Grease your ball hitch?

[AC0GV]

I use waxed paper, but if you like grease, here you go…….
https://ballgreaser.com/

[Jon in AZ]

A solution in search of a problem. Like most advertising it greatly exaggerates the problem it purports to solve. I’ve never needed gloves to grease the ball, just a quick wipe with a napkin and straight into the trash.

[Glenn Baglo]

Looks like a "make work" project. I have a spray can of white lithium grease. Couple short spurts up into the hitch latch.

[steve dunham]

It will never sell cause it’s not bluetooth compatible.

[OCJohn]

Balls are cheap and replaceable. Bolt-on couplers are cheap and replaceable. Grease is a mess and a magnet for abrasive grit.

I run mine clean and dry. Always have.

[Casita Greg]

In over 40 years of towing trailers, I have NEVER greased the hitch ball. I've towed boats, cargo trailers and travel trailers, highway and off-road, and NEVER needed to grease the hitch ball.

[AC0GV]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

A solution in search of a problem. Like most advertising it greatly exaggerates the problem it purports to solve. I’ve never needed gloves to grease the ball, just a quick wipe with a napkin and straight into the trash.

I'll be surprised if he is able to get a patent. It doesn’t really seem to be anything more than a grease zerk and a drill bit sold together.

[steve dunham]

I cleaned and greased my trailer coupler and ball this afternoon
I also sprayed the inside of my receiver hitch with white lithium grease
It takes so little time and energy for such a large gain !

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by AC0GV

I'll be surprised if he is able to get a patent. It doesn’t really seem to be anything more than a grease zerk and a drill bit sold together.

I'm holding out for the deluxe version that comes with a cordless drill ( batteries extra ).

[OCJohn]

Glenn made me laugh.

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by AC0GV

I use waxed paper, but if you like grease, here you go…….
https://ballgreaser.com/

It is much more time consuming and much more messy to get out and use the grease gun, than it is to simply squeeze out a dab onto the ball from a plastic tube of grease. The tubes are also small and re-sealable, so they can ride along with no mess.

WD-40 also works well. It doesn't last as long as grease on the ball, but it also lubricates the catch mechanism and makes it work better. Once in a while, while spraying the coupler, you can also spray the stabilizers, step mechanisms and door latch. I find that in winter, these things need a lot of attention.

[Jon Vermilye]

Grease on hitch balls is sorta like driving with the fridge on propane, filling tires to their sidewall rating or by weight, etc. Everyone has an opinion, and few can be changed.

I'm in the no grease crowd, having towed trailers for almost 60 years.

[Iowa Dave]

Difrent strokes for difrent folks. I’m a greaser. Always have been , always will be. Started with bicycles, then cars, trailers, motorcycles, chainsaw bars, fishing reels, guns, turf equipment , and on and on. For a spray product I like Triflow for heavier application, the appropriate recommended product or my best guess. When I’m finished with a job and cleaning up, I hear my equipment whisper “you complete me”.
Iowa Dave

[Cathy P.]

RVing since 1983, the first time we greased the ball was after we had a problem with one, in the early years when we started out. So much of this depends on a lot of different factors involved: particular equipment, weather conditions of the area - Kansas has blowing dirt or clay mud, all sticky as heck!

[Timber Wolf]

My two cents, I have never greased a ball, nor known anyone else that did either, ever. Not sure what it is supposed to accomplish, since I have never seen it done or needed it. Now a little lube on the latching mechanism, I understand. But the ball? Nope, don’t get it.

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by Timber Wolf

My two cents, I have never greased a ball, nor known anyone else that did either, ever. Not sure what it is supposed to accomplish, since I have never seen it done or needed it. Now a little lube on the latching mechanism, I understand. But the ball? Nope, don’t get it.

On my toy hauler that was towed with a weight distributing hitch, the ball was under so much force that it galled. There was always shredded metal on it when I disconnected. So I greased it and solved that extreme wear situation

On Olivers with bulldog hitches that are using the Anderson hitch, the balls wear excessively in one area partly because the interior of the bulldog hitch is not smooth. Again, lots or wear and on a proprietary ball that is not too easy to replace. Anderson says to grease the ball.

Grease reduces galling and wear.

Simply never greasing something is not evidence that it never needed grease. Do what you think is best. But in the two cases I mention, it was/is important, or at least had a real function.

[OCJohn]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

I’m a greaser. Always have been , always will be. Started with bicycles, then cars, trailers, motorcycles, chainsaw bars, fishing reels, guns, turf equipment , and on and on...

Completely agree all of those things need lube. I just don’t see why a trailer ball does. I’ve never seen one seize up or fail to move freely. I’ve never had one squeak or make noise. I understand that it’s theoretically a metal on metal wear area, but so is every door hinge in my house. Our first home was built in 1923 and still had all original doors and hinges. All working fine.

My bel weather is Mercedes Benz ball joints. Remember how ball joints and steering links all used to have grease fittings? Now try to remember the last time you crawled under a car with a grease gun and actually found a grease fitting. I’m 56 and haven’t seen one on any vehicle I’ve owned since high school. Thank you M-B. It was their engineers who learned that ball joints and steering link joints weren’t failing because they were starved for lubricant. They failed when dirt and grit found its way in. They learned that well meaning DIYers and mechanics were injecting grease into dirty fittings and forcing the grit into the joint’s bearing surfaces. So they just got rid of the grease fittings and saw a huge increase in longevity just from keeping the dirt out. And those joints are sealed... Our trailer balls/couplers aren’t anything close to being sealed. Anytime we’re on the road, they’re exposed to a vortex of dust and grit behind the tow vehicle. Now add a nice coating of sticky lube... See where I’m headed?

I’m taking the gamble that in this very low-wear application, no lube is better than any lube. So far it’s worked great for me and many others. But I’m all ears if someone’s got an actual experience of a ball or coupler failure from lack of lubricant. I’ve never worked at a trailer shop and likely haven’t towed as many miles as others on this forum. Always willing to listen to first hand experience to support the theory.

I just didn’t want to come off as anti-lube in general. Indeed, trailer balls and household door hinges may be the only two things I don’t lubricate.

[Raspy]

John,

Now imagine how long those Mercedes ball joints in your example would have lasted if they were put together dry and with no seals to keep anything out. Yes, grease attracts dirt, etc, but a dry joint has no lube to begin with. Bare metal to metal contact is not a better wear surface than a greased one, otherwise, why grease ball bearings, or U joints, or steering linkages at all?

Lubing the ball is not just done once and then left forever to fail, it's re-done as it gets dry or clogged with contaminants. A simple wipe with a paper towel before adding the new dab of grease removes the majority of the dirt.

Clearly, light duty, seldom used trailer couplers get by just fine with no lube. But my examples, in my previous post, demonstrate how lube can be better than no lube, just as car ball joints are better with lube, than they would be coming from the factory dry, with no lube at all, with just a metal to metal wear surface.

[Glenn Baglo]

A spray can of white lithium grease costs less than $10. So does a new ball, if you ever find you need one.

[OCJohn]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

A spray can of white lithium grease costs less than $10. So does a new ball, if you ever find you need one.

I’m convinced.