Background
We purchased our Palomino SolAire 317BHSK and a Ford F-150 last year. When talking with the camper dealership they told me with complete confidence that the Equal-i-zer 4 point hitch would be the perfect solution for my combo of truck and camper. I found out very quickly in the six trips that we were able to take before putting the camper in storage for the winter that the Equal-i-zer hitch was not adequate for pulling a 35′ travel trailer in cross winds.
Justification
After sharing my experiences on a couple of the forums that I frequent of being shoved around and fish tailing on the road by random wind gusts, I was quickly directed to the ProPride 3P product. First, I was a bit hesitant to spend the money on this hitch but I could not find a single review that was negative or suggested that this product would not do what it says. There were many ProPride reviews suggesting that existing users would not pull without one. Second, the resale market on these hitches was very encouraging. I found a ‘deal’ on Craigslist for one that was for sale and it was gone before I was able to reach the seller. Third, when I spoke with Sean from ProPride. Sean was very patient and answered all of my questions and was not pushy at all. Finally, the safety is very important for my family and others that we are sharing the road with.
We had a trip planned for Yellowstone in July and I knew that I could not pull for that long of a trip with our existing hitch. I called Sean and placed my order and I had the hitch in about a week. It was shipped in multiple boxes and to my wife’s frustration, it was shipped while I was out of town and she had the pleasure of moving the heavy boxes into the garage 🙂
Installation
I prepared for the installation by reviewing the installation manual a few times. Once I started the install, it went very well. The longest task that I had to tackle was getting the tank tray to set on the frame. I had to cut around the U bolts to get this to work.
The total time from beginning to end was only about 3 hours with the help of a friend. I would say that we were taking our time and double checking things many times. Since installing the hitch I have called Sean a couple of times with some questions. He is always kind and quick to respond.
Towing Experience
We made many trips this summer including the Yellowstone trip which was about 2,300 miles of towing for just that trip. I now tow with complete confidence, there is no more white knuckle driving that I was experiencing with the previous hitch which made for a much more relaxing time.
I will share that when I first pulled with the hitch I made my test pull on a pretty windy day and was getting pushed by the wind. To be clear and help manage expectations, this hitch will not put you on rails on the road. It will however prevent any affects to your steering on the road. The result is that the camper and truck are pushed in parallel when wind strikes the side of your truck and camper. The point is that the ProPride hitch does not allow the tail to wag the dog which results in a much safer ride.
As an added bonus, the hitching and unhitching process is much more smooth than dealing with greasy weight distribution bars that you have to wrench up. Also, the ProPride hitch reverses without issues where previously I had to drop the weight distribution bars on the Equal-i-zer hitch.
Conclusion
I could not be happier with the decision to purchase the ProPride hitch. The installation and support from Sean was great and the towing experience is so much better! My friend that helped me install my hitch also purchased bought one and has been equally as happy with his purchase.
Feel free to ask questions, I am happy to answer them.
50 replies on “ProPride 3P Hitch Review”
Was this hitch as good as the hensley? I have a dodge durango v8 hemi able to pull 7400lbs. My trailer is 5941 dry weight hitch weighs 793lbs
What do you think Do you have to get a certain hitch to match your weights. Thanks Mike Riley
I cannot speak for the Hensley Arrow as a customer.
What I can say is that based on my research, Sean has improved the original Hensley design and is licensing with Hensley for his hitch at a cost that is lower. Look at the used Hensley market and you will see that they sell for what a new ProPride costs brand new.
Keenan – thanks for your review. I am pulling a 31′ Premier Bullet with a 2013 F150 Ecoboost and for the first time in 30 years of trailering have experienced white knuckle fear from sway that has made me consider selling the trailer … until I saw reviews for the ProPride which I am really considering. Question for you – how difficult/easy was it for you to install the hitch? Thanks!
Hey Mark,
The most difficult part of the install was the tank tray and having to accommodate the u-bolts that attach to the a-frame. We did another install a week later for a friend. I would recommend doing it yourself, it was not very difficult and Sean is very helpful if you have issues. Prep by reading the manual over and have your tools lined up. A casual (no rush) installation should take maybe 3-5 hours and that is with double checking everything along the way and taking your time.
Good luck and let me know if you have further questions. I am happy to hear that maybe this article helped someone 🙂
I have a 2008 Honda Ridgeline, rated towing weight 5000lbs and a Slingshot 24RB trailer, dry weight 4200 lbs. I bought and installed a Pro Pride 3P four years ago. I’m quite obviously maxing out the capabilities of my tow vehicle. The experience towing with the Pro Pride has been excellent including a trip through the Canadian Rockies. Thank you Pro Pride for an excellent product and service.
