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Hitch option question from you towing gurus

Coopers_Dad

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I have a 32’ trailer, 8600 lbs loaded, 850 lbs hitch weight towing w a limited and blue ox, which is supposed to be the best outside of Hensley/pro pride. It sways like crazy. Just ordered a hellwig swaybar and got e-rated tires which I’ll fill up to 60 psi to see if that helps. If not I may have to get the hensley/propride in the spring.

I had the same experience with a Blue Ox this summer year. It was fine along the road but when it got windy it would push the truck around so hard the traction control would come on. It was a 15K bar 1500 TW kit. For ****s and giggles, I grabbed my 10k Anderson from my last trailer and it much happier on the HWY with gusty winds. But after thinking about it I bought a propride so that I could put it to rest once and for all.
 

bennekm

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I had the same experience with a Blue Ox this summer year. It was fine along the road but when it got windy it would push the truck around so hard the traction control would come on. It was a 15K bar 1500 TW kit. For ****s and giggles, I grabbed my 10k Anderson from my last trailer and it much happier on the HWY with gusty winds. But after thinking about it I bought a propride so that I could put it to rest once and for all.


How much different does the pro ride feel? Enough to justify the price? Do you notice all the additional weight from it? What about unhitching is the site isn’t level...is it hard? Thanks!
 

Coopers_Dad

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How much different does the pro ride feel? Enough to justify the price? Do you notice all the additional weight from it? What about unhitching is the site isn’t level...is it hard? Thanks!
I haven't taken it out of the boxes as I've been traveling so much for business this fall we didn't get a chance to use the trailer again after mid-august. I will do a full report in the spring. It is a lot of money compared to the majority of units of the market but with over 100K invested between the truck and trailer $2400 for a hitch was still reasonable. As long as it does work the way it's supposed to.
 
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FWIW, I have ProPride hitches on both of my trailers. On is 27' 5000# and the other 34' 9000#. The ProPride made all the difference in my towing experience vs a Reese setup I had previously. I plan to continue to use them when my RAM is delivered. Currently I am using another 1/2 ton. I've been all over the country and up and down mountains with the PP setup.
 
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FWIW, I have ProPride hitches on both of my trailers. On is 27' 5000# and the other 34' 9000#. The ProPride made all the difference in my towing experience vs a Reese setup I had previously. I plan to continue to use them when my RAM is delivered. Currently I am using another 1/2 ton. I've been all over the country and up and down mountains with the PP setup.


I towed our 34' Airstream with the Ecodiesel today. What a wonderful experience! So easy compared to my previous gas truck.
 

Cueva del Osos

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We tow 5600# gvwr 24’ ultra lite TT (which I try to max at 5100# for a comfort margin or in case we have to tow with full tanks) and have a Husky 31997 (Which was installed for our previous Acura by the Rv dealer).

Our OEM TT tires are rated to 65 mph and that’s right where we keep the speed when towing (I’m not trying to delaminate the tread and mpg sucks enough at 65...I’d be throwing $$$ out the window at any higher speed).

The chains and spring bars took some getting used to (as one poster wrote “it feels like we’re lifting the rear wheels of the 1500 off the ground”) but we can slam it all together in a few minutes if the site’s level. We’ve had a few sites that were so uneven that we had to hitch without the bars, pull onto a road or out to a parking lot and then hook up the WD bars/anti-sway. Never had a problem with sway...but in a solid gust (45+mph) it felt like the entire truck/TT combo moved 6” to the left as a single unit. Woke me up better than a quad shot espresso! We did upgrade to an electric tongue jack to make it all easier and we carry a really old (read: very dry, very lightweight) wood block about 1 ft cube we put under the tongue jack foot so we don’t have to raise/lower the jack as much.

When we got the Ram, I did a read-up on the Ram and the Husky WD hitch so I’d know how to realign it all, then hired a local service to come to the TT storage yard and re-set the ball hitch (I don‘t mind hiring experienced talent but I always try to learn enough to know that they’re doing good work and allow me to ask intelligent questions if I see them deviating from the expected). Using the Husky height target for the ball receiver & WD bars resulted in the Ram being exactly where the manual instructed for front/rear wheel well variance on hitched/unhitched. We’ve towed 3,000 miles since July ’19, have a 4,500 mile trip planned for late spring/early summer and at this point I see no reason to upgrade a hitch that’s worked flawlessly for us.

I will confess that the Ram’s easy towing performance has had me thinking about a bigger trailer... our ultra-lite has a Murphy bed in the front behind/over the couch and having a real bedroom AND a couch would be really nice! While we’d be fine with something weighing another 1,500 to 2,000#, I’m not willing to add 8-10’ to the length. I’m sure many of you could direct me to a 27-28’ option, but I’m pretty persnickety about my bathroom and while the TT is modest in size, the bathroom has enough room to spread out and take care of business! Guess my philosophy is towing what’s needed, not necessarily what’s ’wanted’.
 

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