It looks to me like your stinger, once installed in the truck’s receiver, is not level. In fact it appears to be angled upwards. It is designed so that you can adjust the angle but I suspect that you have installed the washers on the bottom rather than the top. If you have your stinger at the correct height and angle and your truck and trailer are on level ground then the stinger and the hitch should both be very close to level. If you stinger is angled upwards as it extends toward the trailer as yours appears to be then it will more easily bind or it will be more difficult to get the hitch head at the same angle. You do need to adjust the angle of the hitch head from time to time using the WD jacks but that is intended for uneven ground, not for level ground. On level ground the hitch head and the stinger should both be level or very close to it. Also, having the stinger angled up as you do reduces the effectiveness of the WD bars. A helpful image is to think of the WD bars as the handles of a wheelbarrow and the hitch head (the heavy part mounted on your trailer) as the bed of a wheelbarrow. As you raise the WD jacks up and down it is like you lifting up and down on the handles of a wheelbarrow. If you lift one side and not the other you will have the same effect as on a wheelbarrow. One side becomes a bit higher than the other. This may be useful if your truck is not level side to side. But for the most part those are not issues. Especially on mostly flat ground. It takes me about 2 mins when I am on level ground. It does take some practice to get the truck mostly lined up. But after a few trips it is not issue for me. I do highly suggest that when hitching up you relax the WD bars (lower the jacks) more than you might think. I find that this prevents the head from engaging the jacks and “binding up” while the stinger is being inserted. I also find that with the WD bars a bit more loose I can insert the stinger 3/4s of the way then use the OCLs to bring it on in the rest of the way. For unhitching, I have measured the top of the hitch receiver on my truck so I use the tongue to raise everything up so that the top of the receiver is at that height. Some people look for where the trailer coupler begins to separate from the ball on the hitch head. But once you are at the level it should slide out easily. Especially if you have loosened the WD bars. (Loosening the WD bars all the way will likely let the hitch head “fall” more than you want but it won’t break it.). Using a little WD40 or something similar - better something that doesn’t collect dirt - on the stinger can also help.
From watching this video, it was torture, this guy was so fixed on the height of the center mount instead of getting the stinger leveled and then putting his fingers under the coupler made me cringed, so unsafe. I don’t have a trailer nor a hitch yet but from watching many demos and installs this is so easy to set up. This guy needs to watch those other videos first and try again, and for god sakes get a rear camera install, this will make alignment of the stinger and the receiver much easier. I will be buying a Hensley Cub for mine when I get it. Have a good day everyone, enjoyed reading all of the comments.
Wouldn't let this guys video stop you from getting a propride. He makes things so difficult. My nephew has a Hensley and I have a ProPride Hitch. Side by side the ProPride looks much stronger. Very happy with my ProPride. Easy to hook up and unhitch. Just have to get the correct angles. Good Luck and happy camping!!
I have hitching up down to a couple of minutes now. The first suggestion is to use a dry spray lubricant inside the receiver - it helps take some of the friction away. Second suggestion is to get the stinger I as much as it will go. If it doesn’t go into the receiver fully don’t worry at this point - in general adjusting the jack towers will allow it to slide right in. It took me an hour or so the first couple of times hooking up - the frustration was incredible. There is a huge learning curve to the hitch - once you figure it out things go quickly.
If you watch the video at both the 15:20 mark and 15:35 the trailer coupler moves without the propride hitch moving. That is the the time when the pressure is released and time to pull forward. Your propride hitch height changes after hitching because you have moved your weight distribution changing the height of the box as well as the angle. Another tip I do is use my trailer brake controller to hold the camper while I pull out and before I hitch up I use a slide out spray and spray it in my 3p hitch
Ok, I don't have a P3, I have a Hensley. For unhitching - I do a couple things.... 1. Keep wheels chocked (swear by X-Chocks) so tongue jack doesn't slide off my block (when blocked), or bend if not blocked. 2. I adjust the Tongue jack to a position where I know the "at rest" height of my F150 - all I do is eyeball the distance from the top of my rear tire, to a prominent line (where the bed starts). If I were un-hitched, the body would line up with the "at rest" position of the top of my tire. I can't rely on measuring from hitch to ground - that's often unreliable on gravel/rock, or uneven TT and TV situations. 3. After removing safety chains, brake and power cables, releasing WD bar tension (completely), and unlocking the OCL's, I grab hold of one of the OCL bars and pull up/down and see if there's any give. I may need to roll the truck forward a tad to put "pull pressure" on the stinger. I then move the tongue up/down very slightly until jerking the OCL up/down shows freedom, or pops the stinger from the hitch receiver. Once that freedom happens, I know I can pull out. Works every time, stress-free for me! Hope that helps some...
