New 5'er Owner: B&W Companion 25k vs. Hensley BD5?

[aphazia]

Greetings all! The lady and I have been full timing in a class A for 2 years now. We have money down on a Momentum 394M and a 2019 F450. I have never driven a 5'er before, so I expect I have a lot to learn, quickly.

My research tells me the two 'best options' from reviews, general popularity, and numbers are as above - the B&W Companion or the BD5.

Obviously, there is a large price gap, and I see why. The question here is if the BD5 is worth it for the 'suspension system' it comes with. The F450 will obviously have the OEM puck setup.

Any input and explanations are welcome. I do a lot of online research, but sometimes asking the specific question will help fill in the needed gaps in knowledge.

[Bamaman]

I would go with the B&W Companion with the puck system. It's American made and welding and fabrication is of the highest quality. The nice thing about it is that the head unit can be removed in about 2 seconds and the hitch splits in two pieces so it's easily moved when not being used. The Companion hitch also has a bunch of adjustments--forward and back, up and down--to get the trailer balanced perfectly.

I have the smaller 16K B&W Patriot hitch, and it's just great.

[Txfivver]

I have to agree with bamaman, the B&W is a beautifully made hitch. I had the turnover ball system on my F250 and the base was 135 pounds, too heavy for one person to lift out! My new F350 has the factory puck system and the base for it is only about 60 lbs, easily lifted out. It tows very smoothly and especially quietly, no noise of any kind.

[bertschb]

I think I'm the lone Hensley Trailersaver fan boy here on this forum so take my comments with a grain of salt.

We just sold our Hensley Trailersaver BD3 and replaced it with the BD5. The BD5 drops right into the factory puck system. Like the B&W Companion, the build quality is top notch. The B&W is arguably the nicest traditional style hitch available today. If you want the smoothest ride possible in the truck as well as a smoother ride for your 5th wheel, get the Hensley. If you want to save some money without sacrificing quality, get the B&W. And if you want to save some weight, get the Andersen Ultimate. It's extremely popular on this forum.

The BD5 has three air bags instead of the two in the BD3 and it's rated for 5,000lb pin weight and 28,000lbs gross trailer weight.

I don't have a video of the BD5 in action but here is the Hensley BD3. They will both absorb most of the vertical motion that would otherwise be transferred to the truck and 5th wheel:

[WhittleBurner]

We have the Air Safe hitch which is a very easy to use and solid hook up. With the 4 air bags one at each corner and 2 shocks it makes for a very smooth ride. It has bolted right up to the puck system on our old Ford and our GMC. 4 bolts that come off easy breaks it down to 2 70# sections which are not difficult to remove. It is a 25k hitch.

[FT4NOW]

When did B&W make a 25k hitch for the puck system??? They only had the 20k when I was hitch shopping, I opted out since there was little buffer room to the trailer GVWR. I might consider buying the 25k, I'm not a huge fan of my Curt hitch.

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[DaveMatthewsBand]

I think I'm the lone Hensley Trailersaver fan boy here on this forum so take my comments with a grain of salt.

We just sold our Hensley Trailersaver BD3 and replaced it with the BD5. The BD5 drops right into the factory puck system. Like the B&W Companion, the build quality is top notch. The B&W is arguably the nicest traditional style hitch available today. If you want the smoothest ride possible in the truck as well as a smoother ride for your 5th wheel, get the Hensley. If you want to save some money without sacrificing quality, get the B&W. And if you want to save some weight, get the Andersen Ultimate. It's extremely popular on this forum.

The BD5 has three air bags instead of the two in the BD3 and it's rated for 5,000lb pin weight and 28,000lbs gross trailer weight.

I don't have a video of the BD5 in action but here is the Hensley BD3. They will both absorb most of the vertical motion that would otherwise be transferred to the truck and 5th wheel:

That looks like an awesome hitch but I would never pay that much for one, it costs FOUR times what my B&W costs!
Dang! I have no brand loyalty at all, and our Patriot is the first hitch we’ve ever owned. If the Hensley was “only” a grand and mine worked horribly, then I might be in the market, but to be honest I don’t experience any issues, chucking or otherwise, so I can’t see ever needing to get anything else, regardless of cost.

Then again, like I always say it’s about priorities, and I’m the weirdo that spent $10k on solar.




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[AFpilot09]

Just got through this myself. My dad has the 20k companion in his ‘18 F350 SRW for their Montana. It is nice but I went with the BD5 for my ‘19 F350 DRW.

I did so for a variety of reasons. My truck goes into the 28K+ range and the companion is a 20k hitch. Companion makes a 25k hitch as well but it is $500 more. The BD5 has a 28k rating so it matches my truck.

The 25K hitch was 1600+ quoted from the dealer I purchased my Solitude from. The BD5 was 3100 delivered to a warehouse down the street from me. It wasn’t 3-4x the price like some rave. It was less than double. Still a notable difference but not 4x like some claim.

The ride is amazing. I have nothing bad to say. It is really amazing to watch it work.

It reduces the stress on both truck and camper. It remains to be seen if that is enough to warrant the extra money.

But the ride. My goodness the ride is nice. I could forget the camper was there at times. The ride alone is worth the extra.

I tried to come up with pro/cons for the two. The only ones in favor of the Companion: price, and the companion brakes in half so it weighs less to install and take out.

[LV Naturist]

Just got through this myself. My dad has the 20k companion in his ‘18 F350 SRW for their Montana. It is nice but I went with the BD5 for my ‘19 F350 DRW.

I did so for a variety of reasons. My truck goes into the 28K+ range and the companion is a 20k hitch. The companion makes a 25k hitch as well but it is $500 more. The BD5 has a 28k rating so it matches my truck.

The 25K hitch was 1600+ quoted from the dealer I purchased my Solitude from. The BD5 was 3100 delivered to a warehouse down the street from me. It wasn’t 3-4x the price like some rave. It was less than double. Still a notable difference but not 4x like some claim.

The ride is amazing. I have nothing bad to say. It is really amazing to watch it work.

It reduces the stress on both truck and camper. It remains to be seen if that is enough to warrant the extra money.

But the ride. My goodness the ride is nice. I could forget the camper was there at times. The ride alone is worth the extra.

I tried to come up with pro/cons for the two. The only ones in favor of the Companion: price, and the companion brakes in half so it weighs less to install and take out.

WOW, $1,600 +? No wonder why they call them "stealerships". I bought my 25k B&W Companion for the GM puck system from etrailer for $1,250 delivered to the warehouse where I work. No shipping charge and no sales tax.

John

[AFpilot09]

WOW, $1,600 +? No wonder why they call them "stealerships". I bought my 25k B&W Companion for the GM puck system from etrailer for $1,250 delivered to the warehouse where I work. No shipping charge and no sales tax.

John

Nice, if I had looked a bit harder I would probably have found that out but I had already settled on the BD5. Figured if I got the Companion I would never upgrade or if I did it would be money wasted when I eventually picked up the BD5.

It is hard to go wrong either way. The Companion is a very nice hitch and my parents really like theirs. I really like the BD5 as well.

IMO if you have 3K for a hitch, no comparison, get the BD5. If you want to save some $$$ and still have a very nice hitch, get the companion. Hard to go wrong either way.