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Old 02-24-2017, 12:58 AM   #1
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ProPride3 1400 - If you own it, do you like it?

The ProPride 3 will cost us $2595. with free shipping, pricey. But I want to be SAFE not scared. Besides, my husband and I are new to RVing and just starting out with our 2015 Ram 2500 / long box. We have the rear axle air suspension system option on our Ram. I don't know if that was such a good idea.

We will be towing a 2017 Rockwood Ultralite 2906ws. All the RV salespeople push the Equalizer, since they sell them and that's what my husband has heard is the best..

My husband will be doing the driving and the Pro Pride sounds like it would make driving and towing a lot easier on him.

Please share your thoughts from the road if you own the ProPride3. I need some feedback to win him over to getting the ProPride. Thanks!

Judy in Vegas
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Old 02-24-2017, 02:41 AM   #2
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Welcome to the forum Judy. I have heard nothing but good on the ProPride hitch, the air suspension will come in handy from time to time. I have the after market Firestone air bag and I run about 20 lbs of air in mines just to give it a little more stability but since he have a good hitch he should be good to go.
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Old 02-24-2017, 05:02 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Judygo View Post
We have the rear axle air suspension system option on our Ram. I don't know if that was such a good idea.
Au contraire, the OE air suspension is an excellent idea. The ProPride hitch (the other Hensley) is a well respected piece of kit. But you're correct - it's gawd awful expensive. We'd considered it a number of yrs ago given that we're maxed out as regards the TV's capacity, but have since been quite satisfied with a Reese Dual Cam system. I dare to suggest that the ProPride might be overkill in your case and that the Equal-i-zer system would be more than adequate for your needs. However, at the end of the day, you need to feed your own individual comfort factor.

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Old 02-24-2017, 05:53 AM   #4
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Yep, I agree with Kandl it might be an overkill, you can save the leftover money to buy more mod for the TT.
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Old 02-24-2017, 01:11 PM   #5
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ProPride

I have had one over 10 years and would not have anything else. Virtually eliminates the sway. Before it was scary when buses and 18 wheelers passed me. When I upgraded to my 35' trailer, as part of the deal I had the dealer transfer the ProPride to my new TT. Love it. Safety and peace of mind are priceless.
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Old 02-24-2017, 01:18 PM   #6
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The Propride is an awesome hitch and makes towing 9,000% easier, absolute night and day difference. Yes, it's a sizable investment, but I got over 60% back when I sold it used (recently purchased a MH).
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Old 02-24-2017, 01:48 PM   #7
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I used to have the Equalizer before moving up to a 5th wheel. I never experienced any sway at all. As for trucks/busses passing me, seldom did I feel any "push" against the trailer.
Not bashing pro pride, but the difference in cost to me adds up to a lot of camping nights or toys.
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Old 02-24-2017, 02:26 PM   #8
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Yes you will like the Air bags on the ram, I have a set on my 2001 F250 that I used to hook to a 30' gooseneck trailer and pull a dozer and backhoe with. Made alot of difference. They will smooth the ride out and the truck will not buck so much. I would run 60 PSI in my air bags.
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Old 02-24-2017, 03:36 PM   #9
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I've had a Hensley Arrow for 4 years, probably 20,000 miles towing, and would not tow my 35' - or anything else - without it. I've heard that the ProPride is even better. Bite the bullet and do it!
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Old 02-24-2017, 06:32 PM   #10
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Over 40 for a TV and 30 for a TT the price for one of these hitches to complete the rig is not bad.
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Old 02-24-2017, 07:22 PM   #11
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Three u-tubes about hitches and some info from an engineering study. All hitches except for ProPride and Hensley are ball mounts and will act like the first example under the "wrong" conditions. Your money, your choice. I tow with a ProPride - didn't pay shipping, I live close to their location (Flint Mich) and picked it up.

Tongue weight and sway


Utube of Lego Hensley Hitch


ProPride Example


In the following: Snaking = Sway, Stabilizer = Friction Anti-Sway hitch.

