To grease the ball or not?

The other thing is, it doesn't have to be gobbed on the ball like icing on a cupcake. All it needs is a thin film.

To those of you who maintain it is not necessary to grease the ball, I suggest you all take a good long look at the first post in this thread written by Ron Gratz. Specifically I suggest you look at the diagram where the coupler meets the ball. Take a look at the amount of pressure between the ball and the coupler interface. That is a steel on steel interface and the pressures are VERY high. Lack of lubrication in that area will promote galling, wear, and the good possibility of the ball being turned enough to loosen the nut or wallowing out the hole of the balls shank.

In my opinion, the decision to not grease the ball is foolish. It only takes a minute to wipe off the grease when done towing and re-grease before the next tow.
Barney

EDIT: I asked Ron Gratz, whose thread I linked to above, about the amount of pressure between the coupler and ball when WD is used. Here is his response.
"If the rear end of each WD bar is loaded to 1000#, the two bars will pull down on the A-frame with a force of 2000#. Since the lift chains are attached about 30" behind the ball, some of the 2000# acting on the A-frame will be carried on the ball, and a much smaller amount will be carried on the TT's axles.

In the example, I assumed 1700# was added to the ball and 300# was transferred to the TT's axles. The 1700# added to the ball by the WDH plus the 1000# from tongue weight, means the total downward force between coupler and ball is 2700# -- nearly three times the tongue weight. I think it would be wise to use grease."

No grease here on the ball, ever.

This trailer: 5 years, and ~30K miles towed. No problems, no signs of unusual wear.
Previous trailer (PUP): 9 years, and ~40K miles towed. Same thing.

It does seem like the sort of thing that could have a different answer for much heavier trailers. Of course I do grease where the sockets swivel on my Equalizer.

I am 63 years old and never greased a trailer ball or hitch for 40+ years of casual RVing. Never had a problem. If I towed every day I probably would grease it.

mrnoyb wrote:

Hannibal wrote:
What are "friction bars"?

You're correct. What I should have noted was that you don't lubricate the spring arms where they meet with the L brackets & L pins. I understand other components may need periodic lubrication but not the spring arms at the L brackets where the steel on steel friction results in reduced sway. There is no mention of lubricating the hitch ball.

Again, if hitch ball lubrication is called for, why aren't we seeing this listed as a maintenance item from the factories?

Ah! Now I know what you're referring to. I was thinking of the knuckle ends on my old Reese WDH. The other end didn't offer any friction or sway control with their chains. I forgot all about the type you're referring to. Thanks for the reminder.:C

I just started to lube the ball. To keep it cleaner, bought a ball cover. Just dont know if it is worth the mess.
Ed

mrnoyb wrote:
You don't lubricate the friction bars on a WDH. Why would you lubricate a hitch ball? If it were necessary to grease the ball, wouldn't the manufacturers say so?

I think the MFG intends to have the interface lubricated but they usually say it in a non-intuitive fashion. Once upon a time I actually looked into it and usually the verbiage is to clean and lubricate the coupler socket.

---------------------

Here is a link to the Cequent Group Technical Guide, they own a number of the consumer level towing equipment suppliers. Under the "Safe Towing Guide" they indicate "The coupler socket should be smooth, clean and lightly lubricated" (pg 11) Just did a spot check of the installation manuals for products under their ownership, they have similar reference to lubricating the hitch socket.

Edit: Added Cequent information...and fixed the formatting

mrnoyb wrote:
You don't lubricate the friction bars on a WDH. Why would you lubricate a hitch ball? If it were necessary to grease the ball, wouldn't the manufacturers say so?

That`s a completely different part. the friction sway control is basically a brake pad. I do lube my WD bars at the hitch head though.

Hannibal wrote:
What are "friction bars"?

You're correct. What I should have noted was that you don't lubricate the spring arms where they meet with the L brackets & L pins. I understand other components may need periodic lubrication but not the spring arms at the L brackets where the steel on steel friction results in reduced sway. There is no mention of lubricating the hitch ball.

Again, if hitch ball lubrication is called for, why aren't we seeing this listed as a maintenance item from the factories?

What are "friction bars"?