COLD TESTED

There’ s an old quip that says,

“ It’ s easy to be paranoid when you know that everybody is out to get you!” I have my own take on that. Despite having pulled trailers filled with snowmobiles, ATVs, boats and other items for more than 30 years, I’ d say,“ It’ s easy to be paranoid when your trailer is always coming loose!”

For whatever reason, even after decades of hauling stuff, I’ m always just a bit nervous that something will go wrong with my connection when the trailer bobs, jerks, clunks and sways behind me. To calm my nerves, I’ ve become increasingly curious about the cushioned systems I heard and read about in recent years. It was time to open up the wallet, blow out the moths and get one.

I chose the Shocker 20k Impact Max Cushion Hitch. My research told me it featured two urethane pucks that cushion the irregular movement of the trailer within the hitch system itself. That sounded ideal – but was it too good to be true?

The first impression when the box arrived:“ Holy Schmidt is this heavy. Are there four of them in the box?” Nope. All 33 pounds is one adjustable hitch system with a steel, tank-like build.

It is a two-part system. Sticking out of one end of the main base frame assembly is a 7-inch-long, 2-inchsquare receiver shank that fits into my GMC Yukon’ s mount. On the other end is a 10-inch-tall, vertical riser with seven sets of parallel round holes – all 1-inch apart on center – drilled into the trailer-facing side. Between the two, on the top( or bottom; more on that later) of the vertical riser are the two round urethane pucks measuring about 2.5 inches in diameter. A red one is on the truck-facing side and a black one is on the trailer-facing side. That unit weighs 21 pounds.

A separate, Y-shaped dual-ball mount can then be affixed into the main unit using sets of the previously mentioned seven parallel holes and some hearty D-handle pins. Like the main unit, this dual-ball assembly is super sturdy – weighing 12 pounds – with a 2-inch ball mounted on one side and a 2 5 / 16 on the other.( I ordered it this way because I pull multiple trailers throughout the year with varying required ball sizes, but single ball attachments and many other options are also available.)

One key to the system is its high level of adjustability. The main unit can mount pucks-up or pucks-down. That, plus the seven sets of holes, allows for up to 8 inches of height adjustment – which is important if you tow multiple trailers.

The first time I used the Shocker Impact Max system was when pulling an empty trailer to pick up our demo snowmobiles last December. Quite frankly, on the way to the dealership, I was underwhelmed with the results. The empty trailer bumped along behind me like empty trailers usually

INFO

Shocker Hitch LLC Shocker 20k Impact Max Cushion Hitch- $ 413.99 as tested Jamestown, North Dakota Shockerhitch. com

STURDY: The robust Impact Max system is rated to pull a 20,000-pound trailer and / or have 2,000 pounds of tongue weight, so it is overkill for my uses. But it worked very well.

ADJUSTABILITY: Having up to 4 inches of rise or drop in ball height is handy, but due to my Yukon’ s high receiver I could have used more drop. I blame my truck’ s setup, though, not the Shocker system.

OPTIONS: If you tow particularly heavy trailers or RVs, Shocker has other systems that integrate an air bag along with the two urethane pucks, plus mounts for sway control bars

do – making a fair amount of noise. I had hoped the system would damp some of that chaos.

However, once the weight of the sleds was in the trailer, the pucks worked their magic impressively – quieting the noise behind me and absorbing much of the energy that I usually feel or hear in the truck.

Over the course of the winter, spring and summer, I pulled multiple twoand four-place enclosed snowmobile trailers of different shapes plus two different boats using the system. Each time I came away impressed with the difference it made in absorbing energy.

The Shocker Hitch marketing materials say the system can help to control sway – which seems like it could be an exaggeration. So, I tested it when towing a four-place trailer on snowcovered highways on a particularly windy day. I drove with the Shocker Hitch for a while and then pulled over in a truck stop and switched to my previous, unsuspended hitch system. Sure enough, without the Shocker Hitch system the trailer danced more behind my truck.

I came away very impressed. I never thought I’ d want to spend $ 400 on a trailer ball system, but I am beyond pleased with the results.

- Staff Report

52 / JANUARY 2026 / SNOWGOER. COM