Trailer Tongue Coupler Wear?

I towed 3 different TT`s over 17 years with tongue weights ranging from 600lbs to 1300lbs. always greased and never any sign of wear. that ball is done. replace it and check the inside of the coupler for wear. maybe run some coarse sandpaper to clean it up then some fine. then use a bit of grease to coat the new ball. If you are using a WD hitch, make sure to lube the pivot points in the hitch head where the bars mount.

Yea, the cut off and re weld isnt that much, depends on the area, and who you get to do it. And yea i recently sold my 30 year old camper. My coupler and ball looked nothing like that. And it was well used by me and the people i got it from. Dosen't matter what it costs , it dosen't look safe. Unfortunately thats what you get into with old stuff, you fix it to make it safe or you dont and maybe suffer the consequences. They cut off the coupler ,not the tounge on the camper. If thats not mess up, then nothing is.

I can honestly say that I have gotten curious looks from people when I asked if the grease their trailer ball.

I do, yes it is messy and yes I have gotten grease on my pants and hands. At the start of the season I wipe off the old grease and slather on the new. Works for me.

To answer the OPs question, I would replace the ball. It seems to have serve him well and is ready to be replaced.

The split in the underside of coupler is not normal and due to severe lack of preventative maintenance......what's the rest of the trailer look like?

A coupler can be purchased for about $60 and welded on in about an hour, not a big deal.

Sjm9911 wrote:
Not something i have seen yet. Just replace them both and be done with it. Why take a chance.

But it’s a 30 year old camper. Having someone replace the tongue on the trailer could cost a significant % of what the trailer is worth.
Easy to say if it’s not your money.

But I agree, it’s worth some more inspection. Figure out if it’s messed up or not.

Not something i have seen yet. Just replace them both and be done with it. Why take a chance.

Complete lack of basic maintenance on the ball and hitch.

OP, I’d stick a new ball on that and use it.
But see how rough the inside of the coupler is, whether it will try to tear up a new ball or not. Idk which is harder steel. If either.

ferndaleflyer wrote:
I have a 32ft enclosed car trailer that since 1999 I have probably 200,000mi with the same ball on several different trucks and I never grease it. It shows some wear but nothing I am concerned about. Had a ball shear off once but thats a different story.

^This.
While I don’t track mileage on my trailers or any work trailers, even with old work trailers that certainly have far more use than most dedicated recreational uses, I’ve yet to see a ball or coupler “wear out .” Broken, smashed, rusted, yes.
Can’t say I’ve even recall seen that type of grinding as those pictures.