Will be ordering this hitch, but this video was confusing. Perhaps it makes perfect sense to someone who already has the hitch, but if all the other ProPride related videos had been similar to this one, I would have been seriously rethinking about getting this hitch. I was just looking for videos on unhitching and this is the first one I came across.
This wasn't a "how to" video... I was asking for advice because it was so ridiculously hard to unhitch.... I found out that you needed to thoroughly lubricate the stinger before hitching to make it work normally.
The tapered design at the base of the stinger appears to allow for an inch or so of “wiggle room” when it comes to hitching and unhitching. However, this only really works if you have low friction between the stinger taper and the receiver on the trailer. As mentioned in other comments, I think lubrication - either dry or molybdenum - will reduce friction enough to allow the stinger to work as designed.
It looks like a level on top of the shank of the tow mount and the dome covering the ball on the towed vehicle would be the easiest way to get a repeatable reference regardless of terrain. Once you find the sweet spot you can shim the bar to be perfectly level. You should also be able to slide a feeler gauge between the top of the stinger and receiver as soon as the strain between these two points eases.
Like others told you and think you did do, lube the stinger. Also use the trailer brake, then no concerns with the trailer moving and hurting the jack. Per it feeling hard, that did not seem hard at all. While not the same level, wish I had a video of last time I had to slide the 5th wheel both in my pickup and the semi, now that can take some force to move. I am afraid your video will push too many away from a great hitch that ProPride is. Did you call Sean at ProPride for help? I know he is more than willing to help ProPride owners out.
We have a problem when unhitching our ProPride with our 2015 Ram 2500 using the Alt Trailer Height option. As hard as we try to have a smooth "unhitch" the back of our truck will occasionally "jump" up when we pull the stinger out. We've greased, made sure the bars are loose... but we still have the back of the truck "pop" up. BTW - great video Steve! We feel safe and secure towing our 33" Rockwood 2906ws with our ProPride. Never had a sway, even with two semi trucks passing us. If anyone can help with the "jump" issue it would be much appreciated. We have contacted Sean about this, I think I need to make a video and send it to him so he can see what's happening. Do any of you use Alt Trailer Height with your ProPride?
I don't have one of these hitches but I am considering one. Looking at your hitch from the video it appears that your stinger I think your calling it is at an angle and needs to be tipped forward to make it level with the hitch. Perhaps the bolt loosed up and pitched back on the adjustable portion that is on your truck portion of your hitch. If you pause it at 14:26 you can see the wear marks from the bolt shifting.
Your stinger is angled towards the vehicle, shouldn't it be angled down towards the trailer? I used your series of videos to show me what NOT to do. So I am grateful for your the videos because they saved me a lot of time on mistakes avoided.
Your stinger is not parallel to ground. Make it parallel to the ground, this will help with hitching and unhitching. Watch in your video how your stinger lifts your hitch as you pull out, if the the stinger was parallel to the ground it wouldn’t lift your hitch and cause binding issues.
Your video makes it look extremely difficult, I have a Hensley hitch same principle you have no grease and all that I seen that’s the reason you stuck a little, once you get the feel for that hitch you should have no problems it’s much simpler than any other hitch on the market.
Unfortunately, you have effectively discouraged a lot of folks from investing in a Pro Pride hitch! I have used the Pro Pride hitch for several years without difficulty...it just takes practice! You need lots of practice! The huge benefits of this type of hitch far outweigh the necessary learning curve for this hitch!
It really looks like your receiver on the truck is moving up and down and moving the plastic around it. You may want to check your mounting bolts. Or is that an optical illusion?
