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My Hensley Hitch Rebuild and Paint

BarneyS
Explorer III
Explorer III
In 2010, I posted a thread about the rebuilding and painting of my Hensley hitch. It contained much information and showed, via pictures, what the Hensley looked like and how it was constructed.

The pictures in that post were hosted by Photobucket who decided to charge a lot of money for linked photos and shut down anyone who did not pay their โ€œransomโ€. I was one of those persons. Many have asked that I fix that thread which is in the archives now. Since I cannot edit that thread to fix the missing photos I have decided to post it again.

Here is a rebuild of my old thread.
Since my Hensley hitch was about 5 or 6 years old when that original thread was posted and was really starting to get "long in the tooth" looking, I decided to re-paint it that summer. Hensley is not known for their good paint jobs and mine was starting to chip and rust quite badly. I decided to not use the original orange "steal me" paint and went with basic black instead.

Here is a picture of my hitch when it was new.


The job was not hard at all. The Hensley is a very simple hitch to work on if you know how to take a wheel bearing assembly apart. Here is the process that I went through to get my Hensley looking as good as new. Hope it helps someone a bit.


First, the hardest part of the job is removing the dust/dirt caps on the bearings. Mine fit VERY tightly and I used a large screwdriver and hammer to gently tap them off with the screwdriver tip wedged under the lip of the cap. As my old caps were quite ugly looking, I purchased new ones to replace them. Found out that was not necessary as the old ones cleaned very nicely.

Here is the hitch, after dis-assembly. Notice the numerous rust spots and places where the paint had come loose or flaked off.














Here are the bearing assemblies after removal and placed so I could re-assemble them in the same place they came from. I'm not sure if that is absolutely necessary in this case but didn't want to take the chance.





Following the dis-assembly, I sent the two main parts of the hitch out to be sandblasted. I tried scraping but it would have taken me all summer and the local sand blaster only charged me $30 to do both pieces. He had them done in about an hour where it would have taken me a week or longer to get them clean.
Here are the parts after being sandblasted and ready to get a coat of primer.



Next, I masked off the openings where the bearings go and painted the top and bottom hitch assemblies with DupliColor engine paint. Not sure why I used that particular paint but hope it holds up for a while. I kind of wish I knew a good powder coat guy but don't.
Put primer on and then several coats of paint on and then let it dry for about a week before I took the parts down. I decided to use black paint as mentioned earlier as it blends into the frame of the trailer much better than the original loud "steal me" orange.










After about a week, I put the decals on and covered them with a clear plastic laminating material cut slightly larger than the decal. The original serial number sticker and orange/yellow company sticker had a clear covering over them so I tried to stick with that idea. I then sprayed the whole thing again with about three coats of clear coat paint.




During the week that the paint was drying, I re-packed the bearings with grease. The old grease looked to be fine but I wanted to make sure all the bearing surfaces were covered and lubed. I used Mobile 1 synthetic bearing grease. Lots of fun getting all gooey and messy with that stuff! I probably should have worn rubber gloves during this process for safety reasons but didn't. I kind of doubt if my life will be shortened too much by doing it that way as I have lived a good many years already and by the time that grease has done anything to me I will most likely not be around to care!
I also use that week to polish up the parts I did not paint and to polish up the dust/dirt bearing covers







What fun!!!


Putting the new seals back into place was a piece of cake! I just used a short flat board and tapped them gently into place. I was kind of dreading this step as I had heard of others having a problem but everything went very easily. The HARD part was, again, getting those dust/dirt covers back on without destroying or denting them. I had to tap them on with a hammer but couldn't use "gentle" strokes. Had to hit them pretty good. Fortunately, not any damage but it was kind of dicey.

Here is the finished hitch. Notice the nice black/silver serial number decal Hensley sent me. It goes very well with the black color of the hitch. All in all, this was a very easy maintenance project that could be done by anybody. There were not even any large or special tools needed for the job.


Note: The white stripe on the front of the hitch is to aid in spotting the opening when backing into the hitch with the stinger.







Barney
2004 Sunnybrook Titan 30FKS TT
Hensley "Arrow" 1400# hitch (Sold)
Not towing now.
Former tow vehicles were 2016 Ram 2500 CTD, 2002 Ford F250, 7.3 PSD, 1997 Ram 2500 5.9 gas engine
11 REPLIES 11

93Cobra2771
Explorer
Explorer
Agreed. I even lube mine slightly for easier release (a drop of dish detergent works pretty well).

I used your original post to disassemble mine, glad to see it's back up and running.
Richard White
2011 F150 Ecoboost SCREW 145" 4x4
Firestone Ride-Rite Air Springs/Air Lift Wireless Controller
2006 Sportsmen by KZ 2604P (30')
Hensley Arrow

BarneyS
Explorer III
Explorer III
As far as I know, they are not replaceable and as long as they are tight when you turn them into position they should be fine. Mine rotate quite easily in the arms when not in use but do not move at all when I tighten them up with the overcenter wrench.

