Can I Use Gear Oil On Dual Cam

[Arn]

Can I use an 80W90 gear oil to lubricate the trunnion pivot points & cams on Reese Dual Cam? Reese says grease on cams is okay if close to 1200lbs hitch weight. I'm about 1,150lbs. Thanks.

[thomasmnile]

I used Vaseline on my Straight Line dual cam for the entirety of my ownership as Reese suggested. Zero problems. The bonus was an easy removal and cleanup with shop rags after every trip.

Regarding snapping, popping and clunking. Only sounds I ever heard like that was when making turns. No effect on the trailer or the hitch.

[Bobbo]

Arn wrote:
I currently use wheel bearing grease on ball & trunnions as well. I tried Reese's recommendation of Vaseline on the cams without much success. Sometimes when turning the friction is so great that it sounds like something is breaking & the "pops" are so violent they seem to shake the trailer. Next up, white lithium grease. Thanks.

Whereas, Vaseline on the cam surfaces works very well for me. For several trips before needing to be reapplied.

[Lwiddis]

Follow Reese’s guidelines IMO. I’d use grease.

[noteven]

As mentioned gear lube is very pungent...

A plastic squeeze tube of the waterproofest grease you can find would be a reasonable choice.

[JRscooby]

I don't know why anybody would even think of using anything that smells as rear-end grease if anything else would work.

[Arn]

I currently use wheel bearing grease on ball & trunnions as well. I tried Reese's recommendation of Vaseline on the cams without much success. Sometimes when turning the friction is so great that it sounds like something is breaking & the "pops" are so violent they seem to shake the trailer. Next up, white lithium grease. Thanks.

[dodge_guy]

I used regular wheel bearing grease on the ball and trunnions. I used a small dab of white lithium on the cams. just enough to stop the noise of the bars passing over the cams. My tongue weight was 1200lbs/

BTW, when the time comes you can flip/flop the cams side to side so you can then use the unused bottom side as the new cam surface. for me that was about 10 years which was about 20k miles.

[Bobbo]

Oil is too thin and will run off. Use grease.