Release the tension on the stinger by disconnecting the attachment pins and popping them cam locks out Hope that makes sense. Who cares about measurements. Throw that damn tape measure out. Get the hitch loose like you are gonna pull away then raise or lower jack stand to get stinger loose then drive away
I'm going to hopefully upload a new video tonight or tomorrow - I found that a very thorough greasing of the stinger and hitchbox made a world of difference in unhitching the propride.
It is easy. This video is way over-analizing it. Once you do it a few times, it is easier and faster than a friction sway hitch. That has been my experience.
Your hitch coming off your truck should have a backwards slant , Then your weight bars will work better too help you release .Yours is slanting the wrong way .
How the hell would a guy back a perfectly square stinger into a perfectly square receiver if you were bush camping and on uneven ground? This hitch is made for trailer park queens. Which is too bad because I really like the no-sway deal.
You should join the "propride" facebook page facebook.com/groups/1992645814326355/ - there are many people on that site that hitch in uneven situations and can provide great advice. Additionally, Sean, the owner of propride is on the facebook site and will answer any questions you have . I've been waiting on the right time to video hitching and unhitching on uneven ground - just too busy lately. I will agree that there is a learning curve and it is not as easy as a regular hitch.
I use this hitch and love it. I boondock a ton, often on uneven land. Never have a problem with the angle. I can hitch and unhitch in under 5 min after getting the hang of it.
I cringed a bit when you placed your finger between the stinger and receiver. This is not a good practice when working with any heavy equipment. Nearly all the time absolutely nothing will happen as it did in this video. Every now and again however, the unexpected happens and fingers will be crushed.
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It looks to me like your stinger, once installed in the truck’s receiver, is not level. In fact it appears to be angled upwards. It is designed so that you can adjust the angle but I suspect that you have installed the washers on the bottom rather than the top. If you have your stinger at the correct height and angle and your truck and trailer are on level ground then the stinger and the hitch should both be very close to level. If you stinger is angled upwards as it extends toward the trailer as yours appears to be then it will more easily bind or it will be more difficult to get the hitch head at the same angle. You do need to adjust the angle of the hitch head from time to time using the WD jacks but that is intended for uneven ground, not for level ground. On level ground the hitch head and the stinger should both be level or very close to it. Also, having the stinger angled up as you do reduces the effectiveness of the WD bars. A helpful image is to think of the WD bars as the handles of a wheelbarrow and the hitch head (the heavy part mounted on your trailer) as the bed of a wheelbarrow. As you raise the WD jacks up and down it is like you lifting up and down on the handles of a wheelbarrow. If you lift one side and not the other you will have the same effect as on a wheelbarrow. One side becomes a bit higher than the other. This may be useful if your truck is not level side to side. But for the most part those are not issues. Especially on mostly flat ground. It takes me about 2 mins when I am on level ground. It does take some practice to get the truck mostly lined up. But after a few trips it is not issue for me. I do highly suggest that when hitching up you relax the WD bars (lower the jacks) more than you might think. I find that this prevents the head from engaging the jacks and “binding up” while the stinger is being inserted. I also find that with the WD bars a bit more loose I can insert the stinger 3/4s of the way then use the OCLs to bring it on in the rest of the way. For unhitching, I have measured the top of the hitch receiver on my truck so I use the tongue to raise everything up so that the top of the receiver is at that height. Some people look for where the trailer coupler begins to separate from the ball on the hitch head. But once you are at the level it should slide out easily. Especially if you have loosened the WD bars. (Loosening the WD bars all the way will likely let the hitch head “fall” more than you want but it won’t break it.). Using a little WD40 or something similar - better something that doesn’t collect dirt - on the stinger can also help.
From watching this video, it was torture, this guy was so fixed on the height of the center mount instead of getting the stinger leveled and then putting his fingers under the coupler made me cringed, so unsafe. I don’t have a trailer nor a hitch yet but from watching many demos and installs this is so easy to set up. This guy needs to watch those other videos first and try again, and for god sakes get a rear camera install, this will make alignment of the stinger and the receiver much easier. I will be buying a Hensley Cub for mine when I get it. Have a good day everyone, enjoyed reading all of the comments.
