3P hitch. Is it worth it after a few thousand miles?
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- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2024
- I've pulled our camper a couple thousand miles with the ProPride 3P sway elimination hitch so it's time for a follow up. Nothing ground breaking to report as my thoughts are the same now as they were on my very first outing with the hitch. It does what it's supposed to do, which is eliminate sway. Don't confuse sway with push. Push is when the tow vehicle and trailer move together from a "push" of wind. Sway is when the trailer moves independently of the tow vehicle and can get out of hand quickly.
3P hitch: store.propride...
That’s a good hitch, but I think what helped you out just as much is stepping up to the F250. We started off with a 1/2 ton for our first travel trailer and we had the Equalizer hitch. The next season I stepped up to a Ram 2500 CTD and it was like night and day with the handling and stability. It the P3 is a great hitch and will last you a lifetime. Thanks for sharing.
Truck has NO affect on sway. Niether do tires. Ive had half ton fords and rams. 1 ton cummins ram aswell. ALL pulled trailers with sway. The 1 thing that matters most? Hitch weight, MUST be 10-15% period. Without this, truck doesnt matter
Never fails! Always windy on travel days. We joke that we purchased the “Wind Package” with our 32 foot heartland Pioneer kite I mean camper
Hahaa... I can definitely predict when wind gusts will be at its highest, far more accurate than the weather report. It's simple: it'll be the days I plan on having the trailer on the road!
I think a lot of people also think that a F150 or similar truck can pull larger campers, not realizing that truck weight has a lot to pulling a trailer safely. I see it here in Colorado of underpowered and light weight vehicles getting into trouble pulling trailers way too big for mountain driving. Anyway, happy camping!!! Always tough to put it away for the season.
Our truck payload was the limiting factor on the 150, as mentioned by others in the comments.
Wrong. Truck doesnt matter if trailer is loaded wrong. Period
You nailed it on the 3P hitch towing experience. We upgraded last fall from a popup towing with a Toyota Sequoia to a 25ft travel trailer. I hit a gust of wind on the way home from the dealership and it was an eye-opening experience towing my "kite/billboard". I started doing the same thing and researching anti-sway hitches and landed on the Hensley system and ultimately with the 3P hitch from ProPride. It made a huge difference for us. Same thing you described before with white knuckle driving in wind or a trailer truck passing by or us passing one. The day I finished up the installation on mine it was very windy, flags standing straight out and when you get to the top of the off-ramp the road signs were flapping back and forth. No problem towing with the 3P in those conditions. I described it to my neighbor, who has a longer TT, as a nudge on the shoulder vs. a gut punch with the wind. We are in the St. Louis MO area and took a trip to the Smoky Mountains this year. Broke it up into two stops on the way down but on the way back I felt comfortable doing the 10, or so, hours in one shot. I was not stressed by the towing at all. I can guarantee you I'd have been tensed up most of the time with our previous WDH hitch. After a couple of trips my neighbor was convinced to buy one and said the same thing. No I'm not sponsored by ProPride and I purchased my 3P hitch with my own money. :-) It's just that great of a product. Anyone researching hitches and 3P hitches it's a great investment and I would just plan on including purchasing one in my trailer purchase if I didn't already have one.
Is it fair to compare towing experiences when you changed from a 150 too a 250? I think the truck makes a case for improved control with any hitch system.. interested in your response to the ?
My pro pride 3p makes popping noises now and then. Don't know if this is normal or not.
Jay- how much squat in the rear were you able to eliminate with the P3 hitch?
How long did you use the F-150? That's what I have and just bought a PP3 was thinking about upgrading trucks
I pull a 42' 5th wheel so a big truck is a necessity. Moving to the F250 (3/4 ton) was a great move. Great video on the hitch. And yes, camping is fun. Just don't get to do enough. Consider yourself lucky your winter is only "2 months". Ours went in storage in November and out in April. Have a great winter.
I place a red Solo cup over the tow ball/stinger. Saves the need for spray paint and is also visible.
You're making lifelong memories for your family Jay! ❤❤❤❤
I agree that your hitch is the best, but upgrading from half-ton to f250 is a huge help also.
Great review. That new hitch looks beefy, safer and well worth the change. Seems like you probably would prefer real camping but went with what the family was more comfortable with. A 30' travel trailer is like taking a small house with you when leaving home. Funny to call it camping when bringing a home on wheels to a campsite. Always hear the horror stories regarding trailer sway and I'm glad you swapped the older hitch out. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this subject and how you made this change.