They are adjustable by just turning them in or out. I think they are a bit stiff originally because of the paint but as the paint wears off they become looser.
I would not worry about them if I were you. ๐Ÿ™‚
Barney
2004 Sunnybrook Titan 30FKS TT
Hensley "Arrow" 1400# hitch (Sold)
Not towing now.
Former tow vehicles were 2016 Ram 2500 CTD, 2002 Ford F250, 7.3 PSD, 1997 Ram 2500 5.9 gas engine

pullin2
Explorer
Explorer
Nice work Barney, thank you for posting.

If you don't mind a question (from a Hensley newbie)...
Did you do anything to the Over-Center-Latch bars (OCLs) when reinstalling them? My Hensley is now 1 year old, and I noticed my OCLs seemed loose when moving them into position last time out. After rotating them into place with the tool Hensley provides, they were tight as a drum. But I was wondering it the bushings (?) that they rotate around on the hitch need periodic replacement.

I hope I've described this adequately. Short version is they're tight and secure when latched, but loose when unhooked. I honestly can't remember if they were that way when I bought the hitch.

Thanks in advance for any replies.
RB, JC (& a few dogs)
2017 Ram CC LB Cummins,
35' Windjammer
30' Sea Ray
I used to tandem-tow (hence my username), but my trailers grew too big.

BarneyS
Explorer III
Explorer III
Adventure wrote:
You did a perfect job Barney! Wish I had known about the local sandblaster when I redid mine care to share for future reference?

Thank you! The sandblaster I used was Master Blaster located in New Hudson, Mi. His phone is 248-782-5175
Barney
2004 Sunnybrook Titan 30FKS TT
Hensley "Arrow" 1400# hitch (Sold)
Not towing now.
Former tow vehicles were 2016 Ram 2500 CTD, 2002 Ford F250, 7.3 PSD, 1997 Ram 2500 5.9 gas engine

Adventure
Explorer
Explorer
You did a perfect job Barney! Wish I had known about the local sandblaster when I redid mine care to share for future reference?
2005 F250 V10, 4x4, CC,
Tow Command
Our Condo on Wheels
2005 Sunnybrook 33FKS
Hensley Arrow-Love it!
Places we slept in our RV, have also visited WA,NV,CA,HI,MN without rv

73guna
Explorer
Explorer
Nice work, Sir!
2007 Chevy Silverado Crewcab Duramax.
2016 Wildwood 31qbts.

BarneyS
Explorer III
Explorer III
Burbman,
Mine went almost immediatly via Craigslist. Our trailer is now permanently parked up in northern Michigan.
Barney
2004 Sunnybrook Titan 30FKS TT
Hensley "Arrow" 1400# hitch (Sold)
Not towing now.
Former tow vehicles were 2016 Ram 2500 CTD, 2002 Ford F250, 7.3 PSD, 1997 Ram 2500 5.9 gas engine

BurbMan
Explorer II
Explorer II
I just did the same to mine, although didn't send it out for sandblasting. The last time I repainted it without disassembling it, and the finish held up for 10 yrs or so. This time there was too much flaking between the upper and lower assemblies.

I didn't send it out to be sandblasted, but I was able to get the majority of the old finish off using a strip disc in an angle grinder. Messy job for sure.

The bearings are easy, all 8 are identical, and they assemble like wheel bearings on the trailer. I spent almost $300 in parts...I used the original bearings since they were in good shape, but got new seals, new cups, new bronze wear sleeve, new detente pins for the spring bars, new OCL latch assemblies, new downtube tails, and replaced all the clevis pins and clips.

I agree about those cups, they need a flange around the edge that you can tap with a drift or screwdriver so you're not beating on the domed part. I had a 75% success with those, 3 went in OK and one dented, fortunately it was on the bottom. ๐Ÿ™‚

Talking about selling the trailer at the end of the season, so the HA may be on the market soon!

memtb
Explorer
Explorer
WOW! Never seen a Hensley for a tt....thatโ€™s quite the hitch!
Todd & Marianne
Miniature Schnauzer's - Sundai, Nellie & Maggie Mae
2007 Dodge Ram 3500, 6.7 Cummins, 6 speed manual, 3.73 ratio, 4x4
2004 Teton Grand Freedom, 39'
2007 Bigfoot 30MH26Sl

stripit
Explorer
Explorer
As I recall years ago Hensley was using a local powder coating company and not paying much to them for the quality of work they got. I suggested a company in Clinton Twp, Mi that would do the job correctly and give a finish that would last years, they didn't care to hear about them. I owned a Hensley at the time and complained about the finish chipping and rusting so easy. Got a deaf ear treatment. I had the company I suggested to Hensley refinish mine and years later when I sold it the buyer was sure it was brand new.
Stacey Frank
2016 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40AP
2019 Tesla Model X
2015 Cadillac SRX we Tow
1991 Avanti Convertible

jmtandem
Explorer II
Explorer II
Thanks. Very interesting. I guess I missed your post on this the first time around.
'05 Dodge Cummins 4x4 dually 3500 white quadcab auto long bed.