I have a comment on raising the tank tray. I installed my new P3 a few weeks ago. Rather that cutting out the tank tray I used nuts as spacers under the tray to raise it enough to get the tray above the brackets.
I’ll be towing it for the first time tomorrow.
I have owned both the Hensley and the Propride. I was happy with the Hensley, but abandoned it in favor of the Swaypro at the prodding of a slick trailer salesman – big mistake. The Swaypro on the 34′ travel trailer could not handle the strong crosswinds that the I encountered on California 152 between Los Banos and Gilroy. How bad was it? I had to hold my speed to under 20 mph to maintain control until crossing over Pacheco Pass.
I bought the Propride during my sojourn in Morgan Hill, CA. It was installed by a coworker who took the Swaypro in trade for his labor. The tray for the propane tanks had to be relocated forward to accommodate the jacks – no problem for him because he is a welder by trade.
The performance of the Hensley and Propride were generally similar. The brake controller setting was a bit more critical for the Hensley. The addition of Propride’s yoke to the design seems to help. The Hensley’s unadjustable hitch bar or stinger is somewhat lighter than the Propride’s adjustable one.
Strange as it seems, For both the Hensley and Propride, the truck-trailer combo felt more stable and tracked better in crosswinds than the truck by itself. It could be my imagination, however.
Great idea Dave and good luck with your first towing experience. Take it slow and double and triple check everything 🙂
Funny that you posted the 2013 with a 31′ bullet premier. That is the same setup I have. I have a pro pride installed on my rig. I have also added air bags for additional support. I will say the first few pulls I did not see a lot of difference. So I called and talked with Sean. He said that I would not need the airbags if properly adjusting the weight. So I took up a little bit more on the bars and added another 10psi on the air shocks. Before when I was pulling I could do 65mph but when an 18 wheeler passed it would pull me in. Wind would allow a little bit of tail wag but not excessive. Enough to make me take attention though. Now since my last pull and the adjustments. Wow, it pulled like a top. You know that with the Eco boost power is not a problem it has always been stability. Now I have that, I could run 70mph no problem no swag. Eighteen wheelers no problem. I drove with one hand for a change and drank my coffee. If you have any question feel free to ask, as we have the exact same set up
If I may jump in here and answer Mike Riley’s question.
I have an 07 Durango 5.7 that is also rated for 7400 lbs,
and tow a Grey wolf 28bh at 5300 lbs. I recently purchased a used ProPride
and can tell you that from the first time i used it, it performed light years ahead of the Reese Dual cam I was using.
Thank you for the great review, Keenan. ProPride is built on great customers like you and everyone above and we thank you all for that.
Thank you for the great review, Keanen. ProPride is built on great customers like you and everyone above and we thank you all for that.
We have towed with our ProPride 3P for five years and are very pleased with it. I have documented the installation on my website… See the link above.
I agree that the addition of my airbags helped with the suck and push of passing by rigs. It helped put more weight (in my observation) to the front of the truck and I don’t have to leverage the WD bars nearly as much.
I have a 3P hitch and have been happy with it probably 6 years, Sean is a super guy to deal with. I had a problem with pro pride my hitch once and in a pinch had to buy another hitch to get me home. When I called Sean to let him know what had happened, he gave me his cell number and said to call him when I made it home. He sent new parts at no charge, and prepaid shipping for the broken part, and paid me for the hitch I had purchased. Where can you find a business that will instantly fix problems without giving you the run-a-round?
I ended up buying the ProPride after looking at all the reviews. The first trip was to the Rocky Mountains on a four lane divided highway with moderate crosswinds. After 30 minutes of trying to get comfortable with the fact that the trailer was going to behave I took the truck up to 80 mph, passing semis with no issues at all. This weekend I took my F-150 and 31BHPR back on a trip on the same roads that almost made me sell the trailer two years ago. Very narrow two lane highways with absolutely no shoulder. Winds were about 20 mph directly crosswind most of the trip. Things went very smoothly, to the point that I received a phone call on my Bluetooth and after I ended the call I realized I had driven for ten minutes with one hand on the steering wheel not fearing the tail trying to wag the dog. Great Hitch!
That’s great to hear Mark! Thanks for sharing your story.
I am really liking the propride 3P. I have a 2015 ford f150 ecoboost 4×4 with max tow and 5.5 bed. Do I need to invest further in air bags or air shocks? Will the performance be degraded if I leave it stock? My trailer has about the same specs as Keanen. The tires came from the factory with P 275 65 r18 . LT tires were not a option as ordered . Change the tire size and it changed the package.
