To grease the ball, or not??

[Art VanDelay]

You can't be to careful concerning grounds and you must have a return path for things to work. The grounds on the taillights are usually connected to the frame, as is the ground on tow vehicles. Extra grounds are a safe than sorry thing.

Yes, You can run extra positive cables and it will not hurt. That is another be safe than sorry thing because you have the responsibility to insure your trailer taillights are working.

If you have electric brakes you should also have an emergency braking system installed should the trailer become disconnected from the tow vehicle.

To grease or not to grease, well I have read other threads on this site where the hitch has worn out parts. Wonder why – go figure.

Others have pointed out that it is better to be safe than sorry and yet the electrical engineer still sharp shoots the safety minded people on this site. What’s up with that?

[jim munson]

It would probably take 50 years to wear out a coupler and ball.
I have several pair of pants with permanently black knees.
No mo grease for me.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Others have pointed out that it is better to be safe than sorry and yet the electrical engineer still sharp shoots the safety minded people on this site. What’s up with that?

Maybe there's another "S" word than safety. Try silly.
A lot of extra work and worry based on "I heard", instead of "I understand". = silly.

Ask yourself if the extra wires, worrying about an electrical connection between the TV chasis are necessary and wonder why the manufacturers don't do warn about it, add extra wires, etc. If it was a "safety" issue the trailer manufacturers insurance companies would insist on it.

The term "ground" is one of the most misused and misunderstood terms in the world. Yet there's a lot of "experts" that will tell you all about it based on "I heard" with out any "I understand". The problem is that these "experts" will often lead a lot of people off into unnecessary and sometimes unsafe areas.

Adding extra "ground" wires does nothing for safety. All is does is help use up the world's copper supply. You see the same current must, repeat must, flow in both the positive lead and the negative lead. People talk about "ground" problems, but never mention when the failed connection is in the positive lead.

Back in the history of automobiles there has been connection problems between devices like lights and the chasis because the screws used to make that connection would corrode, many because of galvanic reaction. We've since learned a bit more about materials and that problem is much less likely to exist. But the mystic still lingers on.

Now I suppose the "experts" will start telling me how wrong I am.

[Chester Taje]

Interesting subject----Going from greasing to grounds and electrical problems.I for one take what I like from a post or subject and the rest is for someone else to ponder.I have found lots of great resources on this forum but I also double check with certified people in the respective fields if I am unsure of the expected results.

I post this as food for thought.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Interesting subject----Going from greasing to grounds and electrical problems.I for one take what I like from a post or subject and the rest is for someone else to ponder.I have found lots of great resources on this forum but I also double check with certified people in the respective fields if I am unsure of the expected results.

I post this as food for thought.

As I recall part of the "no grease" theory was grease would cause a poor "ground" connection. Therefore this discussion does somewhat follow the original question and misconception about "grounds".

I prefer to grease cause I don't like squeeks. I also am aware that the hitch doesn't provide electrical connection to the trailer.

OK, Time for me to jump out of this conversation.

[Benny K]

Well, you may term my grounding as "Silly" and a needless waste of copper wire....Like I said earlier, I have all kinds of wire around here, no problem......and have all the time in the world that it`ll take to install that wire where I want.....In 48 years of driving, tinkering with vehicles, towing, etc., most of my electrical light and such problems have been ground related and the odd positive problem would have been a battery post problem.....maybe the term , better safe than sorry, isn`t in your vocabulary, but it sure is in mine......Have a good night!.....Benny

[Byron Kinnaman]

OK. With 48+ years in the electronics, an electronics engineering degree, the past 15 years designing and working with electrical and electronic stuff that goes into heavy duty trucks. My livelyhood depends on knowing a bit about how those electrons move around in wires and other components. As for "safe", ever seen a truck burn? Well I can tell you the last thing I want is to be the cause of a truck fire. Over kill isn't necessarily being safe and I don't "tinker".

You have a good night too.

[Bigfoot Mike]

Thanks guys.


(This thread has run its course.)