After watching this, you’ve definitely earned our subscription. Thank you so much for taking the time to put this information out there. Know it’s appreciated.
This has been the most helpful video on making a decision about purchasing a ProPride. I was on the fence and looking at purchasing the Weigh-Safe instead. I'm so glad I came across your video. Also, Go Blue!
Hey Jay Bates, amazing video on the ProPride 3P® Hitch! We’d like to use it in a review ad and give you full credit. Let us know if you’re up for it. Thanks!
Great video, thanks. A small correction: the friction type sway controls do make it harder for sway to start because static friction is present. But once sway starts, the coefficient of friction is reduced (kinetic vs static), thus the sway control is reduced and can get out of hand. Also, a quick tip: if your trailer starts to sway too much, bring on the trailer brakes and slightly depress the accelerator pedal. This will correct the sway. If you decel with the truck, you could/will make the sway worse and wreck. Think pulling a rope from its two ends vs pushing the two ends together.
Agreed on the way to stop the sway, "when in doubt throttle out" and just dab the trailer brakes a time or two. Once I figured that out and practiced reaching for the brake control in the dark it became pretty natural. Usually just dabbing the trailer brake when a semi is beside the trailer is all it takes.
Thanks so much for the video. Been debating going from blue ox to pro pride as well. Wish I'd have made the jump before all the inflation, these went way up in price.
1st time ive watched your site Great video I have a blue ox now and I have been dealing with trl sway and have been watching videos on propride 3p can't wait for your follow up video please add some time on the disconnect process
On your trip to Sardis, you drove right thru where my house I grew up in (as a teenager) used to be. The westbound lane of Hwy 82 goes thru it. Between Tomnolen and Stewart (about halfway) is a creek named Calabrella (pronounced Cullabeda). Go across that bridge and at the top of the small hill coming out of the creek bottom is where my house used to be. Great place to grow up. Eupora is where I went to HS from '78 to '82. They four-laned 82 back in the late 90's sometime (maybe early 2000's). You currently live in Mathiston looks like. How a guy from Michigan ended up in Mathiston is probably a good story LOL.
Don't sweat it. Seriously. Every one of us has "I wish" moments with TT. Everything from towing capacity of the tow vehicle, camper floor plans, what stuff to bring along. Nobody has the answers at first. But we all got travel trailers so that we could travel and make memories. Don't get caught up in the what-if's. Travel and the changes will come and pass. Have fun!
Having experience with this hitch. When you torque down the stinger bolts you want the bolt to spin and the nut to stay still. If you are turning the NUT you will open the split washer and it won't completely stay under the nut. I have RAS is my garage waiting on an install. Good info!
Excellent video. We don’t have our travel trailer yet. But I’ve been researching hitch systems. The Blue ox was at the top of my list. I thought the pro pride was to expensive and some what of a gimmick. Your video has me rethinking things. I do have the same tow vehicle.
The torque page is interesting. It looks like they've lowered the torque on the 3/4" yoke bolts to 60lb. The propride videos with the v1 jacks say to tighten those to 250 ft/lb!
My brain says no to the go in the heat, it’s scary because it’s so hot here in SC. Be sure you have all the tools to make minor repairs, change a tire, replace a bulb etc. before you travel. Spare tires are a given but most never think about a set of bearings or a whole hub for the trailer axle(s). Spare safety pin for the hitch and a fire extinguisher. I carry a laser temp tester to check the temps on wheel bearing and tires. My 3/4 ton uses a weight distribution hitch but with chains instead of an L bracket like you had. No issues with the push pull problems you experienced.
great video. did you say you routed the brake away cable through the safety chain. do not recommend doing that should be separate if a break away happens may not activate
Very Nice presentation, in a few mo I may be getting camper about the same size as your, I have a 250 ford. But I really don't think that will make a difference in your presentation. I will look into the 3P, I think I might have seen a few of your wood working videos, I do wood working as well. Good luck camping.