We have owned our ProPride 3 hitch for over two years and have traveled over 24000 miles on coast to coast, border to border trips…..this after having white knuckle experiences trying to tow with traditional ball pull hitches…ugh. First time out with our ProPride hitch we had 30 mph cross winds and had to make a quick no hard emergency stop to avoid debris falling off a truck ahead of us…..winds were no problem, quick stop was straight Nd true and controlled….wow! We felt great about our new hitch….love it every trip out!
Here’s where we still have trouble…..unhitching when on unlevel site, especially when front of our truck is uphill. Our Ram 2500 has automatic leveling air bags which exercerbate the alignment….cannot turn off air bags…..anyone else experience similiar circumstance? Sometimes we change sites or campgrounds because we cannot unhitch.
My friend had this issue. We’ve found that if we move the weight distribution bars up or down that it helps. Maybe even pulling a little tension by moving forward and then jumping on the bumper works as well.
I did put airbags on my F-150. The review is on this site 🙂 it really helped to keep my rear end at a normal level. As for the tires, my Uncle was on me about having passenger tires and how they were not safe for pulling so much so I purchased LT tires and sold the passenger tires to offset the cost. Many have used their passenger tires without issues on the forums that I follow.
We had the same issue on detaching, especially with the truck (F-150) uphill. Sean gave us a tip that helped. If you look at the where the hitch bar goes into the hitch receiver on the truck (terminology might be wrong), there is usually a small (1/8 ” or so) gap on either the top or the bottom depending on where the pressure is at the time. You can also see this gap when there is no trailer attached, just the hitch bar in that there is a little slack to move the hitch bar up and down when it is in the truck. If you watch that gap as you are raising the tongue jack on the trailer up and down (while the trailer is attached), you can see the gap shift from the top to the bottom (or bottom to top depending on which way the tongue jack is going). When you get it right in the middle between the gap switching to the top or bottom, you know you have taken most of the tension off of the truck. At that point, then try to pull the truck forward. If it comes out, you are all set. If it doesn’t, leave a little tension on the hitch by letting the truck try to idle going forward (without hitting the gas), and then hit the brake and then try to move the tongue jack up and down just a bit (or jump on the bumper) and usually the hitch will pop out about 1/4″, and then you can proceed to idle forward to pull it out the rest of the way. Hope that helps.
Does the weight of the hitch drop the tail end of your trucks?
The hitch alone did not make a difference for me.
Does anyone else have a problem when you start off or hit the brakes it “clunks”?
When you are stopping and it ‘clunks’ that is usually a sign of the brakes not being strong enough and the weight is shifting to your truck causing the hitch to shift sideways. Please contact Sean for verification but that’s what I understand.
Just wanted to come in with another success story. First time trailer trip from Newport RI to Moscow ID with a fully loaded 2009 Sequoia and fully loaded 16×7 double axel covered trailer. Spent a few days installing, training, and tweaking, but the trip was effortless and went “without a hitch”, pun intended.
Just watch out for that stinger when coming around the end of the truck after un hooking for the afternoon.
I’ve puller RV trailers for over 35 years and how owned most brands of weight distribution hitches, and they are not all created equal. With that being said most were very good and I never had any big issues towing until I purchased a new 26.5 ft trailer in 2011 and was pulling it with a 2008 Sequoia. I purchased and tried three regular higher end distribution hitches because of trailer sway issues and none of the three made you feel safe in high winds of when a semi trailer passed you. A friend of mine told me about Pro Pride when I first bought this trailer but I didn’t think it was worth the money. Well three hitches latter I finally decided I had better try the Pro Pride or sell the Sequoia and buy a 3/4 ton. I do have to say the difference the Pro Pride made was unbelievable! This hitch stopped all my sway issues plus has made pulling this trailer a pleasure.
If you are having any sway issues while towing you owe it to your self to try this hitch because you wont believe how well it works. Between the towing difference and the safety it provides, it is worth every penny.
P.S. Sean from Pro Pride is great to deal with if you need any advise or any parts.
Thanks Rod
Just noticed a comment about rear air bags helping to shift weight to front axels; that’s a good way to overload a rear axle. Properly adjusting the load distribution hitch to pick up the rear and load the front is the right way. If your tail is dragging with the hitch and trailer, perhaps your GAWR (rear) should be checked to ensure safety.
My ProPride hitch was one of the rare ones–it had a problem. One of the links rusted in two. Called Sean and he sent me prepaid freight boxes to send it and the yoke, which had warped as a result of the strain from towing with the broken link, back to him. He either fixed or replaced the hitch head, and replaced the yoke writhin a two week period.
