Grease on the ball?

[Steelhawk]

A friend we camp with always puts grease on his trailer ball. He says I should do it as well. Is this a good idea?

[PeteK-Hou]

wrenchbender wrote:
I grease my ball and to keep from wearing the grease when not connected I attach a grocery bag and cover the ball.

I cut down one of the bags that every RV park gives out to clean up after dogs. Cut it to about 4-5 inches in length, slip it over the ball, secure it with a long wire tie.

[Muddydogs]

I have some pics of the inside of my coupler and you can see the wear, I just keep an eye on it. My old ball was basically frozen in the hitch body and wasn't moving anymore, I think a little bit of the sleeve squeezing out is normal but mine was excessive. The new sleeve looks like its a little different material and is black instead of red so I don't know if they change them or not.

I just don't understand people complaining about getting grease from the ball on there clothes? Wipe the darn ball off after you unhook and the problem is solved. If one paper towel won't wide off the grease then you are using way to much grease on the ball. After you wipe off the ball take a swipe around the coupler to get any grease that may be on the edge. It's really that simple. I put a rubber cover over the ball, a pic was posted a few posts back, just to keep the road grit off the ball when driving around the dirt roads so I don't have to clean the ball before hooking up. Most the time I take the hitch out of the truck anyway.

[wrenchbender]

I grease my ball and to keep from wearing the grease when not connected I attach a grocery bag and cover the ball.

[Lynnmor]

Muddydogs wrote:

If I had to do it over again and knowing what I know now I would have never went with the Anderson hitch

That ball wear is probably where the latch contacts the ball. I would never trust this design because of the force placed on the latch, when it fails you are in big trouble.

Everyone looks at ball wear because it is readily apparent, but the coupler might be much worse. With a hard chrome plating on the ball it might appear nothing is wrong, but the mild steel coupler may be wearing rapidly. Just grease the ball, common sense should tell you that metal to metal joints need lubrication.

I have found that white lithium grease is much worse than wheel bearing grease.

[CavemanCharlie]

From what I have read the red stuff coming out is normal on a Anderson Hitch.

[Muddydogs]

Here's a couple pic's of my first Anderson ball with less then 2 thousand miles on it with no grease. Notice the wear on the ball and the red sleeve deal squeezing out. Anderson did send me a new ball assembly and sleeve but after 500 miles of no grease it started to wear just like the first so I know put a little grease on it.







If I had to do it over again and knowing what I know now I would have never went with the Anderson hitch but my pickup handles the trailer just fine and since I have never had a problem towing without a weight distribution hitch when I have done it in the past I figure I'm not going to spend the cash to upgrade hitches at this point. The Anderson dose move some weight and helps with sway some what so I guess its better then nothing plus it sure is light.

[DE88ROX]

I always give the ball a little spritz of lithium grease before heading out on a trip.

[97chevor]

I used to with 10k rated ball, coupler would scratch ball. I switched to 30k rated ball, not so much anymore, mainly use now just to prevent rust.

[nrkmann]

My Reese set up is very noisy without grease. A dab on the ball and all the shiny spots where there is metal to metal contact. Now there is none of that snap-crackel-pop when leaving the RV park or in tight turns.

[rbpru]

My fault I was thinking of the bar sockets on the Blue Ox not the arm socket zerks. Yup those get a squirt of grease regularly.

[Acdii]

Been using Moly based bearing grease for years. The one time I didn't use it, sure enough, galled the ball. My round bards also have a shiny patch where they rub in the head even though I use the proper grease, so just imagine the wear if I didn't grease them. Its simple enough, just get a can of it and an acid brush, and stick it in the bin where you store the hitch parts. Then just before you drop the trailer on the ball, give it a few strokes with the lubed up brush. I also use it on the sway bar balls since it also rubs them. When putting the hitch away, i have blue shop towels, takes a moment to wipe them off and get the grit off them.
I do need one of those condoms though, I greased my pants twice and shirt once this weekend on a short overnight trip. I tend to leave the head on the truck for those trips.

[hawkeye-08]

Yes, use the grease.

[CavemanCharlie]

I have never used it. We don't use it on the farm for any hitches either. my brother has a goose neck 5th wheel and got mad at me one time when I greased the ball. He said it would attract more dirt and make things worse.

[doggydaddy]

I use chainsaw bar lube. Comes in its own mess free applicator. Has worked fine for several years. Easy and clean application and doesn't take much. Usually available wherever they sell chainsaws.

[Bears_Den]

Just like Brillcreme, a little dab will do ya!!! Lol, seriously I put a little on my ball, makes a big difference both on and off.