Shocker Hitch Review for towing camper trailer with a Mercedes/Dodge Sprinter Van
- Daniel Soulbuilt
- 3 hours ago
- 4 min read
I tested the Shocker Hitch for towing a trailer with the Sprinter Van. The difference compared to using a standard (anti-rattle) hitch was shocking, lol.
Bumps aren’t transmitted from the trailer to the tow vehicle. With the Shocker Hitch, you feel the tow vehicle hit bumps, but you don’t feel it when the trailer hits the bumps. Without the Shocker Hitch, you feel when the tow vehicle hits the bumps, and again when the trailer hits the bumps.
Reduces porpoising of the tow vehicle. This is when the trailer induces oscillations in the tow vehicle, causing the rear to rise and fall, which in turn makes the front rise and fall. The Shocker Hitch greatly reduces this effect, making the ride smoother over bouncy roads.
Dampens braking and acceleration push/pull effect. Without the Shocker Hitch, braking and acceleration can cause a jarring push/pull effect. The trailer brakes need to engage before the tow vehicle brakes, which can jerk the tow vehicle. When accelerating, the tow vehicle can jerk the trailer. The Shocker Hitch dampens that effect.
Reduces general road vibration.
Built in anti-rattle. The airbag presses under the receiver of the tow vehicle and compresses the hitch into place, preventing it from rattling or moving around. This is an amazing feature. There are very few trailer hitches with built in anti rattle devices.(these are common in bike racks).
The Shocker Hitch provided a substantial improvement in trailer towing comfort and is well worth the cost. However, the standard Shocker Hitch airbag goes under the hitch. This reduces the hitch's ground clearance. That may not be a problem for a jacked-up pickup truck, but for a Sprinter Van, this greatly reduces the ground clearance. I could not even pull the camper out of my driveway, and would scrape many places. I had to switch to a standard hitch to pull the camper in and out of the driveway, park it in the road, and then swap to the Shocker Hitch. It was a bit of a pita.
Tongue Mount Shocker Hitch
To solve the low ground clearance issue with the receiver mount shocker hitch, I had to look at a different method of mounting the shocker device.
Shocker sells a tongue mount version that attaches between the trailer tongue and coupler. That requires a trailer with a removable/adjustable coupler, usually only found on heavy-duty cargo trailers.
Shocker sells a replacement trailer tongue coupler adapter that can be used to upgrade your trailer tongue coupler to an adjustable one. It requires cutting off the original coupler and welding on a new, adjustable-height coupler. Seems like a daunting task, but it’s not that difficult to DIY if you have an angle grinder and a welder, and even easier if you hire a mobile welder to do it for you.
Anti-Rattle, Wobble Free Hitch
With the Shocker air bag mounted on the tounge of the trailer, a standard hitch is used on the tow vehicle. Regular hitches suck because they are loose and wiggle around. This rattling can be felt in the tow vehicle.
Good bike racks have some form of anti-rattle, anti-wobble device in the part of the hitch that fits in the receiver. This is usually some type of wedge that is tightened from a bolt. The best are the ones that have the wedge in a corner, because it pushes the hitch into the other corner and prevents it from moving either up/down or side to side.
There are many cheap solutions for trying to tighten the hitch from the receiver opening flange. This is not the best place to do this and most of these devices bend, break bolts, require frequent retightening and in general do a poor job.
There are very few anti-rattle or anti-wobble hitches available. The only one I could find is the Pulldog, which works great, but they now appear to be out of business.
The closest other anti-rattle hitch I could find is this wobble free hitch extension by Wilco Offroad
Damping The Motion
The shocker hitch uses an air bag as the spring. The air bag is made of rubber and may offer some damping, but it is still a spring and subject to rebound. Adding a damper will better control the rebound and prevent oscillations. I can sometimes feel the trailer's oscillations.
Air Safe hitches use a damper on their higher load hitches, like class VII and above (T.W.: 2,000-2,500 lbs.
G.T.W.: 25,000 lbs. Shank: 2.5"/3"".) Their lower load hitches don't have the dampers (but that doesn't mean that they wouldn't also benefit from them).
Airsafe doesn't have the shocks listed for sale on their site, and there are no details as to their length. They look most similar to cab suspension shock absorbers, like these:
Extended Length (in.): 10.88
Collapsed Length (in.): 7.88
Notes: Mounts are 1/2 in ID by 1 5/8 in. long upper sleeve and 1/2 in. ID by 2 1/4 in. lower sleeve.
They are relatively compact, and have 3 inches of travel, which is plenty.
WHERE TO BUY:
Other shock absorbor options:
These are approximately the correct lengths and travel, but almost all of them come with a spring.
Golf cart shock absorbers
Golf cart shock absorbers are another option that is approximately the correct size for this application.
Club Car DS 1981-08 Front Shock Absorber
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The products shown here were purchased by me with the intent to use them. I did not receive any free items, and I am not being paid or compensated for this review. The video, description, and comments may contain affiliate links. If you click on a link, I may receive a commission. Money earned helps to support my channel and bring you more informative videos about engineering, crafting, and DIY
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