THE DYNAMICS OF TOWED VEHICLES
An experimental study into caravan snaking
Christopher J Killer
for the degree of MEng of the University of Bath

As mentioned in 2.2.7.1, anti-snaking devices incorporating a friction damper at the tow ball provide a fixed level of coulomb friction. This means that there is a constant level of energy dissipation per oscillation cycle, which implies that the equivalent linear damping decreases as the amplitude increases. There is a clear danger here, that the friction level will be sufficient for low amplitude stability but insufficient for high amplitude stability. The possibility arises that the coupled combination will become unstable as an immediate consequence of a particular disturbance. It can be expected that the driver’s control behaviour will be based on experience of small amplitude oscillations, so sudden larger-amplitude oscillations following a chance disturbance will be hazardous, there being no guarantee of the driver’s behaviour being sympathetic to the situation.

However, the results were still consistent with the above theory, which indicates that the stabiliser is an unsatisfactory anti-snaking device in the long term.
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Old 02-24-2017, 08:34 PM   #12
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Once upon a time, I had a Hensley Hitch which was already attached to a used Airstream TT that I bought from it's previous owner. Although it performed well in combination with my F150, I always thought it was overkill and a real PIA to get backed up and hitched. No room for error and that bad boy really added to the tongue
weight. Now use a Reese Dual Cam setup with my Flagstaff 831IKBS with no sway or problems and a whole lot easier to hitch up. I let the Hensley hitch go along with the sale of the Airstream. IMHO....both were well built but overrated.
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Old 02-24-2017, 10:13 PM   #13
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I always thought it was overkill and a real PIA to get backed up and hitched. No room for error and that bad boy really added to the tongue weight.
If you have a backup camera on your truck, hooking up is piece of cake. Camera guides you in, stop when you are a couple inches out, jump out and adjust the height of the trailer to match the truck (stinger slides into the hitch), jump back in the truck and backup the rest of the distance. Then finish the hitching process.
It took me two one destination trips to get my routine set. I now hitch-up, by myself, in under 5 minutes.
One hint, put a thin coat of grease on the part of the stinger that goes into the hitch. I keep everything clean by putting a plastic bag over the greased end of the stinger when I unhitch and take it back off after putting the stinger into the truck receiver. Easy-Peasy.

I've seen a number of posts by folks who don't have a camera. They either use the yellow ball guides or a mirror to achieve the same result.

Stinger is stored in one of the trailer bays when I'm not towing.
FWIW, because the trailer cannot induce sway, I think you can load your trailer to keep tongue weight at the low end of the standard 10-15% range. So, I'm not worried about the extra weight of the hitch.
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Old 02-25-2017, 05:42 AM   #14
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The first thing we did when we upgraded our camper from a Trail Manor to a Surveyor 291 was to get a ProPride hitch. We towed the trailer with a Dodge Durango R/T and even though the Durango was past its towing limits we never felt unsecured when towing. The ProPride kept everything inline even when going down the I95 corridor from Philadelphia to Virginia Beach. We just upgraded our TV to a Titan XD not because we didn't feel save with the Durango but because we could use a truck for other things. I highly recommed the ProPride to anyone even though is a lot pricier than many other ones. For us was more of a safety thing more that the money.
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Old 02-26-2017, 01:34 AM   #15
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Thanks for all the great replies! I ordered the ProPride

I really appreciate the feedback on the air suspension option on our 2015 Ram 2500. We do have the Furrion backup/observation cameras so I see that will help with hitching up, too.

I went with ProPride3 1400 after I got a mental picture of how it tows a TT like a 5thW. The PP3 attaches to the area where the truck rear axle is, kinda like a ball hitch under the truck so it's more like a single unit the way a 5th wheel pulls. I guess we'll see once it arrives and we install it. We still have to take it to Camper World in Vegas for the Forest River warranty check.

My husband will be doing the driving once we get going. Knowing he'll be able to drink some coffee without white knuckling if it's windy or tense road conditions is worth the money to me.

Has anyone ever heard of a TT flipping with a ProPride3??

Judy in Vegas
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Old 02-26-2017, 04:53 AM   #16
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hensley

I just purchased a Hensley reconditioned for $1895 with lifetime warranty. Virtually the same hitch as pro pride. (both invented by Jim Hensley)

I recently drove my neighbors 20 year old travel trailer with a 20 year old hensley and could not believe the difference from my reese useless sway bar control hitch.

