Shocker Hitch

[chappie]

Wonder if any D40 owners have had any experience with this hitch and have any thoughts on it ? I am looking at smoothing the movement between vehicle and caravan under some road conditions. Space and depth a possible issue.
Links to website, there is an Australian distributor.
http://shockerhitch.com/Receiver_Hitch.php

 

[tweak'e]

problems i see with that is ground clearance. really common to bottom out the tow bar without that big extra bit they have under the tow bar.

also i have some doubts with the action of it. trailers pivot on the axle. that tow ball pivots the opposite way. so when trailer pushes the rear of the ute down its also trying to go back a bit, plus the tow ball is pivoting down and going forward a bit. so you would end up with the trailer speeding up then slowing down as the tow ball moves up and down.

there is another one around that uses springs and the tow ball goes straight up/down rather than an arc from a pivot point.

 

[happy john]

Wonder if any D40 owners have had any experience with this hitch and have any thoughts on it ? I am looking at smoothing the movement between vehicle and caravan under some road conditions. Space and depth a possible issue.
Links to website, there is an Australian distributor.
http://shockerhitch.com/Receiver_Hitch.php

What are you pulling there Chappie?, looks like around 2.2t would it interfere with the WDH?.

 

[chappie]

What are you pulling there Chappie?, looks like around 2.2t would it interfere with the WDH?.

Happy John,
I have 21 foot Avida Sapphire fully loaded close to 2.9t with load sharing suspension. I have no WDH

 

[happy john]

Happy John,
I have 21 foot Avida Sapphire fully loaded close to 2.9t with load sharing suspension. I have no WDH

I've seen this discussed on the caravan forum and a few others, most that used it had no problem one chap had a leaking air bag. Not cheap either so good to get some proper advice from anyone that uses one.

 

[Old.Tony]

I haven't used one, and don't think I would. The WDH that I do use helps to keep the car level and the weight back on the front axle. Have tried towing without the WDH (both of our caravans, a 1.8T and a 2.5T) and when on loose surfaces it gets a little hairy at high speeds (I posted a photo that I took driving on Box Creek Road in the desert north of Balranald travelling at 100km/h - I had a WDH on, which kept the front wheels firmly on the ground and retained control. It's especially important for braking.

If these hitches can't use a WDH then I certainly won't ever try one.