I literally went through this exact same scenario. I used to drive commercially pulling gooseneck trailers and heavy equipment so i was familiar with towing very large and heavy things behind a truck. Fast forward 15 years i bought a travel trailer that is similar to yours at 30.6ft ball to bumper with a GVWR of 7600lbs. My truck was a 2020 Silverado 1500 with max towing at 9400lbs. I made the same mistake of telling the salesman yea just put on the wd hitch yall sell because i dont have one. $1200 later i had a similar one to yours original hitch and the sway and truck-suck as ive seen it called was horrible....I ended up buying the same 3P ProPride hitch as you and it was worlds better at actually controlling the sway. I didnt 100% remove the truck-suck but its about 90% there..Then after a few months i decided i didnt want to tear up my truck since i was at the max payload and close to max tow ratings and it still didnt drive as good as i wanted it to. So i ordered 3500 (1 Ton) truck and have had it for a few months now. I immediately pulled the ProPride hitch off the TT and pulled the trailer with no WD at all and its just as good or better than with all the extra WD equipment on the truck/trailer. Long story short, this is an excellent WD hitch when you need it on lighter tow vehicles, not needed really for a heavy duty 2500/2500 truck. So ill probably be selling now both of my WD hitches in the near future.
We beg to differ...WD, it's always a good idea. I've often heard people using a 3500 TV say... "it tows like it's not even there". Ideally not what you want, the truck solid and the trailer swaying like a drunken sailor. Disclaimer...17 Seasons with the Hensley Arrow PPP towing a 25 ft Airstream Classic with a 2500 8.1L Suburban. POI...DO NOT run the breakaway cable thru the safety chains, you want the trailer brakes to activate before the safety chains reach their maximum.
No on the mirrors but I have a camera on the back of the trailer. I've never used the backup dial feature. I understand how it can be helpful for some but once you learn to backup a trailer it's kinda pointless.
True. But how about that newer blue ox sway pro? It doesn't use friction. I would agree that the pro pride is THE pinnacle by a long shot, but I can buy four blue ox swaypros for the price of one propride. $3800 is a LOT to swallow for us poors. Lol
Reese strait line has always been my favorite. Read all directions before making your video. Learn also how to get out of a sway or jackknife situation with acceleration and manually braking the trailer.
Could you please clarify your tip and point us towards more info on that? It makes a lot of sense and could save my family's life as we travel all over this country. Thank you
Your presentation is very well done. great explanations for the seasoned and not so seasoned trailer owner.. What do you do for work.. are you in education? CUDO's to you
I normally don't comment on YT vids, however yours was very well put together. Thanks for the tips and perspective(s). As someone who is looking to purchase the P3 hitch, I look forward to your updated thoughts. What was your overall install time on the hitch? Our RV dealer is estimating 3-4 hours. Cheers!
3-4 hours sounds about right. It's always hard to give a time when recording stuff because constantly messing with the camera makes everything take longer than it should.
So we're not allowed to compare stuff based upon price? A 10" cabinet sawstop table saw with a safety feature vs a Grizzly 10" cabinet table saw without the safety feature can't be compared because of price? Got it. Thanks. Please let me know the pricing criteria so I can do better next time. I'd hate to go to a car lot and try to compare an F250 with a Ranger. They both tow stuff and haul stuff but I'd hate to waste time comparing them to see what one is better for my needs because of cost difference.
@@JayBates2 you're perfectly free to make any comparison you like. I'm just saying that comparing the most expensive (anything) to a budget version of the same type of thing is an unfair comparison when doing a "versus" video. Perhaps it's just that we have a different understanding of what the video was meant to convey. My expectation when seeing a "vs" video is that we're comparing things in the same class and price range. Perhaps if the video was more aptly titled "comparison of ....", the viewer would have a different expectation.
While the trucks tow rating is 10k, it's gvwr is probably 7k. You will exceed the trucks gvwr before ever getting close to the tow capacity. Marketing is crazy!
