I noticed that after stopping, like for a traffic light, when I take off again there is a jolt like the pin has come forward a bit during the stop and is moving back against the jaws on acceleration. Is this normal? Or do I have something to worry about?
This question and the others would be a question for Curt 1-800 tech folks. Your getting the usual B&W bilge we have to go through for any hitch brand question. IMO some never read your OP question.
Any sliding hitch brand can be noisy more so than a non sliding hitch for several reasons. One area is the brake controller set up way too aggressively by the rv dealers.
Give Curt a 1-800 and see what they say.