Once you've decided to buy an adjustable ball mount rather than a fixed one, the next question is how much to spend. There's a $170 kit that does the job for a half-ton truck, and there's a $500 forged and welded piece of steel that will outlast the truck. Bulletproof Hitches and Gen-Y Hitch sit at the top end of that range, and they're the two names customers ask me to compare most.
They're not the same product with a different finish. Bulletproof builds a ball mount for towing heavy, with the highest weight ratings and the widest adjustment range in the category. Gen-Y builds a ball mount that also carries your bike rack, cargo carrier and pintle hook, with stacked receivers under the ball. This guide sets out what each does well and which owner should pick which.
Bulletproof Hitches is a US manufacturer that makes one thing: adjustable ball mounts, in receiver sizes from 2 inches to 3 inches, in heavy-duty and extreme-duty grades. The pitch is in the name. Laser-cut plate, gusset welds, ratings up to 36,000 pounds, and a lifetime warranty. They're bought by people towing heavy trailers behind heavy-duty trucks, and by people who want the strongest mount available regardless of what they tow.
Gen-Y Hitch is also US-made, and its Mega-Duty line takes a different view of what a ball mount is for. Under the ball platform, it stacks additional 2-inch receivers, so the mount becomes a hitch system: trailer on top, bike rack or cargo carrier underneath, and a pintle lock if you tow equipment. Gen-Y's customers tend to be people whose truck does more than one job.
The HD3016 is Bulletproof's heavy-duty mount for a 3-inch receiver. It gives 16 inches of drop or rise across nine positions, rated to 12,000 pounds on the 2-inch ball and 22,000 pounds on the 2-5/16-inch ball.
The frame is 5/16-inch laser-cut steel plate with gusset welds at the load points, and the ball platform flips between the two ball sizes without tools.
Buy Bulletproof Hitches HD3016 Heavy Duty Adjustable 2-Ball Mount for 3-Inch Receivers
The ED2510 is the extreme-duty version for a 2-1/2-inch receiver, with 10 inches of drop or rise across six positions. The rating is 12,000 pounds on the 2-inch ball and 36,000 pounds on the 2-5/16-inch ball, which is the highest number in this comparison by a wide margin.
The ball channel is 5/16-inch steel, the balls are welded to the platform, and it's SAE J684 certified with a limited lifetime warranty.
Buy Bulletproof Hitches ED2510 Extreme Duty Adjustable 2-Ball Mount for 2-1/2-Inch Receivers
The GH-524 fits a 2-inch receiver, adjusts 7-1/2 inches in drop or rise, and is rated to 16,000 pounds on the 2-5/16-inch ball and 12,000 pounds on the 2-inch ball.
Below the ball platform are four stacked 2-inch receiver openings for accessories, and it accepts a pintle lock and lunette rings up to 1-1/2 inches.
The construction is heavy-duty steel with a zinc primer under a powder coat, and it exceeds SAE J684 testing.
Buy Gen-Y Hitch GH-524 Mega-Duty Adjustable 2-Ball Mount for 2-Inch Receivers
Bulletproof's engineering is about load. The plate thickness, the gusset welds, and the welded balls are all there to carry more weight than most people will ever hang off a receiver, and the ratings reflect it. The 36,000-pound figure on the ED2510's 2-5/16-inch ball is a number you'll only see matched on gooseneck and fifth-wheel hitches. Even the heavy-duty HD3016 at 22,000 pounds is well beyond a typical travel trailer.
Gen-Y's engineering is about doing several jobs at once. The 16,000-pound rating on the GH-524 is more than enough for any bumper-pull trailer a 2-inch receiver should be towing, but the reason to buy it is the stack of receivers under the ball. A bike rack in the second slot, a cargo carrier in the third, and the trailer on the ball, all on one mount, with none of the dual-receiver adapters that usually make that possible and usually reduce the rating.
Both use pin-and-clip height adjustment and a flip platform for the two ball sizes, so daily use is similar. Bulletproof gives you more positions and a longer range: 16 inches over nine positions on the HD3016 against 7-1/2 inches on the Gen-Y. If your truck is lifted or your trailers vary a lot in coupler height, that range matters.
This is the first thing to check, because it may make the decision for you. The Gen-Y GH-524 is for a 2-inch receiver, which is what half-ton trucks and most three-quarter-tons have. The Bulletproof mounts here are for 2-1/2-inch and 3-inch receivers, which are found on three-quarter-ton and one-ton trucks. Bulletproof does make 2-inch versions, and Gen-Y makes 2-1/2-inch versions, but the ones we stock in depth are the ones above.
A reducer sleeve lets a smaller mount fit a larger receiver, but it lowers the rating of the whole setup to the sleeve's limit and introduces play. Buy the mount for the receiver you have.
Weight, range, and longevity. If you tow anything over 16,000 pounds on a ball, Bulletproof is the only one of the two that's rated for it, and the ED2510's 36,000-pound rating gives an enormous margin on a 20,000-pound trailer. The 16-inch range on the HD3016 covers a lifted truck and a low trailer in the same mount. And the construction is the reason people buy them: I've never had one back.
A customer with a lifted F-350 and a 34-foot toy hauler had gone through two fixed mounts trying to get the trailer level before he bought the HD3016. It put the coupler within an inch of level on the first try, and he hasn't touched it since.
