Ball Lube

[Pedro_The_Swift]

You guys with pins sit this one out,,,

Anyone do it?
spray?
dry? wet?
reasons?

While it may be a good idea,,
I'm not sure how to make it work properly,,

[strangy]

What on earth are you talking about????[wink11]

[incisor]

tow ball ?

i use lanolin grease in a spray can

is bright red, my favorite colour :p

and is nice and sticky..

MX5G i think it is called

[Homestar]

I assumed tow ball, but let's face it, with Pedro it could have been something completely different... [bigwhistle]

[Bytemrk]

I assumed tow ball, but let's face it, with Pedro it could have been something completely different... [bigwhistle]

I was considering reporting the post and asking if it was G rated [biggrin]


As for the original Topic....My Trailer has a treg hitch.... so I can't remember the last time i needed to lubricate my ball, so to speak... [bighmmm]

[Don 130]

I've always understood that putting anything oily/greasy on the tow ball will cause dust to accumulate in it making grinding paste which works on both ball and interior of hitch. I leave mine dry.
Don

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Thank you Don,,[smilebigeye]

I have no idea what the rest of the idiots are on about--

[rick130]

I've been avoiding this thread as I felt it offended my sensibilities !

If Pedro is indeed talking tow balls, dear old dad schooled me to use a moly based grease, the same as what most of us use on sliding splines, etc.
It's what I've always used, I don't like dry balls, they chafe, err, wear and gall. :bigwhistle:

[Homestar]

I was considering reporting the post and asking if it was G rated [biggrin]


As for the original Topic....My Trailer has a treg hitch.... so I can't remember the last time i needed to lubricate my ball, so to speak... [bighmmm]

I was talking about Basketball, no idea what you're talking about... [bigwhistle]

Back on topic, I leave mine dry too - never had an issue and I keep the hitch in the back of the hilux so I don't want grease all over it. I suppose some dry lube like bike chain lube would be as far as I'd go if I thought it was needed. Van has done nearly 20,000KM and the hitch shows no signs wear, nor do the 2 towballs that have done the most KM towing it.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Living on the coast helps to find all the wear patches on the ball quickly! they turn instantly to rust!,, [bigrolf]
and seeing the hitch itself could be nearly 30 years old, its just something that sits in the back of your mind--

I might try some on the next trip,,
cant rush these things,,

[incisor]

like anything it is a maintenance thing for me...

i clean the ball and socket regularly

personally i think the dust in the grease problem to be a bit of a furphy as it's been my experience the lube is pushed to the edges and any dust gathers there, away from the wear zone.

i drive a few dirt roads and have never seen extra wear but i can see it could / would become an issue if you didnt do regular maintenance.

it makes for quieter driving as well in my experience.

[rick130]

like anything it is a maintenance thing for me...

i clean the ball and socket regularly

personally i think the dust in the grease problem to be a bit of a furphy as it's been my experience the lube is pushed to the edges and any dust gathers there, away from the wear zone.

i drive a few dirt roads and have never seen extra wear but i can see it could / would become an issue if you didnt do regular maintenance.

it makes for quieter driving as well in my experience.
This.

I always kept the ball greased on the Patrol/horse towing vehicle and at the time there was 6km of dirt before hitting the bitumen.
That car used to clock up 5,000km in 3 weeks towing and keeping the ball greased just kept things quiet and smooth.

The ex FIL used to use the sane grinding paste argument for not servicing the cattle crush, but as I was the one using it I always greased and oiled it, it just made my life easier when putting near 300 head through the yards.

[Tins]

Hitch Ball Lube - Hitch Ball Lube - hayman reese (http://www.haymanreese.com.au/products/hitch-ball-lube)

[EDG60]

Dry Graphite only IF at all. Grease / oil / sticky lube of any kind is just a carrier for silica (sand/dust) to build up and form a nice grinding paste.

[Homestar]

Never used any, never had an issue. Hitch is fine, towball is fine. It’s not like they are high speed movin parts

[justinc]

I think he means this...

rampant bull jelly - YouTube (https://youtu.be/fZ9X9DVXowI)

Roght, pedro???

Jc. 😅😅😅

[Pedro_The_Swift]

*coughcough..
stagnant full belly??

isnt there an internet filter for you taswegians??

[trout1105]

I've always understood that putting anything oily/greasy on the tow ball will cause dust to accumulate in it making grinding paste which works on both ball and interior of hitch. I leave mine dry.
Don

+1

[PhilipA]

Mc Hitch strongly recommend no lube at all on their tow "ball"

I generally use spray on Dri lube or equivalent on everything at the back of the car( D2) like hinges locks rear door guides and towball.

This has been successful in that I have never had a jammed rear lock. The result on the McHitch was not conclusive as it tended to peel off so I don't use anything now.
Regards Philip A

[trout1105]

It is bad enough when you hit your shins on the towball and wiping grease off your strides/legs as well is just adding insult to injury.
As for keeping it quiet, If your coupling is noisy then you most likely have a problem that grease won't fix anyway.
The grinding paste theory holds water if you are doing a lot of sand work or other areas that have silica or hard rock dust, old fashioned bulldust is too powdery to do much damage one would think.
Lastly you own a Landrover that usually leaks fluids over the driveway so why on earth would you want to cover the arse end in grease as well?

[Geedublya]

Mc Hitch strongly recommend no lube at all on their tow "ball"

I generally use spray on Dri lube or equivalent on everything at the back of the car( D2) like hinges locks rear door guides and towball.

This has been successful in that I have never had a jammed rear lock. The result on the McHitch was not conclusive as it tended to peel off so I don't use anything now.
Regards Philip A

As the McHitch "ball" is really just a locating pin there is no need for lubricant except maybe to the internal thread.

I don't lubricate towballs as I the lubricant attracts dirt and pieces of clothing, as soon as possible I swap out the hitch and ball for a McHitch setup which in my opinion is the pick of the hitches and the only moving parts can be lubricated by a grease gun with the lubricant contained by seals.

[Redbak]

Hi Pedro ( Long time no see ? )

I grease my ball with any old grease !
But I do wipe it clean and put on some new stuff often,
especially on a trip.
I'v seen rusty balls with huge flat spots because of a lack of lubricant.

Yer gotta look after yer balls mate ?

Cheers Davo
( The original Redbak )

[PeterJ]

I've been avoiding this thread as I felt it offended my sensibilities !

If Pedro is indeed talking tow balls, dear old dad schooled me to use a moly based grease, the same as what most of us use on sliding splines, etc.
It's what I've always used, I don't like dry balls, they chafe, err, wear and gall. :bigwhistle:

All of the above, think about the actual area that makes contact between the ball and the inside of the coupling, visualise the internal and external spheres that are working against each other and the size (surface area) of the locking pin that is in contact with the back of the towball to lock it in place. The bearing stress (which is the force over the area that is actually in contact) is quite high. Contaminants like sand, dirt in the coupling is only going to happen when you take it off and put it back on, use ball covers and a bag over the hitch, but really it's just called maintenance.

Which leads me to the question, when did you last take a really good look at your ball[bigwhistle]you might be surprised just how worn it is. One of my old ones, used with a Hyland hitch, which I have now replaced, but you can see the wear to the top. This is caused by the adjusting screw at the front of the coupling.

135161

Peter