Hitch ball grease?

[FZ1]

Spray on Silicone.

 

[GON]

I use bearing grease. After a while, one learns where not to brush their legs.

 

[Sumboodie]

I used to until I rubbed the ball a couple times in my good shorts, then I stopped. I can't see that there is any wear after many tens of thousands of miles towing without grease.

My 30k lb equipment trailer wore the lunette ring almost in half in not that much use.

 

[Sumboodie]

I’ll admit that I’m surprised by the number of people on a lubrication forum saying that they don’t apply lubricant between two rubbing metal surfaces. Apparently Bob is not the trailer ball grease guy.

I work in bulk lubes, grease, etc.

Our forklift wouldn't side shift much more than a pallet with 2 drums when I started out there. Asked when it'd last been greased and no one knew... probably 10, 15+ years.

I greased it with some random tubes of old stuff that was kicking around in a desk drawer (IE, free) It can side shift it's full lift capacity and then some. Go figure

Then I get about read the riot act of not using the correct spec'd grease, that it could cause a safety hazard... you know cause the forklift will burst into flames or something.
I figured putting any grease was much better than metal on metal grinding. And as if it really matters for the use.

 

[The_Sheriff]

Pure lanolin works well.

 

[Zee09]

I don't use any lube on a hitch ball.

Same here

 

[Rand]

When I brought my new utility trailer home... and forgot to bring the 2" ball.... I had a 1.75 in the truck.

Bought a new ball with the trailer... then my new dry chromed 2" ball got all chowder-ed up from the trailer coupler.. in 30miles.

I grease mine and keep a dust cover on it when its in storage.

IF it seems excessively dirty ill clean it off with brake clean and start over.

I actually bought a clearance tube of ball grease for 2$ but pretty much anything is fine.

 

[Foreman04]

I’m just surprised at how “clean” all the posts in this thread were/are. Doesn’t say a lot for the level of my maturity I guess.

 

[IndyIan]

I never have greased them, and the balls seem to keep their chrome for years? I do shoot some rust proof stuff in the the coupler on the trailer, which may help lube slightly?
I did get a 2" ball from my Dad's shed that was rusty and the chrome chipping peeling, I sanded it a bit smooth, and did one tow with it and I'm sure it was chewing up the inside of the coupler pretty good! There was a bit of fine metal dust on top of the ball when I was done. So that one will be retired and I'll get a new one.

 

[wander2039]

I see the hitch ball the same as throttle cables.. or any cable. If they need lube they should be replaced. Grease/oil just attracts abrasive grime. The balls and couplers unless you have unusual design is fairly cheap.

 

[Hohn]

I had a 10k bumper pull RV, you had to grease that setup or it would eat itself. I used regular white lithium with good results.

I think there was an issue with your setup, then.

You can pull a VERY heavy gooseneck with 35K or more pounds bone dry for hundreds of thousands of miles and never see any measurable wear. This is because a good hitch ball is quite hard-- lower 40s Rockwell C scale. And it's forged from 1045 medium carbon steel before plated with chrome, which is much harder still than the parent steel.

In some ways, heavy tongue weight makes life easier for hitch balls because you have consistent steady pressure and very little relative motion. The thing that eats hitch balls is really light tongue weight where the hitch is slamming into the ball and sliding on it.

Dialed in with 20%-25% on the ball, most hitch balls should last a lifetime bone dry.

 

[64bawagon]

Nothing wrong with the setup. It was dialed in according to the Reese instruction manual. We ran this hitch for 7 or 8 years and tens of thousands of miles. It was a long and heavy bumper pull trailer using a Reese dual cam hitch. Grease is cheap, it wasnt a big deal.

 

[Hohn]

I’ll admit that I’m surprised by the number of people on a lubrication forum saying that they don’t apply lubricant between two rubbing metal surfaces. Apparently Bob is not the trailer ball grease guy.

They aren't designed to rub.

And they are open to environment where grease will collect and hold abrasive particles that are harder than the steel.

If you want a hitch ball that lasts forever, get it DLC coated. Or just accept you need to replace a ball once in awhile.

 

[thastinger]

It isn't necessary but if you want, vasoline or marine grease would be fine.

 

[nomas]

I honestly don't know anybody that greases the ball . That's just my observation .

 

[cptbarkey]

I've towed since 16 years old. I never really paid attention at the time as to why the boat trailer groaned all the time especially when turning. I'm certain it was friction combined with rust from going to the lake nearly every weekend.

Today I noticed my ball was rusty, and tomorrow I am driving about 150 miles round trip with a full load to the landfill, and bringing a Kubota UTV back to the ranch property. Today I used some rather old Valvoline moly grease that has sat in a unconditioned workshop for 25+ years. I can drive knowing that my ball is quite lubricated and no groaning will be happening.

 

[NiwradND]

spray some dry graphite on the ball

 

[cci]

I honestly don't know anybody that greases the ball . That's just my observation .

It isn't about wear on the ball or the hitch so much as it's about how the trailer reacts with the tow vehicle -- it makes a difference going forward and in reverse.

Maybe not something a casual user would notice, there's no right or wrong way, and certainly a personal preference. As previously noted, a lot of people don't like the inconvenience and mess when they eventually bump into the hitch with their clothing, or worse, bare shins.

I drove for an company that specialized in oversize loads for a while, we moved a lot of modular homes, site trailers, stuff like that, all with a 2-5/16" ball hitch. I don't think anyone who drove there, myself included, would even consider not lubing the ball hitch after feeling the difference. You can feel it in heavy wind, bad roads, tight turns, any time the trailer and the tow vehicle aren't both moving on exactly the same line or when there are extraneous inputs.

 

[Sam_Julier]

It isn't about wear on the ball or the hitch so much as it's about how the trailer reacts with the tow vehicle -- it makes a difference going forward and in reverse.

Maybe not something a casual user would notice, there's no right or wrong way, and certainly a personal preference. As previously noted, a lot of people don't like the inconvenience and mess when they eventually bump into the hitch with their clothing, or worse, bare shins.

I drove for an company that specialized in oversize loads for a while, we moved a lot of modular homes, site trailers, stuff like that, all with a 2-5/16" ball hitch. I don't think anyone who drove there, myself included, would even consider not lubing the ball hitch after feeling the difference. You can feel it in heavy wind, bad roads, tight turns, any time the trailer and the tow vehicle aren't both moving on exactly the same line or when there are extraneous inputs.

Excellent and first solid, factual explanation on why to grease.

 

[facility1]

use a general-purpose grease on the ball but also grease up into the receiver hitch plate and tongue, and oil the flip lock too.