2016 F150 4x4 SuperCrew 5.0L, 5.5' bed with 3.73 rear axle ratio has a GVWR of 6350 with a curb weight of 4709. The tongue weight of the camper and hitch is about 650 pounds. GVWR of 6350 minus 4709 curb weight minus 650 tongue weight minus 327 of passenger weight leaves us with a cargo limit of 327 pounds in the truck when hitched up. The truck has a GCWR of 16,200 pounds and a Maximum Loaded Trailer Weight of 10,800 pounds. Kinda confusing but yeah, we're right on the limit.
@@JayBates2 Have you hit the scales yet? Make sure you get a truck only weight with a full tank of gas then with the trailer loaded with all your gear and empty tanks. See how close you get. My first RV setup was almost exactly the same as yours and yes, the first couple of times out were definitely white knuckle experiences. The number one recommendation I will make is simple. F-250 Diesel. Once you experience the diesel difference you'll never go back.
@@travisg1759 I have a F450 and tow a 38’ gooseneck weighed in at 31,990 leaving Alaska. Between the 6.7, the cruise and engine breaking very little foot break application occurred. Love the truck.
After watching this, you’ve definitely earned our subscription. Thank you so much for taking the time to put this information out there. Know it’s appreciated.
Better than the official 8 video instruction series from ProPride themselves.
Push vs. sway? Well explained!!!
This has been the most helpful video on making a decision about purchasing a ProPride. I was on the fence and looking at purchasing the Weigh-Safe instead. I'm so glad I came across your video. Also, Go Blue!
Well done, love my 3P! Pro tip lube your stinger slips in and out like butter! I use spray on white lithium
Hey Jay Bates, amazing video on the ProPride 3P® Hitch! We’d like to use it in a review ad and give you full credit. Let us know if you’re up for it. Thanks!
Great video, thanks. A small correction: the friction type sway controls do make it harder for sway to start because static friction is present. But once sway starts, the coefficient of friction is reduced (kinetic vs static), thus the sway control is reduced and can get out of hand.
Also, a quick tip: if your trailer starts to sway too much, bring on the trailer brakes and slightly depress the accelerator pedal. This will correct the sway. If you decel with the truck, you could/will make the sway worse and wreck. Think pulling a rope from its two ends vs pushing the two ends together.
Agreed on the way to stop the sway, "when in doubt throttle out" and just dab the trailer brakes a time or two. Once I figured that out and practiced reaching for the brake control in the dark it became pretty natural. Usually just dabbing the trailer brake when a semi is beside the trailer is all it takes.
What a superb informative vlog. Thank you.
Thanks so much for the video. Been debating going from blue ox to pro pride as well. Wish I'd have made the jump before all the inflation, these went way up in price.
1st time ive watched your site Great video I have a blue ox now and I have been dealing with trl sway and have been watching videos on propride 3p can't wait for your follow up video please add some time on the disconnect process
On your trip to Sardis, you drove right thru where my house I grew up in (as a teenager) used to be. The westbound lane of Hwy 82 goes thru it. Between Tomnolen and Stewart (about halfway) is a creek named Calabrella (pronounced Cullabeda). Go across that bridge and at the top of the small hill coming out of the creek bottom is where my house used to be. Great place to grow up. Eupora is where I went to HS from '78 to '82. They four-laned 82 back in the late 90's sometime (maybe early 2000's). You currently live in Mathiston looks like. How a guy from Michigan ended up in Mathiston is probably a good story LOL.
Really wish I seen this before buying my TT. I'm currently learning all this after the sale.
Don't sweat it. Seriously. Every one of us has "I wish" moments with TT. Everything from towing capacity of the tow vehicle, camper floor plans, what stuff to bring along. Nobody has the answers at first. But we all got travel trailers so that we could travel and make memories. Don't get caught up in the what-if's. Travel and the changes will come and pass. Have fun!
