Lubing the Fifth Wheel

[Campinfan]

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?

[Cummins12V98]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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_]

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]

Lub plate and grease the pin only. My hitch is tight with the plate but latches up fine.

[rgbeach]

I just changed from an older hijacker hitch head to a new style wrap around style. To get a good hitch up I had to shave my lube plate to about 1/8 inch. The jaws refused to fully close when too thick. I also have a 5th Airborne pin box.

[Campinfan]

I called Demco and there advice matched up with E=mc2 and Paul Clancy. I may get the slip plate stuff for the pin and the jaws.

[E_mc2]

I use a Teflon disc with my companion and I grease the jaws and kingpin before each trip, and at the end of the trip I just wipe off the grease and then it is clean and ready for the next trip.

[Paul_Clancy]

With my hijacker I grease the internals with a standard synthetic all purpose including the slide bar. I also grease the kingpin and use a Teflon disk on the pin box. I find I need to remove the old grease every spring and re apply (take head out at car wash and pressure wash clean). I also cover the hitch between trips. My hitch is now in its 3rd truck and 15 years old.