ROADMASTER061 Quiet Hitch, Black

Although I was skeptical about whether this would eliminate hitch rattle, so far it was worked really well. There are a couple of tricks in using it though. One, position it so it holds the receiver ball mount down against the receiver, not up. My experience is that in the up position, it will not hold and you get the rattle back. Two, you need space between the bumper and the receiver hitch or it may be challenging to use the Roadmaster or the ends of the U bolt could even mar you rear bumper. We have a 2012 Ford F150 with factory tow package- the receiver on the truck does not stick out very far. The first time I used the Roadmaster, I marred the plastic cover on my rear bumper because the ends of the U bolt stuck up too high. When I reversed the unit to clear the bumper and hold the hitch in the up position, it did not hold. I turned it back around, but measured how much I could cut off each side of the U bolt to clear my bumper. In order to get the clearance I needed, I had to eliminate the second nut on each side so that I could shorten the U bolt more. The nuts supplied with the Roadmaster have held tight, even using just one on each side. Since the ends of the U- bolt have been cut, there is no rust-proof cladding to protect them and they will rust if they get wet. If Roadmaster did more R&D, rather than offer only a universal system for all 2" receivers, they could offer the correct length for each truck model so that owners don't have to make the modifications themselves. Since I hate the rattle of unrestrained ball mounts in receiver hitches, I am willing to put up with the tasks of putting this on and off each time I tow. I bet there is a better idea out there, and Roadmaster should find it and bring it to market. The Roadmaster system seems a bit expensive for what you get (it can't possibility cost more than $2 to make these units) but so far it works.

I'll start with one important note: This will not fit a 2011-2013 (mine is 2012) Jeep Grand Cherokee correctly. There is not enough clearance between the flange on the hitch receiver and the safety chain dropouts. When correctly installed (there are misleading pictures floating around) the inserted hitch should be pulled down by the cross-bar, keeping the hitch from lifting. It can be installed incorrectly in a way that pulls the hitch up, but then all the stress and tongue weight will be put on the Quiet Hitch.To be clear, correctly installed, the shackle (U-bolt) should go under the receiver and behind the flange on the receiver (closer to the vehicle), then the cross bar should be placed on top of the inserted hitch toward the trailer, cargo carrier, etc.The fitment problem is not a fault of the Quiet Hitch, but of the short-clearance design of the receiver on the Grand Cherokee. This unit cannot be expected to fit every receiver ever created. I was hoping it would fit, but I'll have to go with the  StowAway Hitch Tightener  as it's design should work with my receiver.I did use this unit on a camping trip to hold up (incorrectly installed) a light cargo carrier rack loaded with firewood. I figured the lower weight wouldn't stress the shackle in any way approaching a large trailer. It did work well, and there was no noise or movement from the cargo carrier, even down a rough off-road trail while loaded down with firewood.The one negative I could find was the selection of nuts used. Unless there's an issue of reliability, I personally would have swapped the individual locking washer and jam nuts with single locking Nylock style nuts. It's possible their own research has shown the jam nut combination to be more safe, but I'd go for ease-of-use with a single nut if it were still as effective.As opposed to returning it, I'll likely just sell it to a friend to recover my costs and get the Stowaway Tightener. I'm sure we'll both be happy.

Will eventually bend and break but a great idea overall. Needs to be made with better materials

This works as advertised, and does quiet the hitch bounce. However, on my hitch, I've had to tighten the nuts every day of towing. I think the U-bolt is stretching with the stress of the bouncing it constrains, and is conforming itself to the outline of my hitch receiver. There was lots of free-play after the first towing day, about the same the second, and much less the third. After stretching/ before tightening, I heard hitch bounce, i.e., noise, alerting me to the need to tighten the nuts. I'm worried I will run out of thread before all the stretching and conforming are complete. Still, I recommend this product to you, the reader.August 2015 update after a long tow: same comments still apply. I DID run out of thread. I just cut another 1/2" of thread on both legs (3/16" x 16tpi) and replaced the locking nuts with grade 8 nuts. I think this will make the hitch perform as desired.

I am using two of these "Quiet Hitch" u-bolts to take the rattle out of a Blue Ox 4" drop receiver with a Blue Ox BX7365 Alpha 6,500lb Tow Bar. I have two different Class III receiver opening profiles -- one is square and the other has more rounded corners. The "Quiet Hitch" worked perfectly on both of these (2") receivers. Before ordering, I read some comments that suggested it does not work on all receivers.Blue OX makes what appears to be a better product that clamps both vertically and horizontally to stop hitch noise, but Blue Ox is twice the price of Roadmaster's solution. The Roadmaster bolt only clamps the connection in the vertical direction. I decided to try the lower cost alternative from Roadmaster and it works great -- lt feels like the system is welded in place.Initially the Roadmaster Quiet Hitch seemed too light weight, but I like the malleability of the bolt. It 'wrapped' around a big weld and contoured to the shape using the correct torque spec. If I was pulling more than 4 or 5000lbs I would have probably gone with the Blue Ox.

This stopped the movement on my hitch adapter to my RV tow bar. This is built to last.