Everything else the truck does. If you tow a travel trailer to the campground and then want the bikes on the back for the week, Gen-Y solves that without an adapter. If you tow a utility trailer with a pintle ring during the week and a camper at the weekend, the pintle lock fits the same mount. And at $359.95 for a 2-inch receiver mount rated to 16,000 pounds, it's priced well below the Bulletproof mounts for a rating that covers most trailers.
It's also lighter to handle at 40 pounds than the Bulletproof 3-inch, which is a consideration if the mount comes out of the receiver often.
A ball mount's rating is only one of four numbers that matter. The receiver on the truck has its own rating, the ball has one, and the truck's tow rating caps all of them. The lowest number is your limit. A 36,000-pound ball mount on a truck rated to tow 14,000 pounds is still a 14,000-pound setup. That's not a reason to avoid the higher rating; a mount running at a third of its capacity is a mount that's never stressed. It's a reason not to read the ball mount rating as your towing capacity.
Both brands rate their mounts against SAE J684, which is the standard test for trailer hitches and ball mounts. Bulletproof's mounts are certified to it, and Gen-Y states the GH-524 exceeds it. That puts them on the same footing for the basic question of whether the number on the box is real.
Both mounts adjust with pins and clips, and both flip the ball platform to switch between 2-inch and 2-5/16-inch balls. The Bulletproof HD3016 gives nine positions over 16 inches, so each step is about 2 inches. The ED2510 gives six positions over 10 inches. The Gen-Y gives 7-1/2 inches of drop or rise. On a short trailer, an inch at the coupler shows, and the finer the steps, the closer you get to level.
In daily use, the Gen-Y's extra receivers are what you notice. A bike rack that used to come off before every tow now stays on, and a cargo carrier rides underneath the trailer coupler. Owners who tow and carry at the same time tell me it changes how they pack for a trip.
Both are powder-coated. Gen-Y adds a zinc primer under the coat, which is the better protection on a mount that lives in road salt through a northern winter, because zinc keeps protecting where the powder coat has chipped. Bulletproof's finish is a straight powder coat over the laser-cut plate, and it holds up well, but on a chipped corner it'll show surface rust sooner. Neither affects the strength of the mount; it's cosmetic, and a touch of cold galvanising spray on any chips keeps both looking new.
Neither of these is light. The Gen-Y is 40 pounds, and the Bulletproof mounts are heavier still, which is the cost of the plate thickness. If you remove the mount every time you park, that's worth knowing before you buy either.
A locking hitch pin is a better answer than pulling the mount, and both brands' mounts take a standard 5/8-inch or 3/4-inch locking pin.
Whichever you choose, measure before you order. On level ground, measure from the ground to the top inside edge of the receiver opening, then from the ground to the bottom of the trailer coupler with the trailer level. The difference is your drop or rise, and you want a mount whose range covers that figure with a couple of inches to spare on both sides for a loaded bed or a different trailer.
Then check the receiver size with a tape, not by memory. A 2-inch and a 2-1/2-inch receiver look similar from a few feet away, and the mount for one will not fit the other. If you're between the Gen-Y for a 2-inch and the Bulletproof for a 2-1/2-inch, the receiver has already decided for you.
Tow a trailer over 16,000 pounds, or want a rating far above what you tow. Have a 2-1/2-inch or 3-inch receiver. Need a long adjustment range for a lifted truck or trailers with very different coupler heights. Want the strongest ball mount you can buy and expect to keep it through several trucks. Don't need to carry a bike rack or cargo carrier at the same time as the trailer.
Have a 2-inch receiver. Tow under 16,000 pounds. Want to carry a bike rack, cargo carrier, or motorcycle carrier while the trailer is hitched. Tow equipment with a pintle ring as well as a camper with a ball. Want a lifetime-warranty mount from a US manufacturer at a price under $400.
Both brands ship their mounts with a 2-inch and a 2-5/16-inch ball, and the trailer coupler decides which you use. The size is cast into the top of the coupler. Most travel trailers over about 20 feet use 2-5/16 inches; smaller campers, boat trailers, and utility trailers use 2 inches. The higher rating on every mount here applies to the 2-5/16-inch ball, so a heavy trailer on a 2-inch coupler is limited by the ball, not the mount.
These are both excellent mounts, and the choice comes down to what the truck does. Bulletproof is the specialist: the strongest ball mount in the category, in the receiver sizes that heavy-duty trucks have, for owners who tow heavy and want a margin. Gen-Y is the generalist: a strong mount with a stack of receivers underneath, for owners whose truck tows one weekend and carries bikes the next.
Check your receiver size first, then your trailer's loaded weight, then whether you need the extra receivers. That usually settles it.
I’m Bill Rowell, the founder of RVupgrades.com. In 2002, I launched the business to help fellow RV enthusiasts find unique and hard-to-find products. Over the years, it’s grown to offer more than 15,000 items, with a warehouse in Eastlake, Ohio. Having owned and repaired nearly every type of RV, I bring over two decades of hands-on experience to the table. For me, this isn’t just a business – it’s a passion and a way of life that I love sharing with the RV community.
Follow me on LinkedIn