I am convinced that this hitch not only has prevented probably four complete disasters. It probably has saved my wife and my life. We have a 33 foot we were towing with a 2012 Ford expedition completely within our weight range. White knuckle every trip. Went up to a Dodge three-quarter ton four-wheel-drive diesel. Coming home on our last trip we almost wiped out between the wind coming off of tractor trailer and across wind. the hitch totally saved us. Best $3500 I have ever spent in my life and after using it would spend twice as much.
Jay I have a propride and it's an absolute freaking beast.. It's ain't cheap, but if it gets the white Knuckles away, it's definitely worth it. I did about 10,000 Mi this summer on hours and it performed flawlessly. I definitely recommend it to anyone I know. Buy once cry once
I started pulling my 30’ trailer with an F150 5l with a Blue Ox hitch. Same scenario,
including the wind travel direction scenario. The 150 “pulled” the trailer fine, but it did t “tow” it very well. I drove the whole trip using the trailer brakes to keep steady. I upgraded to a F250 6.7 l diesel, and problem solved. Readjusted the Blue Ox for the taller truck and bought a 2.5” receiver for the truck’s larger hitch. All is now good. Problem solved. Not enough truck at first for the “half-ton” trailer. Sales hype. More truck=elimination of sway.
I like the paint idea. I currently have 2 trailers temporarily. The 25’ has a Hensley and the 33’ came with the Propride. Both are great but each needs to be dialed in to work. I also believe that unless the trailer and tow vehicle are perfectly level and straight they are both a PITA to hitch up. By far the easiest to hitch is without a doubt a simple ball and coupler. But it offers no weight distribution or sway control.
Had that same feeling pulling my first camper, a 26 bunkhouse from the Interstate to my home. My wife decided then and there that this would become a "destination camper". Going forward a few years we purchased a 19' couples' camper and have since towed it a little over 1400 miles. I'm using a weight distribution system hitch with sway control and as long as I keep it at 60 or below, no problem, even with the single axle. my next towing vehicle will be an F-250 as the 150 with the 5 liter had a little trouble in the mountains of PA. If Igo to a larger camper, I will be looking into this type of hitch! Looking forward to your RV channel.
If you haven't already been or planned, check out Oak Mountain State Park in Bham, AL. Great, large family park with a bird sanctuary, petting farm, paddle boats, tons of trails, etc. B Loop has more wooded sites.
Also sad to hear you're putting it away for winter. We've done some fun trips when the kids were young in winter. Stone Mountain was the furthest north but still middle/lower AL and FL panhandle beaches have great parks!
Our family tows with 2 Hensleys and a propride.... wouldn't tow with anything else...
Thanks for sharing your experiences. We, too, went through the learning curve of towing rvs. Stepping from pop-up to hybrid and up to a 31' long rig very similar to yours. In each case we found that increasing the size of the tow vehicle greatly increased the comfort and safety of the pull. Even with a 3/4 ton pu pulling the 31 footer, weight and balance along with fine tuning the hitch settings made a world of difference not only in ride but fuel mileage as well.
I learned pretty quickly that it's not just pulling power but controlling and stopping that are most important. A 31' long kite behind a short wheel base Yukon is not an ideal combo. That is unless you're into thrill rides at a mile a minute. Btw, I found that it wasn't so much the big trucks that made me pucker but the wind off small suvs at passing at high speed that really pushed me sideways.
Looking forward to your new channel!
Head south to Florida. Temp here 5 PM 12/12: 69 ! Nelson's Fish Camp. Central FL!
Nice setup. Today’s half ton trucks with 400 horsepower can tow a BIG load. And if it isn’t windy and you are not in a hurry, everything can work out just fine. But when things get gnarly it’s really nice to be in a heavy duty truck.
We tow a 40 foot trailer with a one ton. I still use a propride too. I don't even feel like the trailer is back there.
Yep, we have had the Hensley hitch on our Airstream trailer for 15 years and love it. Little fiddly sometimes to hitch up but other wise great.
I have an F150 3.5 eb and the same trailer but with a slide. The Truck pulls easily no power issues, my payload on it is just under 2000lbs (more than I expected) anyways, The 3P is my next purchase for the trailer. Eventually when Im in the market I will get an F250..
Our f150 pulling was acceptable but not comfortable. The payload was our issue. Went over the scales after loaded, and we were a few hundred pounds over. We made that trip cautiously but being over payload is not something I want to continue doing with family on board.
From when I was 10 to about 18, we lived in a fifth wheel trailer. Front Truck bumper to trailer bumper was 53'. I definitely get it when you call it a kite.
Woah, that's a rig! We're around 45' currently.
I can see a fifth wheel in the future for you.