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Old 06-24-2015, 03:18 PM   #1
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Trailer ball greasing

I've pulled small boat and Coleman PUP trailers pretty much my whole life. I never heard of greasing the trailer ball till I got my TT. Seems it would make a real mess. What are your thoughts? Please chime in on both sides of the question.
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Old 06-24-2015, 03:27 PM   #2
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Has to do with the tongue weight. With 500+ lbs. that metal to metal contact can start to wear thing out. Yes it can be a mess if you use too much. They also make caps to put over the trailer ball when not in use. Or just cut a old tennis ball, they work fine too. Oh yea you will also notice the first time you forget to cover the trailer ball when not connected. Don't ask how I know.
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Old 06-24-2015, 04:24 PM   #3
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I apply grease through the grease zerk fittings on my weight distribution hitch whenever I start to hear a lot of groaning and popping. I also apply a bit of grease to the ball because I heard that you should. It tows nice and quiet then. The friction sway control should not have any grease applied though, and those continue to make noise when tightened up and I'm cornering.

As DesertRat says, it does make for a messier storage. I use cut up old tennis balls and plastic bags to try and minimize contacting the greasy parts. Far from fool proof and the dog makes off with the tennis balls all the time.
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Old 06-24-2015, 04:26 PM   #4
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It's probably a good idea, but I for one am sick and tired of grease on my legs and pants. The mess isn't worth it imo. I just use a shot of WD-40 before every trip, we don't tow great distances so it works just fine.
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Old 06-24-2015, 07:34 PM   #5
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I don't know what weight it will work up to, but when I was towing my popup I used to fold a square of wax paper and put it on top of the ball when hitching up. Seemed to do the trick. I use grease on all my heavy stuff, yes it can be a bit messy but that goes with the territory. I don't leave my hitch head in place much so walking into the ball is usually only while setting up camp. I have pulled a grocery store bag over the whole hitch head to keep the grease to a minimum, when I hook back up the bag goes in the trash.

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Old 06-24-2015, 08:23 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ewarnerusa View Post
I apply grease through the grease zerk fittings on my weight distribution hitch whenever I start to hear a lot of groaning and popping...
Just to clarify, the zerk fittings are for greasing the spring bar heads where they insert into the WDH.
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