Thread: Ball Lube

Originally Posted by 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

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.

Originally Posted by 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:

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 ballyou 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.

worn towball.jpg

Peter