Shock Absorbing Trailer Hitch??

[Mark Zivley]

Greetings,

I have a heavy and long trailer.   Going down the road I get constant pitch inputs that are annoying.   I'm towing with a F-150 Supercrew, so not a small, lightweight vehicle.

One thought was more weight in the bed of the pickup, but then I also remembered seeing the Shocker Hitch video some time back.

https://shockerhitch.com/

Has anyone tried one of their hitches for towing a glider trailer?  If so, did it help?  I'm less concerned about sway, but pitch.

Thanks,

Mark

[Brian Nightingale]

You need tongue weight

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[Eric Greenwell]

Perhaps a shock absorbing hitch would work, but I'd try redistributing the trailer load first. If the tongue weight is less than 5% of the trailer weight, increasing the tongue load might help to as much as 10%. Be sure the hitch, tongue, and pickup can handle the increased load. If you could get that tongue weight by moving the trailer axle back, that would also increase the tow stability. Moving the axle is likely awkward, but redistributing the load can help, too: for example, move tools, wing cover bags, whatever from behind the axle to ahead of the axle. Move weight that is already ahead of the axle further forward.

[Andrzej Kobus]

I am not sure this will work with the light weight trailers we have. The lowest weight they have is 14k. The force on the ball plays a role in this shock absorber working properly.

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[Matthew Scutter]

What trailer do you have? The Cobras and AVIONIC's have some kind of damper on the front from ALKO.

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[Hank Nixon]

We have a GenY shock absorbing hitch. It does a good job of reducing the sharp pitch forces.

UH

[Scott Gross]

I have the Gen Y also and it works great. The Glyder

Scott W2

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 5, 2026, at 7:25 AM, Hank Nixon <uncl...@earthlink.net> wrote:

We have a GenY shock absorbing hitch. It does a good job of reducing the sharp pitch forces.

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[Charles Mampe]

We also have a hitch clamp on the RV (where we have the GenY hitch), between the 2, clunks have disappeared when trailering.

Only "downside" to the hitch, the ball drops a fair bit once the trailer jack is stowed. When you go to pull the hitch off the ball, the torsion raises the ball inches as the weight comes off. Thus, lots of jacking to disengage.

[Mark Zivley]

Hank,

Thanks for the good info.   Also Thanks to Scott.

Hank, which model did you purchase?

Mark

[Hank Nixon]

We got the Glyder Gen Y like Scott has.

See his info above.

[Mark Zivley]

Hank, Scott,

Many thanks.   Two votes for Glyder.  I'll order one today.

Mark

[John Iacobucci]

My recent experience with anoying alarming pitching events was when trailering an Arcus M with a Ford Expedition extended body with all the towing options.  The front compartment was loaded with much gear including electric wing rigging device and all that which is necessary to bring to a contest.  The wing and fuselage covers where placed alongside the fuselage midway within the trailer.  The first three hours of trailering were troublesome at 65 miles an hour.  I removed the heavy electric wing rigging device, along with some other heavy gear, and placed it in the rear of the auto's cargo area, giving more weight to the rear of the vehicle over the rear wheel/suspension.  This cured the pitching problem and I was quite comfortable towing at 70 miles per hour.  That experience convinced me that tongue weight was not the only factor for stability while towing long heavy trailers balanced on only one axle. Just my two cents.

[Eric Greenwell]

This might be a "center of percussion" issue. When you removed the electric wing rigger and other weight from the front of the trailer, you reduced the tongue weight and moved the trailer CG rearward. That moves the center of percussion rearward as well, closer to the axle, which would reduce the pitching effects. Do you know what the tongue weight was before doing that? Or what it is now? 

[John Iacobucci]

I regret that I did not record any data as to the tongue weight.  The weight was more than I could lift as I did rely on the front wheel crank to adjust height so I could align the ball of the car hitch to the trailer tongue receiver. I did try to lift the tongue before hitching up, but I could not lift it.  The cabin cargo region of the Expedition (extended wheel base version) was not heavily loaded.  Most of my personal gear was in a car top carrier.

I have seen scales that can measure tongue weight for the trailer tongue hitch.  There must be an spreadsheet program that could help with proper loading limits.  I would think that equations exist that factor in gross weight, length of trailer, axle placement, tongue weight, etc., could help improve the safety of trailering glider trailers.

As for "center of percussion", I plead ignorant and must delve into the concept. 

Thank you for your reply, Eric.

Wishing you all the best in your gliding retirement !  Your contributions to this most beautiful sport are legend, and greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

[Charles Mampe]

What do you run your tire pressures at? Both the tow vehicle and the trailer. That can have a big effect on handling as well. Some vehicles have you raise tire pressure when towing to stiffen the tire sidewall. Also, if you replaced vehicle tires with car tires, you can have softer sidewalls.

[Eric Greenwell]

John - thanks for the kudos. I enjoy the conversations, and that it's helping people.

"The "center of percussion" (COP) is a physics term for the "sweet spot" where an impact creates zero reactive force at the pivot point". Because you are experiencing pitching, not swaying, it doesn't seem the usual suspects (tire pressure, tire type, etc) are factors.

You may have a bathroom scale that reads high enough to measure your tongue weight. I put a block of wood on top of mine, then a bottle jack, and slip it under the trailer tongue. A few pumps on the jack handle raises the tongue wheel off the ground, and I can get the weight from the scale reading. 

[Hank Nixon]

 Further to John's observations:

It is worth remembering that the hitch assembly places the load well aft of the rear suspension which will allow whatever forces the trailer applies to have more leverage to pitch the vehicle.  Moving stuff forward reduces this.

We move heavy stuff into the tow vehicle as close to the center of the vehicle as we can. This includes tool boxes, glider motor battery, and other heavy items. On lighter vehicles it can pay to put them more forward between the front and rear seats if there is room.

Using the shortest hitch assembly available can also help. 

UH