StowAway Hitch Tightener, Anti-Rattle Stabilizer for 2 Inch and 1.25 Inch Hitches. Made in USA.

Perfect solution to stop the sway. Used for the first time and it worked better than expected.

I had bought a Black Widow Motorcycle carrier that came with a Hitch Tightener, this has smaller nuts , smaller washers, uses a metric 18 nuts , but the StowAway uses a 3/4 nuts with larger and thicker washers, much stronger !!

This is a VERY heavy duty hitch stabilizer. The black plate is 1/4" steel and the U-bolt is well formed and heavy duty. Put a drop or two of 3-in-1 oil on each thread before bolting it on as per instructions (any light oil will do). I'm using this with an aluminum hitch and it works great! You need to remember that you are holding the ball hitch DOWN against the bottom of the receiver. This is important if you are hauling anything with a significant tongue weight (like a boat or heavy trailer). If you install it opposite, so the ball hitch is being held UP against the top of the receiver and you are carrying a significant load (bikes on a bike rack is not a significant load...I'm talking 400+ pounds of tongue weight or more) then I think you're going to have issues. Also, you don't need to tighten the nuts like a gorilla! Do not put them on with pneumatic tools - you run a big risk of over-tightening. If you are concerned about the nuts coming loose then you could a) add another nut to bind the two nuts together, b) add a nylon stop-nut, c) put a small dab of silicone caulk on the bottom of the threads after you put the nut on (would keep the nut from falling off if it came loose). Really, you should be checking your hitch every time you stop anyway. This thing is super heavy duty and I look forward to using it when pulling my 4,500 pound boat/trailer and my covered 2-place snowmobile trailer. Used it on one short trip so far and it worked perfectly!

The clamp, when torqued to suggested 25 ft lbs, stopped hitch rattle at all speeds up to continual 65 mph. It may have worked better on my hitch than some because of the hitch flat bottom with no welded lip . I have only about 140 miles on the clamp, with (an appropriate) 93 lb tongue weight. I bought this brand because it is USA manufactured. Chinese metalurgy has not been so dependable. My only concerns are longevity of the clamp in use: even the USA Stowaway brand has had some metal bending and breaking. Texting customer service was answered quickly. If you are considering this kind of anti-rattle clamp, recommended.

I looked at the reviews and the StowAway Hitch Tightener seemed to be among if not the top choice.Towing a 5500 lb GVWR trailer with a WDH produced more of a clunk then a rattle. The factory hitch receiver allowed enough play that starts,stops and rough roads produced noise from the hitch looseness.I read the instructions and when I installed the hitch tightener was literally shocked to see the 30 lb/ft torque recommendation. This much torque would likely damage the lock washers and/or destroy the U-bolt and nut threads. I chose to interpret the torque as being intended to be inch-pounds, NOT foot-pounds.For almost 5 years I’ve tightened the nuts snug enough to compress the lock washers and that’s been enough to prevent the movement of the hitch in the receiver.

The StowAway Hitch Tightener was ordered through Amazon. It arrived in a timely manner, and was well packaged. I made one minor deviation from the application instructions accompanying this hitch tightener when I put it on the hitch.I fastened the hitch tightener differently than shown in the application instruction. My change was later found to be a significant safety factor in my favor. I merely turned the lower plate 180 degrees, so that the plate lip was under and slightly behind the end of the hitch receiver. Unknown to us, some moron deviously removed our hitch pin while we were parked at a shopping mall. Consequently, the hitch shank could easily have been drawn out of the receiver, but it was well-anchored by the StowAway Hitch Tightener for nearly 300 miles of travel before I noticed the pin was missing.This tightener has proven to be one of our better investments for hitching up to our travel trailer. During this past year we towed to Alaska in the summer, and Florida to snowbird, covering nearly 14,000 miles. This hitch tightener does what it purports to do. No more jerking, banging, and bouncing of the hitch shaft inside of the hitch receiver tube. Thus, no more oblong holes and burrs in the tube. Incidentally, before purchasing this hitch tightener, a new hitch receiver tube replacement was needed because of the badly worn receiver pin holes that developed over the years.I strongly recommend the reader explore website information on the StowAway Hitch Tightener, and to reflect on how it can be useful for a cargo carrier, bicycle rack, towing a boat, etc.