Wouldn't let this guys video stop you from getting a propride. He makes things so difficult. My nephew has a Hensley and I have a ProPride Hitch. Side by side the ProPride looks much stronger. Very happy with my ProPride. Easy to hook up and unhitch. Just have to get the correct angles. Good Luck and happy camping!!
I have hitching up down to a couple of minutes now. The first suggestion is to use a dry spray lubricant inside the receiver - it helps take some of the friction away. Second suggestion is to get the stinger I as much as it will go. If it doesn’t go into the receiver fully don’t worry at this point - in general adjusting the jack towers will allow it to slide right in. It took me an hour or so the first couple of times hooking up - the frustration was incredible. There is a huge learning curve to the hitch - once you figure it out things go quickly.
If you watch the video at both the 15:20 mark and 15:35 the trailer coupler moves without the propride hitch moving. That is the the time when the pressure is released and time to pull forward. Your propride hitch height changes after hitching because you have moved your weight distribution changing the height of the box as well as the angle.
Another tip I do is use my trailer brake controller to hold the camper while I pull out and before I hitch up I use a slide out spray and spray it in my 3p hitch
How about a follow up video to let us know how things are going 4 years later and to pass along the knowledge you’ve gained.
I am proud of you
Go through this dance e everytime. Hate it.
I’ve bought the Pro Pride, but haven’t hooked it up yet. My camper has been in the shop for warranty work. So I am thankful for your videos. Thanks
Ok, I don't have a P3, I have a Hensley. For unhitching - I do a couple things.... 1. Keep wheels chocked (swear by X-Chocks) so tongue jack doesn't slide off my block (when blocked), or bend if not blocked. 2. I adjust the Tongue jack to a position where I know the "at rest" height of my F150 - all I do is eyeball the distance from the top of my rear tire, to a prominent line (where the bed starts). If I were un-hitched, the body would line up with the "at rest" position of the top of my tire. I can't rely on measuring from hitch to ground - that's often unreliable on gravel/rock, or uneven TT and TV situations. 3. After removing safety chains, brake and power cables, releasing WD bar tension (completely), and unlocking the OCL's, I grab hold of one of the OCL bars and pull up/down and see if there's any give. I may need to roll the truck forward a tad to put "pull pressure" on the stinger. I then move the tongue up/down very slightly until jerking the OCL up/down shows freedom, or pops the stinger from the hitch receiver. Once that freedom happens, I know I can pull out. Works every time, stress-free for me! Hope that helps some...
Will be ordering this hitch, but this video was confusing. Perhaps it makes perfect sense to someone who already has the hitch, but if all the other ProPride related videos had been similar to this one, I would have been seriously rethinking about getting this hitch. I was just looking for videos on unhitching and this is the first one I came across.
This wasn't a "how to" video... I was asking for advice because it was so ridiculously hard to unhitch.... I found out that you needed to thoroughly lubricate the stinger before hitching to make it work normally.
The tapered design at the base of the stinger appears to allow for an inch or so of “wiggle room” when it comes to hitching and unhitching. However, this only really works if you have low friction between the stinger taper and the receiver on the trailer. As mentioned in other comments, I think lubrication - either dry or molybdenum - will reduce friction enough to allow the stinger to work as designed.
It looks like a level on top of the shank of the tow mount and the dome covering the ball on the towed vehicle would be the easiest way to get a repeatable reference regardless of terrain. Once you find the sweet spot you can shim the bar to be perfectly level. You should also be able to slide a feeler gauge between the top of the stinger and receiver as soon as the strain between these two points eases.
Like others told you and think you did do, lube the stinger. Also use the trailer brake, then no concerns with the trailer moving and hurting the jack. Per it feeling hard, that did not seem hard at all. While not the same level, wish I had a video of last time I had to slide the 5th wheel both in my pickup and the semi, now that can take some force to move. I am afraid your video will push too many away from a great hitch that ProPride is. Did you call Sean at ProPride for help? I know he is more than willing to help ProPride owners out.
