I have been noticing over the years that my hitch ball is being gouged. I always assumed it was from contaminated grease, rocks being stuck in the coupler, or a series of small animals making homes in my coupler. I finally crawled on my back to inspect the inside of the coupler and clean all the grease out to get a good look, and to my surprise there is a significant amount of wear. Sharp metal burs that are undoubtedly the cause of my hitch ball being gouged. See pictures...My questions are:1. Should this be happening?2. Why is this happening?3. How can I fix it?4. Should I even be bothered by it?Thoughts?

didn't realize that imgur doesn't work for posting to these forums..had to rehost on photo bucket for the pictures to show up.

I would be looking for a replacement coupler, it looks like it is wearing through.

jolleyutah wrote:didn't realize that imgur doesn't work for posting to these forums..had to rehost on photo bucket for the pictures to show up.imgur works for me, you may have chosen the wrong link option.

westend wrote:I would be looking for a replacement coupler, it looks like it is wearing through.X2And I'd replace it a.s.a.p. and would change the ball too.

Coupler gouging hitch ball | Good Sam Community

15 Replies

93Cobra2771
Explorer
Jun 03, 2015
Grease is your answer. You haven't used it. You need to.
Ozlander
Explorer
Jun 03, 2015
That nickel sized spot is where it has wore thru.
Needs a new ball and coupler.
New one needs grease and cleaned before every use.
BarneyS
Explorer III
Jun 03, 2015
jolleyutah wrote:
didn't realize that imgur doesn't work for posting to these forums..had to rehost on photo bucket for the pictures to show up.

Imgur works fine with these forums. In fact, the forum picture posting website, developed by our own moderator 1492, works very well and is hosted on imgur.

It is very easy to use. Just upload your picture to the site, copy the resulting URL directly into your post and your are done. :)
Barney
icanon
Explorer
Jun 03, 2015
Lynnmor wrote:
Looks like you are using a ball that is too small. Check the ball fit by hand with the ball off the truck.

JimNH wrote:
X2...maybe a 1-7/8" ball in side of a 2" receiver?

JIM

jolleyutah wrote:
It does kind of look that way, however, it is a 2 5/16" ball in a 2 5/16" coupler.

It's probably worn so much that's it appears, no it's now a 1-7/8”.
69_Avion
Explorer
Jun 03, 2015
It appears that it was used with a lack of lube.
jolleyutah
Explorer
Jun 03, 2015
It does kind of look that way, however, it is a 2 5/16" ball in a 2 5/16" coupler.
JimNH
Explorer
Jun 03, 2015
X2...maybe a 1-7/8" ball in side of a 2" receiver?

JIM
Lynnmor
Explorer
Jun 03, 2015
Looks like you are using a ball that is too small. Check the ball fit by hand with the ball off the truck.
cyntdon2010
Explorer
Jun 02, 2015
Nasty, looks like a lack of LUBE...metal to metal
ScottG
Nomad
Jun 02, 2015
Looks like pretty common wear patterns to me.
I would grease it well and monitor the situation. I don't believe there's any threat of failure right now.