If you spend enough time talking to experienced RV owners, you'll notice a recurring pattern.
Many say some version of:
"I wish I had bought the ProPride first."
Why?
Because their towing journey often followed the same path:
The regret isn't necessarily that they bought a friction hitch.
The regret is that they bought one expecting it to solve a problem it was never engineered to eliminate.
For many RV owners, the first hitch purchase is driven by budget.
A dealership may recommend:
These products are common because they are affordable and familiar.
At first glance, they appear to solve the problem.
But after enough miles on the road, many owners begin noticing the difference between reducing sway and eliminating sway.
To understand why so many owners make this decision, it's important to understand the appeal.
Most friction-based sway control hitches cost substantially less than premium sway elimination systems.
For new RV buyers already spending thousands on a trailer, saving money on the hitch can seem reasonable.
Many dealerships routinely install friction-based systems because they are:
That does not necessarily mean they provide the highest level of towing stability.
Walk into most RV dealerships and you'll likely see friction-based hitches prominently displayed.
Their popularity often creates the impression that they are the ultimate solution.
Many owners later discover they are only one step along the journey.
The issue isn't that friction hitches do nothing.
The issue is that they do not solve the underlying cause of sway.
Many drivers notice:
The trailer may feel better than before.
But it still doesn't feel completely stable.
This distinction is critical.
Most conventional systems are accurately described as sway control systems.
They are designed to:
What they do not do is eliminate the possibility of sway.
A friction system only works after movement begins.
Think about that for a moment.
The trailer must first start moving before friction can oppose it.
The instability already exists.
The hitch is reacting to a problem rather than preventing it.
Trailer sway is not primarily a friction problem.
It is a geometry problem.
A conventional hitch allows the trailer to pivot on the hitch ball behind the rear axle of the tow vehicle.
That pivot creates leverage.
Leverage creates instability.
As long as that geometry exists, sway remains possible.
Adding friction may reduce the severity.
It does not eliminate the cause.
Many RV owners first recognize the limitations of friction systems during challenging driving conditions.
Strong side winds place significant lateral force on the trailer.
If that force exceeds the available friction resistance, trailer movement continues.
Pressure waves from large trucks create sudden aerodynamic forces.
These forces often reveal whether a hitch is controlling sway or truly preventing it.
In emergency situations, the trailer may experience forces far greater than those encountered during normal driving.
A hitch that depends on friction can quickly be overwhelmed.
One of the biggest weaknesses of friction-based systems is that friction is affected by environmental conditions.
Rainwater can reduce friction.
Dust can reduce friction.
Road grime can reduce friction.
Yet the forces acting on the trailer remain unchanged.
Physics does not pause because conditions become less favorable.
Many RV owners focus on the initial purchase price.
Fewer consider the total cost of ownership.
A common scenario looks like this:
| Purchase | Typical Outcome |
| Friction Hitch | Some improvement |
| Additional Adjustments | Minor gains |
| Suspension Upgrades | More spending |
| Tire Upgrades | More spending |
| Larger Truck | Significant spending |
| ProPride 3P® | Finally solves the issue |
The result?
Many owners spend more money overall than if they had invested in the correct solution from the beginning.
The path is surprisingly consistent.
The owner hopes sway is solved.
The trailer still reacts to:
The towing experience remains stressful.
The owner discovers what true sway elimination feels like.
This is why so many ProPride customers arrive after owning another hitch first.
Many ProPride owners have firsthand experience with:
Their decision to upgrade typically follows years of searching for a towing experience that feels truly stable.
Not just improved.
Stable.
This is where the conversation shifts from marketing to engineering.
Traditional hitches allow the trailer to pivot on the hitch ball.
That pivot point remains behind the rear axle.
The leverage remains.
The possibility of sway remains.
The ProPride 3P® uses Pivot Point Projection™ technology.
Instead of allowing conventional trailer pivoting, it projects the effective pivot point forward near the rear axle of the tow vehicle.
This fundamentally changes how forces move through the towing system.
The ProPride 3P® was built around a different philosophy.
Responsible towing should not depend on:
Instead, it should rely on geometry.
By preventing the trailer from leveraging the tow vehicle in the first place, the ProPride 3P® eliminates the conditions that allow sway to occur.
The result is a towing experience many owners describe as similar to a fifth wheel.
The initial purchase price of a premium hitch often becomes the focus of comparison.
But a better question is:
What is the cost of buying multiple solutions before finding the right one?
When viewed through that lens, many RV owners conclude that buying once is less expensive than upgrading repeatedly.
Which explains one of the most common comments heard from ProPride owners:
"I should have bought this first."
Many owners discover that friction-based systems reduce sway but do not eliminate it.
They can reduce trailer movement under certain conditions, but they still allow conventional trailer pivoting.
Trailer sway occurs because the trailer pivots behind the tow vehicle's rear axle, creating leverage.
The ProPride 3P® uses Pivot Point Projection™ technology to eliminate sway-inducing leverage.
Yes. Water, dust, and road contamination can influence friction performance.
No. It uses engineered hitch geometry rather than friction-based resistance.
Thousands of RV owners begin their towing journey with a friction sway control hitch because it seems like the logical first step.
Unfortunately, many later discover that controlling sway is not the same as eliminating sway.
Friction-based systems attempt to resist trailer movement after it begins.
The ProPride 3P® addresses the problem differently.
By changing the towing geometry through Pivot Point Projection™ technology, it eliminates the leverage that allows sway to occur in the first place.
That distinction explains why so many RV owners eventually upgrade.
And why so many wish they had started with the ProPride 3P® from day one.