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Old 03-29-2019, 11:47 AM   #121
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jnfrombigt View Post
...Hensley designed hitches?...[
Yes I have. Huge upgrade over standard weight distributing hitches - no comparison. They are expensive, heavy, a little difficult to hook up at times, extend distance between vehicles around a foot, but wow do they work. I experience major sway first time out with new trailer on a lightweight 23 ft being pulled by a YUKON XL - just about lost everything!!! Trailer yanked the truck side to side at 60 mph so bad I could here the tires squeal each time! Went to the Hensley and never a sway again - even at 90 mph!
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Old 03-29-2019, 03:15 PM   #122
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Pardon me for asking, but why on earth would one tow at 90 mph?
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Old 03-29-2019, 03:29 PM   #123
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hbeer444 View Post
I experience major sway first time out with new trailer on a lightweight 23 ft being pulled by a YUKON XL - just about lost everything!!!

Which sounds like too light tongue weight and improperly loaded trailer.
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Old 03-29-2019, 03:37 PM   #124
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Originally Posted by rbryan4 View Post
Pardon me for asking, but why on earth would one tow at 90 mph?
Perhaps a glider?
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Old 03-29-2019, 04:13 PM   #125
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Originally Posted by MAD escape View Post
An air suspension will lift the back end of a light truck or SUV and impair the ability of the WDH to transfer load to the front axle.
That's simply not physically true. The load transfer depends on the degree of bending of the spring bars. You can set them to transfer load regardless of the suspension height. If the air suspension keeps the tug more consistently level, that means more consistent load transfer by the WDH.

As I have explained before, you do need to set it up correctly. Since very few WDH users do setup correctly, it's not surprising that many do not get the expected result.
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Old 03-29-2019, 05:03 PM   #126
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Quote:
Originally Posted by suncoastdancers View Post
Perhaps a glider?
Nope, towing speed is 70 mph

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Old 03-30-2019, 06:04 PM   #127
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I think you are correct - always had problems with that trailer swaying until the Hensley Hitch though.
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Old 03-31-2019, 08:16 AM   #128
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I would like to bring to everyone’s attention a video posted on youtube. It presents a very good discussion of load distribution using air bags verses a WDH. Here the authors have set up a tow vehicle and trailer on weigh scales to measure the actual weight shift for each method verses their base case - straight coupling. Their tests demonstrate just how much better the WDH is moving the trailer tongue weight both forward towards the front (steering) axle and back on the trailer axles. <
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Old 03-31-2019, 01:22 PM   #129
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Here’s a thread discussing the above video ...

http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f1...oad-10688.html
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Old 04-04-2019, 02:02 PM   #130
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When looking at your pictures, I would question if you were properly hooked to your trailer? The receiver looks to be still securely hooked to your tv and the hitch has come off the ball. The safety pin looks to be in the hitch locking it in place. If this is so, the only way they could have separated would be for something to have broken that we can't see in the photos or it wasn't hooked up properly.
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Old 04-04-2019, 03:47 PM   #131
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marlene View Post
When looking at your pictures, I would question if you were properly hooked to your trailer? The receiver looks to be still securely hooked to your tv and the hitch has come off the ball. The safety pin looks to be in the hitch locking it in place. If this is so, the only way they could have separated would be for something to have broken that we can't see in the photos or it wasn't hooked up properly.
Yes, we covered that earlier...

Quote:
Originally Posted by War Eagle View Post
I think you are lucky the coupler separated from the ball so that your tow vehicle didn't flip with the camper. From the photos, since the ball is still intact on your tow vehicle, and the coupler fastener on the trailer tongue appears to still be locked in the closed position, did you have a chance to inspect the coupler to see what bent or broke or whatever to allow the locked trailer coupler to separate from the tow vehicle ball? Just curious where the "weak link" was in a situation like this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian B-P View Post
Either the jaw bent, or the coupler housing spread enough to let the ball out. I don't know that it really matters, though, since the whole hitch system is not intended to be capable of allowing this much rotation, and there is no requirement in the standards (the old VESC V-5 or the current SAE J684) to test for any degree of strength when jammed past the rotation limit.
The coupler is clearly visibly bent.

It's hard to imagine what one could do to improperly connect the coupler, yet have the latch down and have the coupler hold on so well that the trailer turning over twisted the coupler.
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Old 04-04-2019, 05:00 PM   #132
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marlene View Post
or it wasn't hooked up properly.
If you have a bit of experience with metals and high loads you'll soon learn about plastic deformation etc. Put enough load on the locking plate and the ball's going to come out no matter how securely it seemed to be locked in place.