Having experience with this hitch. When you torque down the stinger bolts you want the bolt to spin and the nut to stay still. If you are turning the NUT you will open the split washer and it won't completely stay under the nut.
I have RAS is my garage waiting on an install.
Good info!
I've never heard of such a thing but I can picture it. Makes sense.
Excellent video. We don’t have our travel trailer yet. But I’ve been researching hitch systems. The Blue ox was at the top of my list. I thought the pro pride was to expensive and some what of a gimmick. Your video has me rethinking things. I do have the same tow vehicle.
The torque page is interesting. It looks like they've lowered the torque on the 3/4" yoke bolts to 60lb. The propride videos with the v1 jacks say to tighten those to 250 ft/lb!
Good video, thanks
My brain says no to the go in the heat, it’s scary because it’s so hot here in SC.
Be sure you have all the tools to make minor repairs, change a tire, replace a bulb etc. before you travel. Spare tires are a given but most never think about a set of bearings or a whole hub for the trailer axle(s). Spare safety pin for the hitch and a fire extinguisher. I carry a laser temp tester to check the temps on wheel bearing and tires.
My 3/4 ton uses a weight distribution hitch but with chains instead of an L bracket like you had. No issues with the push pull problems you experienced.
great video. did you say you routed the brake away cable through the safety chain. do not recommend doing that should be separate if a break away happens may not activate
First!
Totally not fair. The video wasn't published yet.
Just an FYI being first isn’t always the right choice 😉
Very Nice presentation, in a few mo I may be getting camper about the same size as your, I have a 250 ford. But I really don't think that will make a difference in your presentation. I will look into the 3P, I think I might have seen a few of your wood working videos, I do wood working as well. Good luck camping.
I love the dad jokes in your newsletter :)
I literally went through this exact same scenario. I used to drive commercially pulling gooseneck trailers and heavy equipment so i was familiar with towing very large and heavy things behind a truck. Fast forward 15 years i bought a travel trailer that is similar to yours at 30.6ft ball to bumper with a GVWR of 7600lbs. My truck was a 2020 Silverado 1500 with max towing at 9400lbs. I made the same mistake of telling the salesman yea just put on the wd hitch yall sell because i dont have one. $1200 later i had a similar one to yours original hitch and the sway and truck-suck as ive seen it called was horrible....I ended up buying the same 3P ProPride hitch as you and it was worlds better at actually controlling the sway. I didnt 100% remove the truck-suck but its about 90% there..Then after a few months i decided i didnt want to tear up my truck since i was at the max payload and close to max tow ratings and it still didnt drive as good as i wanted it to. So i ordered 3500 (1 Ton) truck and have had it for a few months now. I immediately pulled the ProPride hitch off the TT and pulled the trailer with no WD at all and its just as good or better than with all the extra WD equipment on the truck/trailer.
Long story short, this is an excellent WD hitch when you need it on lighter tow vehicles, not needed really for a heavy duty 2500/2500 truck. So ill probably be selling now both of my WD hitches in the near future.
We beg to differ...WD, it's always a good idea. I've often heard people using a 3500 TV say... "it tows like it's not even there".
Ideally not what you want, the truck solid and the trailer swaying like a drunken sailor.
Disclaimer...17 Seasons with the Hensley Arrow PPP towing a 25 ft Airstream Classic with a 2500 8.1L Suburban.
POI...DO NOT run the breakaway cable thru the safety chains, you want the trailer brakes to activate before the safety chains reach their maximum.
Did your F150 have the extendable tow mirrors from the factory? Also, do you find the backup "dial" feature on the F150 dash to be useful?
No on the mirrors but I have a camera on the back of the trailer. I've never used the backup dial feature. I understand how it can be helpful for some but once you learn to backup a trailer it's kinda pointless.
