I am new to the fiver world and my dealer told me not to grease my hitch or hitch plate because it attracts dirt and that combination is bad. they told me to use a silicone spray. I am hearing mixed thoughts on this and want to know what others do.If I do use grease, are there any good recommendations? Also, would you wipe it off when not in use in order to keep the dirt from accumulating? The dealer said the Teflon plate does not work with my Hitchhiker as they could not get the hitch to close properly on another one they recently installed.Advice? Ideas? etc?

The telflon plate should have no issues on your Hitchhiker, then a light coat of grease on the recessed partOf the pin should work fine. Even those with the B&W thick jaw hitch UES them without issue

rhagfo wrote:The telflon plate should have no issues on your Hitchhiker, then a light coat of grease on the recessed partOf the pin should work fine. Even those with the B&W thick jaw hitch UES them without issueMy Reese hitch instructions says not to use the Teflon plate/ I tried to use one and it would high hitch and would not close properly

I would not grease. Use the Teflon plate. Much cleaner, and does a good job. Does not attract dirt, like grease does. There are a few hitches that might not be able to use the Teflon disk. But most can use it with no problems.

Don't know what HitchHiker you have, but we have towed our HitchHiker II UKTG 32.5 for over 50,000 miles and have used nothing but the teflon disk.In fact on previous fifth-wheels for a total of over 140,000 miles we have used the teflon plate. Have never had the problem of "high hitch."This report only relates to our specific experience, but it is a true one.

If you end up not going with a teflon plate, I would recommend using Slip Plate. That's what I use on all the moving parts on my 16K Super Glide hitch.C.B.

Lubing the Fifth Wheel | Good Sam Community

27 Replies

Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Apr 27, 2014
I also apply a small amount of grease to the sides of the KingPin or the inside face of the hitch jaws. If in a dusty sandy area I will wipe off with a paper towel before hitching and re apply grease. Otherwise if it looks good I leave it alone.
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Apr 27, 2014
rhagfo wrote:
The telflon plate should have no issues on your Hitchhiker, then a light coat of grease on the recessed part
Of the pin should work fine. Even those with the B&W thick jaw hitch UES them without issue

The 1/4" thick slip plate does work with the B&W but it is much easier to tell when the weight is off the hitch with a 1/8" plate. Hensley sells them. NOT CHEAP!
jevanb
Explorer
Apr 27, 2014
semi guys have been using grease forever, I use grease on my superglide because slip plate wears off too fast and I can clean the grease off in 10 minutes and then reapply in less then 5 minutes.. teflon is cleaner
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Apr 27, 2014
GPG52! wrote:
Interesting topic which had me wondering about my Husky 16K W articulated 5th wheel hitch.
I'm OK with the Teflon plate but wondered about the articulating moving parts. It would stand to reason they also should be lubricated. Could not find anything on line or on the manufactures website that speaks to this.
Sent an e-mail directly to the manufacturer Husky and waiting for a response as to it's recommendation.
GPG :h

I have 4 way pivot Husky

Once a year I pull the pivot pin (large pin that holds head to cross-member & allows for side to side movement). Clean up the pin and area on head then regrease it
While I have the head off I turn it upside down...clean and grease all pivot points.
Campinfan
Explorer III
Apr 26, 2014
Vulcaneer....that is pretty much what my dealer said. Nothing but silicone. And they said they couldn't get the teflon plate to work either.
Paul_Clancy
Explorer
Apr 26, 2014
Vulcaneer wrote:
If you have a Hijacker, the hitch plate does not rotate under the pin box. The "side tangs" on the hitch plate hold the hitch plate in position on the inbox. Since there is no rotational force between the pin box and hitch plate, there is no reason for heavy duty lubing or a Teflon Plate. Only need light silicone spray to assist the king pin to ride up the ramp when hitching up.

Also with the side tangs on the hitch plate, the teflon plate may not fit correctly.

That would depend on the model. My 16k sl certainly has rotation between the head and the pin box. Are you referring to the auto slider? Hijacker has quite a few models.
rhagfo
Explorer III
Apr 26, 2014
Vulcaneer wrote:
If you have a Hijacker, the hitch plate does not rotate under the pin box. The "side tangs" on the hitch plate hold the hitch plate in position on the inbox. Since there is no rotational force between the pin box and hitch plate, there is no reason for heavy duty lubing or a Teflon Plate. Only need light silicone spray to assist the king pin to ride up the ramp when hitching up.

Also with the side tangs on the hitch plate, the teflon plate may not fit correctly.

Very good point!
Vulcaneer
Explorer
Apr 26, 2014
If you have a Hijacker, the hitch plate does not rotate under the pin box. The "side tangs" on the hitch plate hold the hitch plate in position on the inbox. Since there is no rotational force between the pin box and hitch plate, there is no reason for heavy duty lubing or a Teflon Plate. Only need light silicone spray to assist the king pin to ride up the ramp when hitching up.

Also with the side tangs on the hitch plate, the teflon plate may not fit correctly.
GPG52_
Explorer II
Apr 26, 2014
Interesting topic which had me wondering about my Husky 16K W articulated 5th wheel hitch.
I'm OK with the Teflon plate but wondered about the articulating moving parts. It would stand to reason they also should be lubricated. Could not find anything on line or on the manufactures website that speaks to this.
Sent an e-mail directly to the manufacturer Husky and waiting for a response as to it's recommendation.
GPG :h
dezl_dr
Explorer
Apr 25, 2014
Lub plate and grease the pin only. My hitch is tight with the plate but latches up fine.

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Lubing the Fifth Wheel

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