I work mid nights, so at 1am I thought of a question and went ahead and texted his cell phone because I knew I would forget if I waited until business hours to ask. Surprisingly he answered immediately!! We texted back and forth for about 20 minutes. Fearful I had woke him, I apologized. He said no worries, he doesn’t take his phone to the bedroom, so ask questions at anytime, and if he is asleep, he’ll answer when he gets up and sees the text. Great guy and great hitch.
How good is the hitch? It must’ve towed our 35 foot trailer over 200 miles broken, because I parked it right after a trip in the fall, and didn’t see it until the next spring when I was getting ready to pull the camper in for a repair job.
Keanen, (or anyone can answer)
You stated you had an Equal-i-zer 4 point hitch you had used. I too have one, but recently purchased a new toy hauler, Prime Time Fury 2910, that is 35 feet long. I have had the Equal-i-zer for several years that I used on a 24 foot toy hauler with no real issues.
But now, I sometimes don’t want to go camping just because of the issue of sway. I have a 2013 F-150 5.5 bed Ecoboast equipped with all the towing equipment from Ford (3.73 rear end, t-rated tires, towing package…..). I have taken it to the CAT scales and I have 11% tongue weight, camper and truck level, really looks good when you step back and look at it…but pulling is something different. Im not over weight on the truck or camper or the gcvw.
My question is…When you had the Equal-i-zer, did you have everything on yours set-up as well. I have tried several times to move this, move that, in the camper, but no luck. This ProPride looks like the answer.
And can you tell me about the issue of unhitching, I never talked to anyone who owns a ProPride
Hey Dell, I cannot say that I went to the same lengths as you as far as going to the scale but I did have my truck level and moved things around a lot like you have. I just know that early on I would tell myself that my drive went so smooth not paying attention that it was a calm day. When pulling in the wind I was quickly reminded and very much on edge. There were a few times with side blasts that turned my wheel that really scared me. I have since pulled about 12,000 miles without an issue. I cannot stress how much of a difference it is. I had a hard time getting over the sticker shock but am glad that I did.
I hope that you come to your own conclusion and if you pull the trigger please let us know if it made a difference for you.
My life towing a travel trailer started with a 317 solaire also. We were pulling it with a 2008 Nissan Titan crew cab Pro4x. On our way home from the dealership where we got the travel trailer I noticed severe sway. The dealership had installed a typical friction bar type sway control with weight distribution. This was completely ineffective. I felt as if every car and truck that passed me I was going to slam into the side of them Due to the sway problem. Needless to say, 3 hours of hell to get home and I wanted to sell trailer. I then discovered Propride hitches. After much deliberation I decided to buy one. I actually did find one on craigslist and bought it used. I then called Sean and he helped me with all new labels and serial number and accessories. He’s great. I installed it in an afternoon and it soon became apparent that my old hitch was so bad compared to this one. With our Nissan titan and the pro pride trips were effortless however our trips to the mountains were a little more I have a problem. We live in Southern California and we have a lot of mountain ranges that we have to pass over to get to our destinations. After having the titan since it was new I had began to need more power towing up these mountain passes. This has led us to buy a 2016 ram 2500 diesel. We have just taken our first trip with this new truck and our travel trailer and unfortunately we experienced porpoising. The porpoising is very new to us because it never happened and the Titan. We have increased the pro pride weight distribution jacks to around 7 inches. This is higher than we ever had the Nissan Titan. At 7 inches our problem still existed. Of course there is no sway the hitch is awesome but we have to figure out how to get the porpoising out of the picture. The new ram truck is an amazing truck I don’t understand how the porpoising can’t be happening when it did not happen with the Nissan titan. If anybody out there has had this experience please let me know I will say that the Nissan titan had a 2 inch receiver hitch where as the ram has a 2 1/2 inch class five receiver hitch This requires us to use a adapter that goes down to 2 inches for the pro pride. I am aware that pro pride sells a 2 1/2 inch fitting for the pro pride hitch. Maybe somebody can tell me if this is our problem Using the adapter sleeve.
Thanks for sharing sir. Would you mind sharing pictures of you hookup? I’d like to see the level of the truck and trailer as well as a close up of the hitch.
I will as soon as I hook up again. We won’t for a little while however. Sorry.
Same for me. No worries, hopefully you get some good feedback here. Certainly reach out to Sean.
I installed a 3p that was included with the sale of a 2 yr old orv Blackstone. Sean was a huge help all the way around even on a holiday! Thanks Sean. First trip with the rig so far seems ok from Whidbey island to Mountain Home, ID. Funny though I did have a couple people ask if my hitch was lose when stopping for gas as the design allows for some front side to side movement when stopping.