The event was a high energy one and it's no surprise that the two parts separated. I think that speculation that it wasn't hooked up properly isn't required.

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Old 04-04-2019, 06:02 PM   #133
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Escape uses couplers that are not adjustable
As they do wear I do wonder why this type was selected
This has been a concern of mine
I plan on cutting mine off and replacing with an adjustable couple in the future
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Old 04-04-2019, 06:13 PM   #134
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Accident Reconstructiin

Over the years I had close and regular contact with two law enforcement officers who were trained in accident reconstruction. I learned it is a tedious and exacting science married to hundreds of variables in many cases. Most surely a few pictures on an Internet feed are helpful but hardly enough to determine all the forces in play and can’t show or explain the on site variables at the time of the accident. My takeaway from this accident is that I will not be without a properly installed and hooked up WDH and that my driving speed will remain at about 62 MPH. I’ll trust the metallurgy in the hitch and the manufacturer of the trailer and tow vehicle as i have in the past. I’m very glad fellow Escape owners were not badly hurt or worse.
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Old 04-04-2019, 07:13 PM   #135
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vanover69 View Post
Escape uses couplers that are not adjustable
As they do wear I do wonder why this type was selected
This has been a concern of mine
I plan on cutting mine off and replacing with an adjustable couple in the future
I believe Escapes couplers are adjustable and the play on the 2" ball can be eliminated via an adjusting nut on the coupler.
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Old 04-04-2019, 07:43 PM   #136
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vanover69 View Post
Escape uses couplers that are not adjustable
As they do wear I do wonder why this type was selected
This has been a concern of mine
I plan on cutting mine off and replacing with an adjustable couple in the future
The yoke-style couplers (of any brand) are not adjustable, and I don't think they need to be. The Bulldog forged couplers (which have an enthusiastic fan base) are also not adjustable. Tow the trailer for a few decades, then if the jaw has worn enough to be an issue cut it off and put on another one. The typical cheap adjustable coupler is always out of adjustment, so properly built and non-adjustable is probably safer and more reliable.

The coupler in this case held against so much force that the coupler body was substantially bent by the twisting trailer. I have zero concern with the coupler's strength or functionality.

Quote:
Originally Posted by cpaharley2008 View Post
I believe Escapes couplers are adjustable and the play on the 2" ball can be eliminated via an adjusting nut on the coupler.
While different couplers may have been used in the past, the ones I've seen on Escapes and the one on the trailer in this incident are the non-adjustable yoke type.
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Old 04-04-2019, 07:48 PM   #137
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When I say adjustable, I mean there is a nut that loosens or tightens the jaws that grab the ball.
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Old 04-04-2019, 08:23 PM   #138
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cpaharley2008 View Post
When I say adjustable, I mean there is a nut that loosens or tightens the jaws that grab the ball.
There is no nut for adjustment. I posted a thread in June 2016 about my coupler yoke raising with the pin in. People here were skeptical yet it happened 3-4 times. I replaced it with the Atwood I thought the original was, but in reality is a RAM which is made in China.

Looking forward to a report from accident investigation.
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Old 04-04-2019, 11:44 PM   #139
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Originally Posted by cpaharley2008 View Post
When I say adjustable, I mean there is a nut that loosens or tightens the jaws that grab the ball.
But there isn't one. In any of these yoke-style couplers, the jaw slides forward into position under the ball, pulled by the yoke that wraps around the front. There's no adjustment of the yoke, and no way to adjust the jaw relative the yoke (there's just a pin connecting them. The visible bolt head which slides in a slot on the top of the coupler in some variations holds the jaw up against the coupler body - no adjustment. See Coupler not uncoupling on 21' - post #19 - for a previous discussion of this.

Some Escapes have been equipped with other types of coupler, but the photos in the first post of this thread show a yoke-style coupler.

From another previous discussion:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian B-P View Post
In the many discussions of hitching and unhitching issues, this (or something very similar) is the coupler which is normally identified as recently (for several years) used by Escape:
A-Frame Trailer Coupler - Yoke Latch - Black - 2" Ball - Weld On - 8,000 lbs
That eTrailer listing shows the jaw underneath in open and closed positions.
I'm sure that neither coupler adjustment (because it's not possible) or condition (wear or otherwise) was an issue in any way in this incident.
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Old 04-05-2019, 07:35 AM   #140
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Might of missed it but question to OP. What is camping world saying about saving and repairing your escape. Again so glad y’all are ok. Plastic and metal can easily be replaced you cannot.
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