We have a problem when unhitching our ProPride with our 2015 Ram 2500 using the Alt Trailer Height option. As hard as we try to have a smooth "unhitch" the back of our truck will occasionally "jump" up when we pull the stinger out. We've greased, made sure the bars are loose... but we still have the back of the truck "pop" up. BTW - great video Steve! We feel safe and secure towing our 33" Rockwood 2906ws with our ProPride. Never had a sway, even with two semi trucks passing us. If anyone can help with the "jump" issue it would be much appreciated. We have contacted Sean about this, I think I need to make a video and send it to him so he can see what's happening. Do any of you use Alt Trailer Height with your ProPride?
I don't have one of these hitches but I am considering one. Looking at your hitch from the video it appears that your stinger I think your calling it is at an angle and needs to be tipped forward to make it level with the hitch. Perhaps the bolt loosed up and pitched back on the adjustable portion that is on your truck portion of your hitch. If you pause it at 14:26 you can see the wear marks from the bolt shifting.
Your stinger is angled towards the vehicle, shouldn't it be angled down towards the trailer?
I used your series of videos to show me what NOT to do. So I am grateful for your the videos because they saved me a lot of time on mistakes avoided.
Unhook your latches before you start lowering your jack when unhooking. The stinger can then move slightly when you get the load off your hitch.
Your stinger is not parallel to ground. Make it parallel to the ground, this will help with hitching and unhitching. Watch in your video how your stinger lifts your hitch as you pull out, if the the stinger was parallel to the ground it wouldn’t lift your hitch and cause binding issues.
Your video makes it look extremely difficult, I have a Hensley hitch same principle you have no grease and all that I seen that’s the reason you stuck a little, once you get the feel for that hitch you should have no problems it’s much simpler than any other hitch on the market.
Unfortunately, you have effectively discouraged a lot of folks from investing in a Pro Pride hitch! I have used the Pro Pride hitch for several years without difficulty...it just takes practice! You need lots of practice! The huge benefits of this type of hitch far outweigh the necessary learning curve for this hitch!
My friend chock wheels.free bars make good guess and pull out.
It really looks like your receiver on the truck is moving up and down and moving the plastic around it. You may want to check your mounting bolts. Or is that an optical illusion?
Thanks for the comment, I checked just in case, but fortunately it is just an optical illusion.
Pull it out. Cant do better. Required more bad hitch.
Release the tension on the stinger by disconnecting the attachment pins and popping them cam locks out Hope that makes sense. Who cares about measurements. Throw that damn tape measure out. Get the hitch loose like you are gonna pull away then raise or lower jack stand to get stinger loose then drive away
OMG YOU ALWAYS GONNA BE AT DIFFERENT CAMP SPOTS THROW THAT TAPE MEASURE FAR AS YOU CAN AND START LEARNING WITH OUT TAPE MEASURE
Is this really better than a Hensley ?
Yes but not by a ton.
I was hoping Pro Pride would be easier than this.
I'm going to hopefully upload a new video tonight or tomorrow - I found that a very thorough greasing of the stinger and hitchbox made a world of difference in unhitching the propride.
It is easy. This video is way over-analizing it. Once you do it a few times, it is easier and faster than a friction sway hitch. That has been my experience.
Your hitch coming off your truck should have a backwards slant , Then your weight bars will work better too help you release .Yours is slanting the wrong way .
You just need a better back up camera
How the hell would a guy back a perfectly square stinger into a perfectly square receiver if you were bush camping and on uneven ground? This hitch is made for trailer park queens. Which is too bad because I really like the no-sway deal.
You should join the "propride" facebook page facebook.com/groups/1992645814326355/ - there are many people on that site that hitch in uneven situations and can provide great advice. Additionally, Sean, the owner of propride is on the facebook site and will answer any questions you have . I've been waiting on the right time to video hitching and unhitching on uneven ground - just too busy lately. I will agree that there is a learning curve and it is not as easy as a regular hitch.
I use this hitch and love it. I boondock a ton, often on uneven land. Never have a problem with the angle. I can hitch and unhitch in under 5 min after getting the hang of it.
If it took me that long to hook up my trailer I would never use it that thing is junk
Why post videos if you dont even know what you doing.
If I could only be as amazing as you!
I cringed a bit when you placed your finger between the stinger and receiver. This is not a good practice when working with any heavy equipment. Nearly all the time absolutely nothing will happen as it did in this video. Every now and again however, the unexpected happens and fingers will be crushed.