Use of Shock drop hitch or Curt Rocker Ball hitch

den

Roads are bumpy --   Tab and Truck share the shock and so does my body
Any experience with the use of shock drop hitches that utilize air bag or   experience with Curt Rocker Ball ?

ChrisFix

den said:

Roads are bumpy --   Tab and Truck share the shock and so does my body
Any experience with the use of shock drop hitches that utilize air bag or   experience with Curt Rocker Ball ?

I don't have experience with either of those Curt brand hitches, but use something similar in concept. The Curt Rocker Ball isn't nearly stout enough IMHO to offer any real benefits. The Shock Drop looks more promising, and is more in line with what I'm using:
Gen Y Torsion Flex
https://genyhitch.com/product/the-glyder-torsion-flex-hitch/

It does dampen the effect of the trailer on the truck. Not a magic solution that makes you forget you have a large weight attached to the bumper, but not too far off from that either.  The only downside is that the Gen-Y is pricey, but it is built like a tank and is very well engineered.
Also it is for trailers with 400-700lb tongue weights, so it works great with the T@B 400, but is too heavily sprung for the 320 (you don't mention what your rig is).

CharlieRN

I have the Curt Rocker Ball and am pleased with the way it smooths things out when starting/stopping and over highway imperfections. You're still aware that you're towing, but there's less bumping & thumping. Its effect is less pronounced on very rough roads, but still provides some improvement.

My experience with the Rocker Ball is in towing a 320 however.

DenverJaguar

I ordered a rockerball.I need a 2 inch rise ball mount with the rockerball to get me right about 21 inches in total rise (the rockerball is about 1.5 inches taller than a standard 2 inch ball). I am looking forward to seeing how it performs. I think anyone towing without a body-on-frame truck should get something like this. 

den

thanks for the input   I have 320 Outback from 2017  so looks like i try the Curt Rocker Ball

akarjala

I just purchased a Curt Rebellion XD. We are currently on our trip with it. I have to say it made a huge difference in ride. The hitch dampens both forward and back and up and down motion. It was also much quieter to tow with. It was expensive, but for me I think it will be worth it in the long run.  I also tow with a 3/4 ton pickup with a diesel so choose to have a beefy drop hitch to tow our 400. May not make sense for lighter trailers. 

AnOldUR

techietab said:

When I first bought my Tab, I installed a Curt RockerBall on my tow vehicle, and had a lot of noticeable forwards-backwards jerking, especially when braking. After several months, I removed it and replaced it with a normal Curt hitch mount and ball, and all of the jerking motion disappeared.

Just finished setting up and going on a few test runs with our (new to us) Cherokee Trailhawk. Read about the Curt RockerBall and it sounded like a great idea. Given the right road conditions (old concrete with bad perpendicular seams) my Wrangler would buck, so I thought this would prevent it with the new tow vehicle. Big mistake. Braking or bumpy road gave me the same results that @techietab experienced, a lot of jerking and hitch noise. Switched to a solid ball and the problem was gone. Some of you have had luck with this product, but for me it was a waste of $62.

edit to add that Amazon gave me a full refund, so all's good. Lesson learned.

DenverJaguar

I had the Rockerball and had a lot of noise and "judder," but I wasn't sure if it was the culprit. I just changed to a Volvo ball and it got rid of maybe 85% of the problem. Wish I'd done it sooner!