With his hitch it seemed as though there was a 24 inch diameter log starting at the rear bumper of the trailer and extending to the front bumper of the truck. That describes how solid the setup feels.
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Old 02-26-2017, 11:59 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Judygo View Post
Has anyone ever heard of a TT flipping with a ProPride3??

Judy in Vegas
I haven't seen any posts saying this happened.
I've only come across a couple of posts where people had problems with the hitches. One was a weld failure, but I don't remember seeing what the diagnosis was of the cause. The other was a guy who put his safety chains on incorrectly - definite user error. That caused a major failure, though as I recall, the manuacturer replaced the damaged parts for the cost of shipping. Your safety chains should hang free, underneath the hitch, I think he had them above the sway bars.
As a thought, ask this question on the Airstream forum. You can get a membership there even if you don't have an Airstream, I have one, or just browse the forumns - look at the htiches and tow vehicle forum. Seems like those folks are more likely to have either a HA or PP hitch. Might be because their trailers are more expensive, they are more willing to spend more on a good hitch to pull them.
In any case there are two very long threads, one for for each of these two hitch manufacturers plus a number of shorter one. LOTS of good info on setting up and using them.
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Old 02-26-2017, 12:35 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Judygo View Post
I really appreciate the feedback on the air suspension option on our 2015 Ram 2500. We do have the Furrion backup/observation cameras so I see that will help with hitching up, too.

I went with ProPride3 1400 after I got a mental picture of how it tows a TT like a 5thW. The PP3 attaches to the area where the truck rear axle is, kinda like a ball hitch under the truck so it's more like a single unit the way a 5th wheel pulls. I guess we'll see once it arrives and we install it. We still have to take it to Camper World in Vegas for the Forest River warranty check.

My husband will be doing the driving once we get going. Knowing he'll be able to drink some coffee without white knuckling if it's windy or tense road conditions is worth the money to me.

Has anyone ever heard of a TT flipping with a ProPride3??

Judy in Vegas
The ProPride does not attach to the truck except at receiver hitch via the stinger, just like any other hitch does. Its handles "like a 5er" because of the mechanics involved in hitch design. It moves the theoretical pivot point to the rear axle of truck.

That's not has important as how it will feel driving down the road. Which will feel incredible!

If you use common sense accidents are less likely to happen. Allowing a lot more space between other vehicles. Driving at moderate speeds for giving conditions. (rain, high winds, construction zones, heavy traffic, cornering speeds etc.)
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Old 03-07-2017, 09:05 AM   #19
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...I've only come across a couple of posts where people had problems with the hitches. One was a weld failure, but I don't remember seeing what the diagnosis was of the cause...
That was us. It happened after a 2-month, 11,000 km trip from Ottawa to Vancouver island, out through Canada and back through the US. And it happened a few hundred metres from home.





The diagnosis was a faulty weld. Sean Woodruff, president of the company, assured us that it had never happened before and promptly sent us a replacement. I have towed tens of thousands of kilometres since and I continue to have complete faith in the hitch.

It really does completely eliminate sway. Backing up, hitching and unhitching is no more trouble than with a ball-and-coupler hitch.

You can read about our installation and experiences at Mods - Propride 3P 1400 Hitch.
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Old 03-07-2017, 07:33 PM   #20
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That was us. It happened after a 2-month, 11,000 km trip from Ottawa to Vancouver island, out through Canada and back through the US. And it happened a few hundred metres from home.





The diagnosis was a faulty weld. Sean Woodruff, president of the company, assured us that it had never happened before and promptly sent us a replacement. I have towed tens of thousands of kilometres since and I continue to have complete faith in the hitch.

It really does completely eliminate sway. Backing up, hitching and unhitching is no more trouble than with a ball-and-coupler hitch.

You can read about our installation and experiences at Mods - Propride 3P 1400 Hitch.
Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge. The link you provided is a wealth of information. I am within a couple weeks of placing my order and people like you reinforce that decision.
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