[A/S] Hitching a Hensley/Lock up.

["Warren C. Stankiewicz" <nf1j@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The first time I tried to do it, it took hours. Nearly drove me insane (no
comments on *my* mental health, or supposed lack of it, please).

The second time, my wife wanted to try. We linked up, she took her foot off
the brake while still on the gas, and did some damage. I had tears in my
eyes.

I don't see how a Hensley could ever lock up and cause a catastrophic
failure as described. or how the trailer could "steer" the car. When my wife
wacked into the hitch, it functioned as it was designed--the shear bolts
"sheared", and this pushed the struts and the brackets back about a foot.

Of course, the repair job for this is a pain in a butt--you have to drill
out the old shear bolts and reinstall the brackets. My wife also wiped out
the propane line. But you can't make omelets without breaking a few eggs.

I have to believe that any substantial force coming from the trailer side in
such a way as to torque the hitch as described would either force the bolts
to sheer, or damage either the tow bar (which would take what, about 20
foot-tons to warp the bar in the receiver?), or damage the a-frame and hitch
pin on the trailer itself.

By about the fourth or fifth time I tried to hook up, I realized it was just
a question of geometry. If the hitch and the bar are not on the same plane,
the thing will never engage. Most people I've seen since I got mine who've
had problems simply did not extend the "jacks" enough to force the front of
the hitch head up enough...

Someday I may even let Mary Ellen try it again...:- )

warren & mary ellen
'78 31' rear bath
nf1j@earthlink.net