Just did my 4th trip towing with the Hensley Arrow. Hadn't had any issues at all until I pulled the toy hauler back to the storage facility to put it away. I stopped at the gate to enter the security code, when I took off, there was a horrible screaching noise comming from the hitch. This continued for 100 feet or so until I stopped again. This noise continued all the way to un-hitching. has anyone had this issue with their Hensley Arrow? Maybe time to re-grease the bars where they attach to the hitch head? Re-grease the ball? Any information/hints are appreciated!
2012 Ford F-250 Super Duty Crew Cab 4X4 6.7L PSD
2009 Jayco Octane ZX 26Y
Hensley Arrow
TPLynch wrote: Just did my 4th trip towing with the Hensley Arrow. Hadn't had any issues at all until I pulled the toy hauler back to the storage facility to put it away. I stopped at the gate to enter the security code, when I took off, there was a horrible screaching noise comming from the hitch. This continued for 100 feet or so until I stopped again. This noise continued all the way to un-hitching. has anyone had this issue with their Hensley Arrow? Maybe time to re-grease the bars where they attach to the hitch head? Re-grease the ball? Any information/hints are appreciated!
Since you did not get a response, you might want to post over at the Airstream forum. Those boys all run HA's.
I think you need to supply a bit more information. Did the screeching only happen during turns or was it a continuous sound, even when going straight? Have you figured out why it only started when you stopped to open the gate, or could it have started earlier only you didn't hear it? What kid of screech is it?
There are only two possibilites as far as I know. It could have been the WD bars where they insert into the hitch head which need grease. However those bars would not start making loud noised all of a sudden in my opinion. This is the most likely place to start looking though.
The second place could be the jack pivot points. Those small rods have quite a lot of pressure on them and get quite a bit of movement. I can see some noise coming from there if they are dry but not really a loud screech - maybe a small squeal.
I doubt very much if the noise came from the bearings in the hitch head. Those are usually loaded up pretty well with grease, are somewhat sealed and should not become dry enough to make any noise. Might be worth popping the covers off though to take a look.
Nothing else moves (except a very small amount of movement at the ball when the truck/trailer up/down attitude changes. I can't see any noise coming from there though.
The only other possibility, as I see it, is that something broke. I would examine the hitch very carefully and see that everything looks ok. If you are not familiar with what the hitch looks like inside, take a look at this post that I made when I re-built my Hensley the winter before last.
Hope this helps you out. Please let us know what you find.
Barney
2004 Sunnybrook Titan 30FKS TT
Hensley "Arrow" 1400# hitch
2002 Ford F250 Super Duty, 7.3L PSD Visit our website here
IMHO. I would call Hensley and talk to the tech department. Something is not right and it could be something super simple or something bad wrong.
If you don't get a satisfactory response from Hensley I would call Sean at ProPride. Either should be willing to help something that can be a major safety issue.
If the linkage is broke or about to break you will be dealing with uncontrollable sway due to the multiple pivot points that you will have.
I would not tow until you have isolated what the variance is making the noise.
Please post back and let us know how this turns out.
Thanks!
TT: 1995 Layton 2910
Tow Vehicle: 1999 F-350, v10, 2wd, Crew Cab, Dually
Hitch: Draw-Tite Trunnion WD Hitch
Sway Control: Valley dual friction sway control
Brake Control: Tekonsha Voyager
"It's Kind of Fun To Do The Impossible"
~Walt Disney~
Thanks for the replies. I don't know when the noise started. I only had my truck window down so I could enter the gate code at the rv storage facility, that's when I first heard it. I first heard the noise when pulling away after the gate opened. It was a constant screeching/grinding kind of noise. It reminded me of my Equalizer hitch when it would make noises while turning. I haven't had time to check it out yet, but, I'm going to grease the the bars where they enter the hitch head, grease the pivot points of the jacks, and re-tighten everything. Guess that's all I can do. I already visually looked it over and all seems to be in place.
TPLynch wrote: Thanks for the replies. I don't know when the noise started. I only had my truck window down so I could enter the gate code at the rv storage facility, that's when I first heard it. I first heard the noise when pulling away after the gate opened. It was a constant screeching/grinding kind of noise. It reminded me of my Equalizer hitch when it would make noises while turning. I haven't had time to check it out yet, but, I'm going to grease the the bars where they enter the hitch head, grease the pivot points of the jacks, and re-tighten everything. Guess that's all I can do. I already visually looked it over and all seems to be in place.
Just got off the phone with the Hensley tech department. They seriously doubt it's the hitch that's making the noise, to which I agree. They seem to think it is something on the trailer itself, i.e, brakes, bearings, etc. I don't know how long the noise was going on or when it started. I was comming home from a trip that was all highway miles, only stopped for gas, so I didn't hear anything during the trip. I couldn't isolate it after getting home because I was by myself, only heard it from the drivers seat while driving. Guess I need to hook up the trailer and have some one walk beside me and see if they can tell where the noise is comming from.
When I bought my arrow, they said to grease it every 500 miles. That ends up being about every 3 trips. Also, have you adjusted the over-center latches? They do loosen up a bit and if not tight, the hitch bar ( ungreased ) can slide around in the hitch. No noise so far. Are you sure it is the hitch and not the spring shackles under the trailer. I was surprised how much noise went away after changing to wet bolts and an e-z flex.
I agree with the Hensley rep also now that you have clarified what you were doing when you heard the noise. It sounds to me like you were going relatively straight after opening the gate. There would be no movement in the hitch while going in a straight line and therefore it could not be the source of the noise. Probably a brake, wheel bearing, or suspension part in my opinion.
Barney
OK, hoping to solve the noise problem, I believe I did. Before hooking up, I greased the wedges on the stinger. Thinking back during hook up for the trip on which I heard the noise, I don't think I was aggressive enough when backing the stinger into the hitch head. I now remember when I engaged the OCL's, the stinger slid in a little more once they were secured. Tonight, I was definitely more aggressive and got the stinger all the way in. I've also been struggling with the OCL's somewhat in past hook ups. Sometimes they were very hard to latch, sometimes too easy. I always had to either turn them in or out in order to get them to latch. This time they actually felt like a vice grip. Possibly, the OCL's being to hard to latch during prior hook ups was due to not having the stinger far enough into the hitch head. Finally, I greased the bars through the zerk fittings until the grease came out of the bottom where they enter. I did this at initial installation, perhaps it was time to re-grease. I did clean off alot of dirty grease from the outside, around the bars where they enter the hitch head. It may be possible that the initial grease had worked its way out of the hitch head. Anyway, I towed it for an hour and the hitch absolutely made zero noise. I don't know if it was one thing I did or a combination of all of them. I'm new to the hensley, so, guess I need to keep up on the reccomandations of applying grease and re-tightening it. Thanks for the helpful inputs.
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