This steel clamp and U-bolt installs on your 2" hitch receiver to stabilize your hitch-mounted accessories. Simply hook the clamp over the lip of your hitch and secure the U-bolt around your accessory using the included nuts to prevent shifting.
Features:
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Zach: Hey, everybody. Zach here at etrailer.com. Today we're going to be taking a look at the Brophy U-Bolt Stabilizer. This is going to be an anti-rattle device. What it does is it takes all that shake and play all that movement out of your assessory. I think it personally shines best with cargo carriers.
Cargo carriers are a great way to get a bunch of extra stuff on your trip but one thing they have an issue with is when you get that weight back there, they're not the most stable thing. So they're moving around,they're going to hold your stuff just fine but you can hear that movement, you can see it, it's just a little unnerving.So what this does is this takes a standard cargo carrier we have here, I have a couple of hundred pounds back here and it just makes it a nice stiff right. Now you can see right there, I'm lifting up and I'm not getting much play when this isn't in place. This cargo carrier moves all around. Now the one thing with this style is it doesn't really take out all the side to side.
Now it's shifting a little bit there but it's tightened down where it's holding it in place for the most part.I think that's where the threaded hitch pin style works best. Those do a really good job of keeping the side to side movement down. But I would rather take out that up and down movement personally, because this still does a good job of keeping that side to side play at a minimum. So you can see this as a pretty simple design. It's essentially a steel plate that sits on top.
And then we have a U-bolt that comes up underneath. And what this does is the sandwiches our accessory into our hitch.So it holds it all together. It gives us a nice tight fit. It's pretty easy to put on. It can sometimes be a little difficult when it comes to clearance because you do have to tighten down these nuts.
And that's where I think the hitch pin style where it's just a threaded bolt it goes through. That can be a little bit easier because usually have a little bit more clearance down here to work with but I think this is a really effective way to take all that play out of our accessory.Another thing to keep in mind if you do like that bolt style is you have to have a hollow shank accessory, so you can see here, there's nothing in the shank of this ball Mount. So we can put that device on the inside and put that bolt through. A lot of accessories are solid so you can't put anything in there. And that's where this U-bolt design works. And the cool thing about the U-bolt style is, it works with both styles, whether it's a hollow shank or solid steel, it doesn't matter as long as there's nothing to interfere where you're attaching that to it will work. So you could in theory, use both to eliminate the side to side and the up and down. But I think that this one does a really good job of definitely eliminating the up and down but I think it does a pretty good job of cutting out that side to side action as well.And to cut down on resting corrosion, it has a black powder coat finish on it to keep that at day and then you also have that galvanized U-bolt as well. So to get this installed, first thing we're going to do is, I'm going to lay my top bracket like this. So the part that's pointing down needs to be touching the accessory. And then I'm going to take this U-bolt and I'm going to go up from underneath my hitch and get that lined up with the holes in that plate. And then I'm going to take my lock nuts and get those started so that we can take a 14 millimeter wrench and we can start tightening this down.I think that if you have the ability to use a socket wrench, you should go that route. I don't have the clearance here because of this bumper. So I'm just going to be using a wrench, just going to take a little bit of time but it's definitely going to be worth it. When we get this tightened down, you can see we're starting to get that where it's not moving around, getting a nice tight fit. I don't think you need to really be super aggressive with getting this tightened down but you definitely want it tight. So you eliminate that movement in your shank there.Overall I'm pretty impressed by this. Now this isn't going to take away all of the movement and all the shake and play but just here on this cargo carrier today, it reduced it dramatically. It takes a good amount of effort to get that, to move around up and down. Now, there is still a little bit of side to side but it's not near as noisy. It takes quite a bit more effort to get that, to move around. So I think this is a really good way to go. If you're looking to cut down some of that noise and movement but that's going to do it for our look at the Brophy U-Bolt Stabilizer.
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (121 Customer Reviews)
This steel clamp and U-bolt installs on your 2" hitch receiver to stabilize your hitch-mounted accessories. Simply hook the clamp over the lip of your hitch and secure the U-bolt around your accessory using the included nuts to prevent shifting.Fits perfect. I havent tried on a loaded dirtbike yet but seems will do the job.
It's simple, inexpensive, and it works. There is now no slop nor rattle.
Marvin P - 09/30/2021this item worked for the first move. I removed it from my hitch and upon reapplication, it bent and never worked again. I do not recommend this item for anyone to purchase. Waste of money.
Pete - 03/07/2021Seems to be doing the job just fine. Had clearance issues and had to flip it. F-350 dually has lip that goes down towards the Class V hitch. Nice not having the rattle and play prior to picking this up. Worth noting, when you drill your shin on it now...it might hurt just a little bit more. Just sayin'
Will H - 11/18/2017Great little device at a good price. I'm using it to quiet my RockTamers and the u-bolt is just long enough to seat the nuts. For my application, it would be better to have a slightly longer u-bolt
Pretty good. Still some wiggling even when this is cranked down as tight as I'm comfortable cranking it down, but MUCH better than without it. We drive two vehicles and two trailers. We use this to reduce sway and rattle on a hitch-mounted cargo basket. Since I can drive behind and watch it work, I know just how well it works.
