trailer the hitch will move to one side and push on the rear of the tow vehicle. This force is offset, so it will turn the tow vehicle.
You MUST have a brake controller that will actuate the trailer brakes sooner. A controller that uses the tow vehicle's deceleration to activate will never work right with a Hensley. I've been there, done that. Mine did EXACTLY what yours is, and a Jordan brake controller fixed it 100%.
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