[speckhunter80]

grease your receiver hitch ball? I never heard of such a thing. 38 years towing boat trailers and have never done it but I belong to a website for PopUp camper owners and you would thing I am a mass murderer because I don't grease the hitch ball. So do you grease, do you remove the ball/receiver when not using it and if you don't do you have a hitch ball cover?

 

[trigger22]

I've never heard of such a thing myself.

 

[BigE818]

Well on my trailer tongue its stamped with the ball size and that's the ball I have on my truck and its a nice fit when latched. Sooo I would think that having a greased ball would multiply my chances of said tongue jumping off the ball while the vehicle is in motion. Now mind you I always lock the latch on the ball when attached to my truck so the latch doesn't "jump" while driving down the road and cross my safety cables so if it does jump off it will hopefully land on the crossed cables. Sooo in other works..... I've never heard of greasing the ball.. And no I don't remove or cover my ball as my shins... they will tell you all about it!!

 

[catfish_hunter]

never, but i have wrapped some duct tape around one so it will fit my slightly larger hitch lol...

 

[speckhunter80]

Apparently Curt even sells ball grease

 

[wademaster]

I don't have a camper but I've never seen that done. I don't take my hitch off either. Also, no hitch cover.


Sent from my kayak...

 

[ChltBnks]

Think of it as you have a fifth wheel on your car/truck just like a tractor trailer which is always covered in grease. If you are just hauling your boat for 30 weekends a year you may be fine without grease.

But if you are a tractor trailer or a pop-up camper that may be attached all the time, or a lot heavier than a boat with a lot more shear force doing 65mph on the highway, that is a lot of friction with metal rubbing against metal.

I assume they are using lithium grease since it is mostly just soap (lithium) and oil so it has a higher temp. 'something' (I can't remember the word) so it does not drip oil in your driveway. It is the same reason you want to use it on your garage door.

 

[sundrop]

I have heard of using grease in goose neck applications but never for a bumper hitch. Trailers of the goose neck size and payloads put alot more pressure on the ball and can wear it down over time and mis-shape it making it harder to release but that is more prevalent in long haul frequent or commercial situations.

 

[fishinnc]

My hitch ball is lightly greased, but that's from me greasing the moving parts in the hitch.

 

[Brenardo]

Never have but have friends who do. Always been a good way to ruin a pair of pants.

 

[Drum Runner]

I have heard of using grease in goose neck applications but never for a bumper hitch. Trailers of the goose neck size and payloads put alot more pressure on the ball and can wear it down over time and mis-shape it making it harder to release but that is more prevalent in long haul frequent or commercial situations.

If you don't keep a goose neck hitch greased you will wind up having a very difficult time getting it unhitched one day.
Happens all the time with the "horse women".

I think the idea of greasing a hitch ball comes from wanting to keep a nice looking hitch ball. To keep the chrome intact.

 

[Neilslure]

I grease mine every time I grease my motor. It cant hurt IMO.

 

[sundrop]

It just means I would get grease in my cut up shin when I run into the %^&$# thing! I am so bad for that, and half the time I still leave it in there so guess I deserve it..

 

[speckhunter80]

I am going to post a link so you can see what I am talking about. Hope it works: http://www.popupportal.com/index.php?topic=83569.msg817084#msg817084

 

[crabman00]

I've been towing boats for about forty years and until six months ago never greased the ball. One of the boats started causing me some aggravation where it became difficult to release the trailer from the ball. Always had to get in the truck and move it slightly to get it to release. I put some bearing grease on the ball and problem solved. Slipped a cap over the ball to keep the grease where it belongs. Now I wonder why it took me forty years to figure that out.
Funny thing is that I just realized I've been using my other boat and tow vehicle lately and I've not greased it. Think I'll take care of that today. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[JTruckner]

Never used grease on trailer ball. I have had to change a ball due to wear. With grease on it removing and storing would be a mess. Trailers with pintal hitch usually have heavy loads and I have not seen grease on them. They wear and then get changed.

 

[pizzamanrob]

So I'm just curious how this question was presented... "Do you grease your balls?" I think I would have a hard time taking this seriously> Although it does not sound like a bad idea. But like was said, if you only pull your lighter boat a few weekends out of the year your probably ok, vs the constant pulling of a camper...Great question, Great answers

 

[204Angler]

My family had a travel trailer growing up that was pulled behind the '74 'Burban. I remember my Dad always putting a fresh coat on before every trip. I have always followed suit.
It just seemed like it made sense; like the old saying "some grease is better than none at all". Like Neil said, it can't hurt. I do know that I never hear the "squeak" while towing like I hear in others who don't use grease.

I think toungue weight has a lot to do with it. A boat trailer isn't typically going to have the toungue weight a travel trailer will. Those things don't seem like they'd be heavy, but they have more weight per foot probably than a boat.

 

[papadave]

My grandfather contracted hay and pulled a heavy tractor over 2-3 counties. He always greased the hitch. He greased about everything that could possibly wear from friction. I know for him it was a holdover from different times ... if you could prevent something from wearing out you did so.

 

[ncnat]

I've greased hitches and balls for the last 20 years. Don't know one way or the other if it helps, but I feel better knowing that it has maintained.