First look: Gen-Y torsion hitch

The good thing about beefy tow tugs like the RAM pick-up is that they haul heavy caravans, horse-trailers and boats with ease.

The bad news is that they can transmit a choppy ride to the trailer and vice-versa, and because of their relative hitch-height differences they can be difficult to line up so the trailer can tow level – often a key factor in stability.

Given that ‘pick-up trucks’ are the towing weapon of choice in the USA, and many of their heavy trailers ride on low-tech leaf-spring suspension systems, it’s not surprising that the North Americans have come up with an elegant, albeit not so lightweight solution.

Big hitch for big loads

Introduced recently to Australia, Gen-Y (pronounced ‘Jeenie’, or ‘Jenny’, or ‘Gen Y’ depending on who you talk to), is a heavy-duty towing system designed for big loads, with rubber torsion springing to take the shock out of towing and height adjustment to allow your trailer to low level – whether it’s a backhoe behind a Dodge RAM, or a big caravan behind a Toyota LandCruiser.

Gold Coast Hinterland-based Australian distributor, Chris Rosch, became aware of the lack of suitable local hitches when talking to friends who tow large boats, caravans and big off-road buggies.

“They could buy a big US-built pick-up with a high-rated tow bar, but couldn’t find a local hitch to match it,” he said. So, when he saw the US-designed and developed Gen-Y system while visiting the annual SEMA automotive specialty products show in Las Vegas last year, he saw its potential.

Since then, his business, CR Racing, has delivered more than 200 Gen-Y hitches in Australia, with the numbers rising as more people towing large trailers appreciate its advantages.

Owners of large caravans have so far been the biggest market, followed by those towing horse floats and big boats, but there’s been a growing demand from earthmoving contractors who use trucks to haul backhoes, portable generators, and so on.

Riding the bumps

The centrepiece of the patented Gen-Y system is its Torsion Hitch, which slots into the receiver of a suitably-rated tow bar.

Using rubber torsion torsion springing, the hitch is claimed to absorb up to 90 per cent of the shock transmitted between tow car and trailer – something that is particularly important to people towing horses.

The trailer is then connected to the hitch by a height-adjustable pillar, or yoke, which in its base form offers three different heights for its ball or pin, with the tongue easily removed and re-positioned by hitch pins secured in place by simple spring clips.

Flipping the pillar can deliver more height options, while if you have a real disparity between the height of your coupling and the trailer you want to haul – as might be the case of a truck hauling a caravan – you can order a yoke with up to eight height positions, providing up to 16 inches (40cm) of drop.

Another advantage of having one of these larger pillars is that you can mount your trailer’s tongue into a lower slot and then fit something like a ‘RackNRoll’ motorcycle carrier to a higher slot, provided your tow bar is rated to accept the combined ball and bike weight.

Heavy all round

There’s little doubt that the hitch can handle heavy loads. The basic Gen-Y is rated at 7-tonnes, which is sort of normal for American use, but it also weighs a monster 37kg with the height-adjustable yoke and the option of 50mm and 70mm balls included.

The good news for Australians wanting to tow something less weighty, is that there is a new 4-tonne version arriving in January that will be physically smaller and weigh about 12kg less at 25kg.

Rosch says many people call to enquire about the height adjustable pillar, but end up buying the whole hitch once they understand what the combination can deliver.

One of its claimed features is that it can transfer some of the weight off the hitch onto the front of the tow vehicle, to some extent negating the need for a Weight Distribution Hitch.

The idea is that you hitch your trailer, then tow it for up to 50km to allow everything to settle, then loosen and re-tighten the grub screen on top of the hitch, allowing up to 5mm of movement and some of the load to be transferred to the tow car.

While this may not be enough to level (say) a softly sprung LandCruiser 200 Series, it may be enough to level the caravan drawbar behind it. Once set, there’s no need to change this setting as long as you tow another trailer of similar wright.

Fits multiple balls

The Gen-Y will accept all types of common balls, pins and pillars and in theory you could have a rotatable tongue fitted with a 50mm and a 70mm ball, a Hitchmaster DO-35 or DO-45 pin and a Hitch-Ezy pillar.

The Gen-Y is beautifully made, using solid billet steel and unsurprisingly, it’s not cheap.

The basic GH1224-model Gen-Y Torsion Hitch retails for around $1500 while height adjustable pillars start at $350 for a three-slot, up to around $750 for an eight-slot unit.

The Torsion Hitch is warranted for 10 years, while the height adjustable pillars have a lifetime warranty.