I have recently purchased a used boat which I am very happy with.
However, the trailer has me bugged. Bring an country boy, I am not
acustomed to certain fancy things, the coupler on this trailer being one
of them. It is an Atwood brand coupler on an E Z Loader trailer and has
a braking system built in. It also has a shock absorber built in to the
coupler that allows the coupler to ride up and down through about 85
degrees of motion. It all seems to be very fancy, "head and shoulders
above the ebbage" as we say down east. Problem is that it pounds on the
hitch real bad when going down the road. Every dip, hump and pothole
results in a hard jolt as the boat and trailer rises and falls through
the range of motion of the shock absorber/coupler. It is a real pain. It
beats so bad that something had got to happen. This isn't good for my
back and it can't be good for the drive train of the truck.

So the questions are these: Does anyone on this forum use one of these
type of couplers? They are made by several manufacturers. Is what I am
experiencing normal? The eyeball test says not since I can't imagine
anyone believing this is better than a coupler that has no range of
motion and shock absorber. Maybe there is not enough tongue weight, but
the grunt-test says not. It feels like a hundred pounds or so, which is
in the range specified by Atwood. Any thing would be appreciated. If
this really is a good coupler and the shock is just shot, I will replace
it and carry on. However, if it is crap, I'd just as soon get a "non
shock absorbing" coupler like I have had so many of before.
Thanks,
Al
North Carolina