True....they should at least provide or make it well known that a weight distribution hitch is needed in addition to their hardware to tow the crap they show on TV commercials.

one more

Alright so I found the thread but couldn't get to the pics Burbman posted. To quote the owner himself:
"Bottom line, the receiver had faulty welds that cracked under repeated stress and fatigue, until the receiver could not support the lateral load that the HA put on it." He also admits he was over the vehicle's GVW by a few hundred lbs, which I'm guessing was because of significant tongue weight.
I haven't bothered to look up what a "Hensely" hitch is, but it sounds like it puts an extra load on the receiver.
Not trying to defend the GM hitch, just wanted to hear the whole story.

So you know him? I dont, just found them on another site I visit. It looks like the metal tore....dont see any bad welds. Too much tongue weight?.....most likely.

Just looking at the lack of structure in that hitch should be enough to tell you it won't pull anything heavy.

I agree, saw one something like that, but the load had shifted and put thousands of pounds weight on the tongue, he was lucky the frame didn't give.

A Hensley hitch is a hitch that has a substructure built underneath the vehical, Im talking bars that reach up underneath the front doors, so the wieght of the trailer is supported by the WHOLE truck (or car), not just a small section behind the rear wheels......takes like 6 hours for the shop to install the hitch....pretty serious hitch.

my buddy has one and he towed a 32ft (lightwieght) twin axle house trailer (pretty sure it has an aluminum frame) from Toronto to Vancouver and back with ........get this......an Intrepid R/T.......no probs.......and last summer went from Toronto to Orlando with it......again no probs.......needless to say I was skeptical at first.

http://www.hensleymfg.com/
Wow, cool stuff coming out of Hensley.
I really like that wheel chock, too.

Guy says he was making a turn and slowing also. The trailer brakes werent turned up enough and the hensley antisway was installed so a bit much force was applied at the off center angle...thus pushing the reciver away from the centerline towards one of the rear tires and tearing off the reciever. He was over the GCVW, but on the truck side not the trailer side.

My 2500hd hitch said 7500lbs weight carrying and 12000lbs weight distributing. After I lifted it, I was afraid that the added moment of the drop hitch would only make matters worse, especially when towing my dad's 12000lbs boat. So I upgraded to the Putnam (~$200) and it is a much stronger unit. At least it is one less thing to worry about.