Adding the Gen Y Boss Torsion Hitch Mount

 When towing the travel trailer over the wavy-rolling roads in Central PA, I noticed a distinct "bucking" in the seat of the pants. It increased in magnitude with speed, enough to be of concern.

I considered that one "fix" would be to upgrade the rear shocks on the truck. Also considered upgrading the trailer suspension, including the addition of shocks/dampers to address what some call "chucking".  Finally, I thought perhaps the 1000 pound Blue Ox arms were too strong and that maybe 750 pound arms would less apt to cause a "whipping/spring" action.

Before taking those steps, I decided to try the Gen Y Boss Torsion Hitch that isolates the vertical movement at the hitch ball.  I went with the 10000# version that is rated for 400-1100 pounds tongue weight.

It essentially provides a rubber spring that absorbs some of the movement at the "hinge" point of the combination--the hitch ball. 

If the bucking is caused by the trailer's equalizer suspension "chucking" I do not think the Gen Y will cure the problem. But, the bucking did not seem to be related to the trailer axles moving over bumps, but rathere the rocking motion of the truck and trailer moving over wavy roads causing the vertical load on the hitch to change.  

Blue Ox 10000 Stock

The Gen Y hitch is considerably heavier than the Blue Ox stock one. Total assembly is now 97 pounds! I positioned so that the top of the ball was the same 22 inches without the trailer, as when using the Blue Ox stock head.

The Blue Ox weight distribution bars will perform the same as before. The only difference is that the trailer can move up/down at a different magnitude than the truck.  The truck and trailer's vertical motion is somewhat isolated--hence the trailer with a high center of gravity that causes be more sensitive to fore/aft rolling motion will impart less of that motion to the truck--making the truck more stable. 

The Gen Y hitch will also reduce the jarring motion from the relatively stiff truck suspension when the truck goes over bumps.

As mentioned, the hitch with the Gen Y now weighs in at 97 pounds and creates a potential for back injury for an old man lifting "out" to insert into the receiver, so I built a "install/remove/store" jack fixture.  Essentially the wooden frame holds the hitch and sits on an inexpensive light duty floor jack. Rolls on concrete and asphalt easily.  Hold the hitch steady while jacking to height and roll into or out of reciever.

Built with a 2x6 base and scrap 1x for legs and supports. Machined a hole to keep the jack head centered. The hole should be just forward of the CG so it does not want to slide forward off the platform while jacking. 

Some would just leave the hitch installed, but I remove unless I am using the travel trailer: 1) to minimize exposure to weather; 2) To reduce risk of theft; 3) So truck will fit in garage; 4) To reduce risk of backing into another vehicle; and 5) The back up warning beeper goes off when installed. 

It is common to hear anecdotes about the "bucking" with all kinds of explanations. My analysis is that the phenomenon is related to the relatively high center of gravity of the trailer.  As the trailer and truck move over wavy roads, the trailer tongue moves up and down--the trailer is "rotating" about the trailer tires and the high CG creates momentum that exagerates and extends the rotation. In addition, the rotation causes the ball socket to move fore and aft---hence the bucking. This is less noticable with flat trailers with low CG and where the tongue tends to be lower. This explains in part why most travel trailers tow better with the ball socket lower with a slight nose down trailer attitude. 

The Gen Y did significantly reduce the bucking. Testing indicated that best setup for the 1000# Blue Ox bars was with 8 loose links for an empty trailer. This resulted in a "flat" truck attitude. (37.5" front and rear wheel well) 9 loose links likely to be best for a more heavily loaded trailer. To hook and unhook the chains, it is advisable to raise the hitch up about 2 inches higher than "empty" or about the same height as the trailer jack is set when putting the ball under the receiver socket. Since you have to have the ball and receiver connected, this requires raising the trailer twice--once to hookup the receiver, and then once again to hook up the chains---same with unhooking.