True. But how about that newer blue ox sway pro? It doesn't use friction. I would agree that the pro pride is THE pinnacle by a long shot, but I can buy four blue ox swaypros for the price of one propride. $3800 is a LOT to swallow for us poors. Lol
Reese strait line has always been my favorite. Read all directions before making your video. Learn also how to get out of a sway or jackknife situation with acceleration and manually braking the trailer.
Could you please clarify your tip and point us towards more info on that? It makes a lot of sense and could save my family's life as we travel all over this country. Thank you
Are those the newe V2 jack assemblies?
Did you consider the Andersen Weight Distribution Hitch?
Your presentation is very well done. great explanations for the seasoned and not so seasoned trailer owner.. What do you do for work.. are you in education? CUDO's to you
I normally don't comment on YT vids, however yours was very well put together. Thanks for the tips and perspective(s). As someone who is looking to purchase the P3 hitch, I look forward to your updated thoughts. What was your overall install time on the hitch? Our RV dealer is estimating 3-4 hours. Cheers!
3-4 hours sounds about right. It's always hard to give a time when recording stuff because constantly messing with the camera makes everything take longer than it should.
17 yrs with a Hensley PPP....install it yourself, it ain't hard. Plus you'll learn a LOT about its function and maintenance.
Blue Ox SwayPro works great for me. I see no need to pay all that money when sway is not a problem?
Cool. Like to do a sticker swap with you
This seems ridiculously complicated VS Gain. I am good with my Equalizer!
As someone who had an equalizer I can tell you there is zero comparison.
Comparing a $650 hitch to a $3800 hitch. Yeah, that seems fair.
So we're not allowed to compare stuff based upon price? A 10" cabinet sawstop table saw with a safety feature vs a Grizzly 10" cabinet table saw without the safety feature can't be compared because of price? Got it. Thanks. Please let me know the pricing criteria so I can do better next time. I'd hate to go to a car lot and try to compare an F250 with a Ranger. They both tow stuff and haul stuff but I'd hate to waste time comparing them to see what one is better for my needs because of cost difference.
@@JayBates2 you're perfectly free to make any comparison you like. I'm just saying that comparing the most expensive (anything) to a budget version of the same type of thing is an unfair comparison when doing a "versus" video. Perhaps it's just that we have a different understanding of what the video was meant to convey. My expectation when seeing a "vs" video is that we're comparing things in the same class and price range. Perhaps if the video was more aptly titled "comparison of ....", the viewer would have a different expectation.
Blue Ox didn't do anything for sway
While the trucks tow rating is 10k, it's gvwr is probably 7k. You will exceed the trucks gvwr before ever getting close to the tow capacity. Marketing is crazy!
2016 F150 4x4 SuperCrew 5.0L, 5.5' bed with 3.73 rear axle ratio has a GVWR of 6350 with a curb weight of 4709. The tongue weight of the camper and hitch is about 650 pounds. GVWR of 6350 minus 4709 curb weight minus 650 tongue weight minus 327 of passenger weight leaves us with a cargo limit of 327 pounds in the truck when hitched up. The truck has a GCWR of 16,200 pounds and a Maximum Loaded Trailer Weight of 10,800 pounds. Kinda confusing but yeah, we're right on the limit.
@@JayBates2 Have you hit the scales yet? Make sure you get a truck only weight with a full tank of gas then with the trailer loaded with all your gear and empty tanks. See how close you get.
My first RV setup was almost exactly the same as yours and yes, the first couple of times out were definitely white knuckle experiences.
The number one recommendation I will make is simple. F-250 Diesel. Once you experience the diesel difference you'll never go back.
@@JayBates2 did you account for fuel?
@@travisg1759 I have a F450 and tow a 38’ gooseneck weighed in at 31,990 leaving Alaska. Between the 6.7, the cruise and engine breaking very little foot break application occurred. Love the truck.
I haven't hit the scales yet. Nearest one is a half hour away. "soon" is what I keep saying.
All these thing are in the ProPride videos on youtube. you should have watched them.