I recommend that you avoid purchasing this hitch. I will admit that this hitch performs very well in preventing trailer sway. The problem is, if you damage the hitch. The service from ProPride is the worst I have seen of any company I have done business with. There are a lot of parts to this hitch and unfortunately, I found out the hard way that this hitch is not hard to damage. When I did damage the hitch, I immediately called Shawn at ProPride to discuss. Shawn did take the call and at that point was very accommodating. We went thru the parts that need replacement and parts that he would like sent back so he could salvage them. I took the hitch apart, had the parts he wanted sent back ready to go and waited. Shawn asked me to text him my address, and I did immediately. This was pretty much the end of the conversation. After three weeks and no parts I tried to call Shawn to see if the parts were shipping soon. I tried with 3 phone calls / voice mail and two text messages. He did not respond to any. I called the office and tried to speak to someone else. I was told that Shawn was the only person to talk to and she would pass the message on to him. I called the next day and Shawn did answer the phone. I explained to him that I had a trip planned with the camper the next week and asked if I would have the parts before that or if I needed to cancel the trip. He replied that he was having a hard time getting the parts back from the painter but thought he would have them by then. The next week arrived and still no parts. Again, I called and texted with no answer. I did get a little short with Shawn in the last text and he finally did reply. The reply was; “Did you order the parts online?” I replied, “No, we spoke over the phone. His reply was, “I’m too busy and get to many messages to remember that. Please order online.” I went online to find out the parts I needed were not offered online. Again, I texted him to inquire how to order the parts since they were not offered online. That was the last I heard from Shawn. It has been two months. The $2,600 hitch is now nothing more than a boat anchor. With some more investigation, I did find a conventional hitch that performs as well as the ProPride for a third of the price. Best of all, if you damage the conventional hitch, parts are readily available from almost any RV dealer.
Here’s the part you need which has always been available online.
https://www.propridehitch.com/propride-3p-adjustable-hitch-bar/?ctk=96826241-2e5f-42e0-a2eb-a88f00b46c5c
There are several damaged parts which you do not offer on line. I verified this again before I wrote the review.
Well, I thought eventually Sean would get a negative comment after almost 10 years of excellent reviews. Every bell curve needs a left tail. It’s just that Sean’s bell curve looks like a huge humpback whale squished to the right with now a long skinny tail and the first negative data point, that I’ve ever seen.
Second PPP on my second trailer in 10 years, couldn’t be more happy.
I’m guessing that the Propride hitch is fixable. Getting the parts is fine. Knobody wants to be without a hitch for there trailer. Obviously if it’s used each day especially. But occasionally, I would rather wait a bit to get it fixed than to subject your lives by using a sub par everyday type hitch. My families lives are too important. You’ll only know how good the cheaper hitch is when you are in a bad situation on the road. Good luck. And by the way, Sean has always been right there for me when we’ve had issues. Our hitch is just awesome. It’s been 4 years.
I had one of the over latch parts start to stick and had the same experience ????
I tow a 2210 RB passport. 28 actual feet length as opposed to the sales information. TV is a Ram 1500 5.7 Hemi with a 3.27? rear end. New 10 ply tires on all corners this year. Equalizer hitch that has seemed to work ok in past trip. Just returned from a two week to the U. P. in Michigan. The wind/sway was terrible . Went from 4 to two lanes then the logging trucks passed. I was reduced to 50 mph on curving roads to be safe. Then back on 4 lanes I was “that guy” at 55 in a 75. The good news is that my hands and forearms gained around two inches in muscle mass. Any thoughts here?
I had similar problems before I purchased my PP. I thought spending the money for almost an entire summer, and I couldn’t find any reviews saying that people disliked the performance of the hitch. No seven years later, I still have the hitch and I swear by it. I think it would be very happy with one after your experience.
Good luck and be safe.
It’s going to make a huge difference in your overall enjoyment and safety. I really wouldn’t go anywhere long distance with my trailer and husky weight distribution hitch. It was Terrible. The moment I switched to the Propride, it was night and day. Even my family noticed the difference immediately. It’s no joke. I have a ram 2500 Cummins and I still use the Propride. On summer road trip in 4000 miles of towing, at speeds in excess of 75 in some states, the trailer just doesn’t feel like it’s there. Windy conditions doesn’t matter. Except fuel consumption. Lol.
Great point, I brag that I drive through the Dakotas and Montana with my pinky on the steering wheel.
How can I upload a picture?
I emailed you, I can upload one for you. Not sure how you do it