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Tow vehicle towball lube?


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Just curious of who lubes their towball on their tow vehicle to prevent that metal to metal contact and rubbing on the trailer? What kind do you use. My towball is rusted and obviously I haven't been lubing it enough.

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I don't leave my tow ball on the vehicle when not in use (for it to get weatherd and rust). I use tow ball grease, it is just a little jar of lube I picked up at the auto parts store.. prob just normal white lithium grease, but it is in a convienient jar.

I also wipe out the old lube out of the coupler, when I put new lube on.. every couple trips - just takes a second

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I don't lube my ball at all. I don't understand the need to. I also don't put a tennis ball on the tow ball when not in use, I don't understand that either. Once I'm done towing, I wipe down the ball with a paper towel and put it in the truck.

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I don't lube the tow ball and it's stays on vehicle all the time

Edited by uk_exile
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I'm trying to phrase this apropriately for the family friendly forum this is.

I used to lube the shaft prior to inserting it into the receiver. I did not lube the ball prior to coupling. Whistling.gif Yah, I know, it sounds a bit perverted, but it's the truth. Really. Dontknow.gif

Now that I sold the truck/tow vehicle, it's no longer a worry. True, the boat is on a trailer right now, but will be in the water soon enough for the season. Yahoo.gif

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I don't leave my tow ball on the vehicle when not in use (for it to get weatherd and rust). I use tow ball grease, it is just a little jar of lube I picked up at the auto parts store.. prob just normal white lithium grease, but it is in a convienient jar.

I also wipe out the old lube out of the coupler, when I put new lube on.. every couple trips - just takes a second

This is pretty much what I do as well. Got a tube of the same type of grease in Target.

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I have a work trailer that has a different size ball than the boat trailer. The hitch stays on the truck. It is one that has two balls (healthy and happy) and neither get greased. makes it a dirty affair to change from one to te other.

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I'm trying to phrase this apropriately for the family friendly forum this is.

I used to lube the shaft prior to inserting it into the receiver. I did not lube the ball prior to coupling. Whistling.gif Yah, I know, it sounds a bit perverted, but it's the truth. Really. Dontknow.gif

Now that I sold the truck/tow vehicle, it's no longer a worry. True, the boat is on a trailer right now, but will be in the water soon enough for the season. Yahoo.gif

That was good, I almost titled the post "How do you lube your balls" but didn't want to get one of these Fingerwag.gif

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Can someone tell me why you would need to lube these balls or couplers? I'm serious.

What does it do? Does it prevent the chrome finish on the ball from getting beat up and therefor no rust on the ball?

Does it make for a smoother, quieter tow?

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Can someone tell me why you would need to lube these balls or couplers? I'm serious.

What does it do? Does it prevent the chrome finish on the ball from getting beat up and therefor no rust on the ball?

Does it make for a smoother, quieter tow?

It prevents the metal to metal grinding and deterioration of your towing ball and the trailer hitch.

Edited by 06vlx
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Can someone tell me why you would need to lube these balls or couplers? I'm serious.

What does it do? Does it prevent the chrome finish on the ball from getting beat up and therefor no rust on the ball?

Does it make for a smoother, quieter tow?

It prevents the metal to metal grinding and deterioration of your towing ball and the trailer hitch.

Personally, I don't see any reason or benefit in lubing your ball. Have you actually wore a ball out?? Crazy.gif

Edited by Henken
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Can someone tell me why you would need to lube these balls or couplers? I'm serious.

What does it do? Does it prevent the chrome finish on the ball from getting beat up and therefor no rust on the ball?

Does it make for a smoother, quieter tow?

More often than not, I'd leave the ball mount in the receiver on the truck all summer for the variety of trailers: boat, landscape, bike, etc. I had the unfortunate experience of having one rust solid tight to a previous truck. So I adopted the habit of wiping the mating surfaces with a lubricant (there we go again with the perverted talk), white grease. Also did that with the head frame of the snow plow I used to have to allow for easier removal at the end of snow season. Had nothing to do with noise, strictly rust prevention. All of the tractor trailer rigs and 5th wheels I have seen have copious amounts of grease, too.

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I don't lube the tow ball and it's stays on vehicle all the time

Plus1.gif

At work they tow trailers 4 days a week and never seen a ball go bad. I have replaced the trailer coupler because the ball wears a hole in the top front of the coupler. Wish I could have taken a pic. I will have to go for a walk Mon and see if any are bad.

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I've never lubed my towball either but have noticed that it has worn down a bit, and that was just over 1 summer. I can only imagine what it's doing to the inside of the trailer hitch.

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MalibuNation
I have a work trailer that has a different size ball than the boat trailer. The hitch stays on the truck. It is one that has two balls (healthy and happy) and neither get greased. makes it a dirty affair to change from one to te other.

Keep mine in the truck too. "Happy", "Healthy" and "Not Stolen". Never grease mine.

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No lube here. I use an SS ball. I'd probably spray some lube in there if it was squealing or something on turns, but I've never noticed that. Nothing worse than loading gear and whacking your leg on a hitch ball that's got grease all over it.

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Never heard of such a thing. Prevents metal to metal contact, rust????? It's a trailer hitch.

"Metal to metal grinding" get it right Mad.gif

You guys do what you want, I leave my hitch on all year it's locked and I'm not worried about it. I'm gonna give it a little lube, if it's good enough for truckers it's good enough for me.

Edited by 06vlx
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Never heard of such a thing. Prevents metal to metal contact, rust????? It's a trailer hitch.

"Metal to metal grinding" get it right Mad.gif

You guys do what you want, I leave my hitch on all year it's locked and I'm not worried about it. I'm gonna give it a little lube, if it's good enough for truckers it's good enough for me.

Truckers do grease up the 5th wheel plate, I am not sure if truckers that use tow bars use grease on the hitch, definately not on a pintle hitch.

Really who needs the mess, if the ball wears out No.gif they are not that expensive to replace.

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Never heard of such a thing. Prevents metal to metal contact, rust????? It's a trailer hitch.

"Metal to metal grinding" get it right Mad.gif

You guys do what you want, I leave my hitch on all year it's locked and I'm not worried about it. I'm gonna give it a little lube, if it's good enough for truckers it's good enough for me.

Truckers do grease up the 5th wheel plate, I am not sure if truckers that use tow bars use grease on the hitch, definately not on a pintle hitch.

Really who needs the mess, if the ball wears out No.gif they are not that expensive to replace.

You must not have read the my posts. It's the trailer hitch that I'm concerend about.

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Never, stays on all the time. Taking it off requires a sledge hammer and some penetrating oil. It's hideous and has left some nice dingers on my shin bone. Didn't know they came in stainless, interesting. Once the crome wore off mine, it has been a rusty mess ever since, but my rig is not winning any awards either so guess I don't really care.

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I use bearing buddy greese. every couple times towing or else ball gets rusted due to friction. Not messy, use a paper towel then throw it away. When done towing use a papertowel and take the grease off.

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