Re: [A/S] Acura as Tow Vehicle

[Charlie/Betty Burke <cbburke@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark & Elena,

Referring to the Hensley as an "expensive overcontrol" to the owners 
might poke a button with them. It is after all what you are willing to 
spend to tow as safely as modern engineering can make it.

Back in the "good ole days" when weight distributing hitches were 
introduced they were heralded as the best, safest hitch possible. You 
have only to watch The Long Long Trailer with Luci and Desi Arnez to see 
what came before. The basics of design of the standard weight 
distributing hitches has changed little from those early days. 
Improvements like friction sway controls, Reeses's Dual Cam sway control 
have come along. More recently some tweeks have come along the further 
stabilize the tow, examples being the Equal-i-zer Hitch, Blue Ox's 
hitch. Pull Rite was introduced as a smarter design because it moved the 
actual pivot point forward to the tow vehicle axle thus making it an 
inherently more stable hitch. Then along came the Hensley Arrow. To date 
the ultimate in engineered towing stability. Using some very 
sophisticated mechanical engineering it locks the trailer in line with 
the tow vehicle.

All of these hitches were designed with the goal of making towing safer 
and less stressful. Historically it was a given that there would be a 
learning curve on how to towing with our without a hitch. Hanging 3-4 
tons off the back of a vehicle makes it drive funny. So the driver was 
expected to practise beforing charging off on to the highways of 
America. Trouble is we don't want to wait, so all to often the only 
training drivers new to towing get is from the dealership to home.

What many of the newer design hitches do is reduce the learning curve on 
how to handle that big thing following you. No hitch will excelerate 
learning about accelaration and braking but they sure help with the 
effects of side winds and big ole trucks and such.

It comes down to cost/benefit. Depending on your opinion of your driving 
skills (or your spouses) and how much time you want to spend getting 
used to this new driving environment, and cost determines what hitch you 
should buy. And for crying out loud this is not a time to get cheap just 
to save a few bucks. We're talking 4-5 tons flying down the crowded 
highway here. The rest of us will be grateful.

If you can find someone near you that has been there, done that talk to 
them. One thing us RV'rs like to do is talk.

Oh by the way, my hitch of choice after 32 years, 12 in the industry is 
the Equal-i-zer Hitch.

Charlie