Are you supposed to put grease on the hitch ball?<br /><br />I went to Uhaul the other day to rent a trailer and had put grease on the ball and the guy went crazy saying you should never put grease on the ball.
I have never put grease on my reciever ball.If anywhere on the coupler to latch easier.Why did you grease it anyway??I assume he considered the possibility of the hitch sliding off.If you are using the right size ball for the hitch and the trailer lock moves freely you should not need grease. CC
i do.. somtimes.. heck,, i even have 'teflon hitch grease'..<br /><br />sometimes it just wont go all the way down on the 'ball' ... just like many things,, it needs a little lube..
Heard this one before.<br />Grease will make it easier to hook up and unhook the trailer. Reciever just slides on and off the ball easier. That is really enough.<br />There is friction there and we never know how much due to varying conditions.<br />Use covers and keep the grease off your clothes, or just remove the hitch.<br />Tongue jack works better with lube also. <br />Good Luck!
I always grease the ball. In fact I grease anything with metal to metal contact that rotates or slides. Three main reasons. 1: Decreases wear on the ball itself and trailer coupler. 2: Stops coupler from having enough friction to grab ball and loosen when pulling hard uphill on a curvy road. 3: Makes coupler slide on eaiser when hooking up.<br />I enen run oil in my engines to reduce friction from a polished rod bearing rotating on a polished chank shaft.
Grease it! You don't want the ball dry and the coupler locking up and loosening it when you turn. Then what happens next? Guess! <br /><br />JB is right on the money: "Would you leave any other ball joint on your rig unlubed?"<br /><br />Lou
The guy at Uhaul wasn't worried about it slipping off, he was concerned about making a bad ground for the wiring. The trailer lights are grounded through the plug, so I didn't think it was a big deal. I haven't had any problems so far, so I think I keep greasing it.
Bondo<br />Kinda goes against you message at the bottom. Try a dry teflon lube.<br /><br />"Any grease is better than no grease"<br />Sorry just found it funny.
Always!! I use wheel bearing grease.<br /><br />I also remove the drawbar and keep the ball covered with a cover.<br /><br />I've owned several used vehicles that I had to replace the entire hitch because the drawbar was rusted in!
Same as Djohons19. I have covers for the hitch opening and ball covers on all my 3 hitches (1 7/8", 2" & 2 5/16" on 3 diff recievers for 3 diff trailers). Have an old vynil gym back that they sit in so that grease stays off the dog/kids/groceries etc. That way I can use my hitches on my new van when it finally arrives around Father's Day!!! <br /><br />Mike.<br /><br />P.S. Good sailor's sense of homour in this string!
roadranger, my can of WD-40 DOES say lubricant.<br /><br />StAugVol, yes it would diminish the grounding provided through the hitch. That's why lighting connectors have a ground wire.
<br /><br />JB is right on the money: "Would you leave any other ball joint on your rig unlubed?"<br /><br />Lou