Great product, I bought this hitch anti-rattle to help keep my Thule bicycle rack from jumping in the receiver when I have it loaded with bikes. It does a great job of keeping the rack connected to the receiver and eliminating all of the up and down slop that would allow the hack to hop up and down as i drove down the freeway.
It stopped all the movement and noise on my hitch. Make sure you look at the installation pictures to understand how and where it mounts to confirm you have room for the bolts. I had to trim 1/4 inch off of each bolt with a grinder because my hitch is immediately below the bumper. Arrived on time with good shipping protection. Quality of metal parts was good. It was just as described and shown in picture. Lock nuts with nylon inserts. Black metal was painted, mostly okay finish that I would give it 4 out of 5 on the paint due to some imperfections and scratches from handling and manufacturer. The U-bolt is smaller than my previous one, but seems to be working fine.
Ordered this product for a friend. He likes it. He does not remove hitch from the receiver very often and can leave it attached. It does work to eliminate the rattle. I remove my hitch after every use and find needing a wrench is a hassle.
Walker - 09/12/2017I've had this on my truck a year now, with over 3,000 miles of boat trailer towing including freeways, stop and go in cities, and potholed and washboard dirt roads. It does exactly what it's designed for, stopping the clunks and noises of a sloppy class IV hitch. I'd get another again if I ever sell this with the truck. It seems to be holding up just fine.
The anti rattle clamp has provided the satisfaction sought in eliminating the nuisance of unwanted noise and the "train car" slack in the couplers whiplash in the neck. To date these devices have been installed on three units ranging in GVWR's from 6,000 to 14,500 trucks. No failure has occurred. The only downside is exchanging receivers.
This worked just as it was supposed to. I never heard a peep out of the draw bar once this was installed. If you want to take the bar out after every use than I wouldn't recommend this, I left the bar in and covered the ball.
Derek B - 09/01/2018Nice, simple design. The flat plate design offers mounting flexibility to accomodate hitch variations and clearance issues. The use of elastic lock nuts for the u-bolt - an absolute must in this kind of application-shows the kind of thought that went into designing this. It's made right! Also rated for use with trailers- not all anti-rattle devices are. Yes, it meets its intended purpose- no rattles when installed.
Works pretty good to get 85-90% of the “wobble” out. But can be difficult to install on some vehicles due to the location of the receiver in relation to the vehicle bumper of some SUVs. Worth the money though. It is a must have for extensions like when using a bike rack. I would recommend and would buy again.
We used it to take out the wobble of a bicycle rack inside a 2' receiver. Worked great for our purposes.
We have a trailer that will be used for hauling 17 and 18 ft. Kayaks. Of course the trailer manufacturer made no mention in the initial literature that an additional $170. tongue extension would be needed for the 18 ft. kayak. We solved the problem much more cheaply, with the help of etrailer, by buying a hitch extender. The hitch extender will be much more stable and quiet with this hitch immobilized. I checked five different stores in our area for a hitch extender and immobilizer None had either. Finally found a hitch extender at Harbor Freight but no immobilizer there. Next time, I’ll go to eTrailer for everything and save myself time, gas money and cost. I ordered the immobilizer from eTrailer and received it on time!, so we could pull our kayaks to our 50th anniversary vacation destination.
While the product is simple and of good quality it did not work on the factory hitch of my 2012 Grand Cherokee . The front of the plate hit the frame/hitch mount making it impossible for the U-bolt to be installed correctly. And even without the plate hitting the frame, the safety chain hook ups were in the way of the U-bolt on the Jeep. It does work on my Chevy K1500 so I'll keep it and try to find another solution for the Jeep.
Worked great on all three connection points of the 12" dual hitch extender. I am pleasantly surprised and very happy about that.
Bernie Z - 05/30/2018This little item really works. After installing my new hitch my old ball mount was rattling around quite a bit. It was making a lot of noise especially on starts and stops. It gave me an uneasy feeling that something was going to break loose. Today I hitched up and took an extra two minutes to bolt this little gadget on. Not a single rattle or shutter while driving. I have that relaxed feeling of confidence again.
This device has taken all of the rattle and vibration out of the hitch. I found it to very easy to install. It is such a great solution for the little bit of slack between the hitch and the drawbar. I highly recommend this to every one installing a new or existing hitch.
Learned about this item from Youtube Have bought several items from these people I have always done my own work and the install videos help with identifying bolt and item positions. 2015 F53 Front Sumo springs Rear Sway-bar Shipping was 2 day ground to my area and ship to my place of employment we get several freight shipments each day.
Worked well. Had to reverse direction due to lack of space on hitch receiver. Trailer is much quieter now.
JohnL - 01/18/2018Good product however it did not fit the hitch on my 2011 Ford Edge because of the bumper, I was able to trim 1/2 " off of the flat (black) part of the clamp which allowed the clearence I needed for it to fit ontop of my hitch and it works great!! Very happy with it..And as with my past purchases from E trailer your service was excellent very happy with E trailer !!!
This hitch stabilizer is excellent. Had a problem with a mobility scooter carrier - too much wobble back a forth. Got this hitch stabilizer and problem solved. It works great. Just slip it on per the instructions, tighten down, and no more wobble. Finally, a product that does what it says it will do. Thanks etrailer for carrying such a terrific product.
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