Is it necessary to grease your tow ball.

do not use grease  after a while it dries and sets like glue

              TAJ

KFT wrote:

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I do, seems to me that two metal components with considerable compression and movement would need some lubrication.

I use a product called Lanox which is a lanolin based lubricant and is much cleaner than grease.

I think it pays to keep your ball slippery

Bloody Frank

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Gday...

Me too .... Lanox on ball and up into socket regularly. It does not get 'gluggy' or 'sticky' or seem to attract dirt etc.

I, too, like to keep my balls slippery

Cheers - John

I use a Marine greese on my ball. have done for nearly 20 years. When travelling I clean the ball every week (at least) but I greese it every couple of days. You only need a little to do the job.

I used Lanolin greese but it melted and run down on the ball. Lanox spray is good but you have to spray every time you hook-up.

Good travels.

I did a 10,000km trip and do not grease my tow ball. The ungreased condition lead to such wearing of the trailer coupler I was thinking about replacing it. Not only are the couplers expensive, you may need a welder to repair your van.

I now always use grease. If it dries up and there is a build-up you can always clean it

-- Edited by Snail on Wednesday 7th of January 2015 09:54:08 PM

An old timer at Cunnunara showed me what he does,instead of grease he uses about 4sheets af plastic bag cut into 8 inch squares,just place them over your ball and lower your van onto the tow ball,replace every time you hook up, no messy grease and a nice shiney ball.

Lance C

Grease for me I use wheel bearing grease as it works OK and is high temp stuff.

Certainly attracts dust BUT if the dust sits on the outer area of grease it is not in the friction area and can't do much damage, easy to wipe out and replace IMHO.

There are worse jobs guys.

Plastic. Was told about it by a bloke that has been on the road for 11 years and has always used plastic.

Less wear on the ball and hitch, no grease to rub against.

Grease attracts dirt and dust which then becomes abrasive like sandpaper.

Plastic used in cryvac bags, Telstra bags, cheese bags are all good. Shopping bags are OK but need to be folded because of the thickness.

We've been travelling for over 3 years and there's is no conceivable wear on the tow ball or hitch at all.

Plastic is made from oil anyway.

Well there you go, a different devotee here. After my trailer went into hopeless weave in July 2013, on Eyre Peninsula and flipped my Land Rover Discovery 2 so it landed on its roof, the mechanic at the scene after my car was righted, asked me if I always greased my towball and if so why?........said I had for years....he shook his head and said there is not only no need to grease it, it can create problems rather than leaving the ball completely dry.....they had to undo the ball because it was still attached to the upturned trailer and I had no idea where my locking hitch key had finished up as my stuff was strewn all over the road....I asked if the greased towball had contributed without really wanting to know if it did..insurance wise and I was about to make a claim...he said you would have been better off by not greasing it...<we left it at that but I was still not satisfied>.

When I was having my new Hayman Reece Stabiliser, hitch and tow ball etc etc fitted to my new/replacement Mitsubishi Triton by the Manager at TJM Bendigo I asked him if I had been given 'bum' advice by that mechanic....re never greasing the towball.....he said it was absolutely correct..there was no need whatsoever to grease the towball and it was an urban myth built up by the tennis ball protector crowd through the years......I asked what he based his opinion on, and he said he had owned the business for many years and he was originally a major towbar/hitch etc manufacturer and fitter in Bendigo for many many years before taking on the TJM franchise as well.......he had never greased a towball not even his own and he was an active Caravan man and said he never will.......appears there are two sides to this argument besides perhaps the practice done simply because Dad./Friends did it....
I must say its as clean as a whistle when I remove the caravan,.... and..more importantly I no longer suffer the frustration of the car rising with my Van Jockey wheel as I wind it up to make the '/separationbreak'....it now comes straight off almost immediately.......until I hear a conclusive reason why I should grease it, I no longer do/will......Hoo Roo

-- Edited by Goldfinger on Thursday 8th of January 2015 03:11:11 PM

I have always greased mine with a smear of wheel bearing grease.  Except for a period where I used the plastic bag approach.

Around 15 years ago, an old timer (he was probably my current age) at the Noosa River CP suggested the use of plastic.  He had an offset vice clamped to his 'A' frame and a massive tool kit too.  So on that 'evidence' I decided that he was an expert.

I have no idea what's right or wrong.

After unhitching, I tie a shopping bag over the whole ball & hitch assembly to keep it clean while driving about without the van.  Saves taking it off.  This also draws attention to the thing so that I don't bang my legs on it.

No grease stains as I lean into the back of the tug either.

Hi Goldfinger

You're not telling us that a little bit of grease caused your Land Rover to turn it toes to the sky. Nothing to do with the trailer you were towing which looks to have a fair bit of over hang 

You are all free to do as you wish...the original question was "is it necessary to grease your tow ball".....I repeat two gentlemen who have more experience than me, advised me it is not necessary to grease the tow ball.......
I havn't seen one response in this thread justifying why the tow ball should be greased.....to each his/her own....
No Snail I'm not suggesting the grease flipped my Land Rover...re-read my post if you missed my point....they suggested I should not grease my tow ball.....

If someone can point out a substantiated reason why it should be greased I'm interested to hear also....I don't believe doing it out of force of habit substantiates why it should be greased or covered in plastic or whatever...I put one of the chrome covers over the tow ball when not in use...keeps it clean and ready for next use...
If none of us has a problem in the long run it may suggest you are all getting grease on your knees/jeans/pants/frocks for little or no substantiated reason.....Hoo Roo

Sorry if I offended you Goldfinger  I was just going by the line were you asked If the greased tow ball had contributed. I just glad that you are here to talk about it.

Cheers Snail

I asked if the greased towball had contributed without really wanting to know if it did..insurance wise and I was about to make a claim...he said you would have been better off by not greasing it

Both gentleman who I regards as experienced in their field, certainly more than me, and possibly more than you, stated it was' not necessary' to grease the tow ball.....and that was the point of the original question...
I have seen no wear whatsoever to my 'quality' tow ball in the past 18 months of towing.....and separating the coupling is definitely easier IMO as the car no longer raises whilst winding my Jockey wheel to separate car and van.....and I no longer have to worry about any abrasive materials 'sticking' to my tow ball which is easily wiped before placing the tow ball cover on during non use...and there is no on going grease problems to my clothes....

It would be interesting to see if every caravan service by accredited caravan dealerships include greasing the caravan coupling in their servicing guidelines....and if not why not...if it is necessary...why leave the greasing if necessary, to the owner, to keep greasing their tow balls?........
Keep greasing your tow balls by all means if you feel it 'helps' for some reason...I'm not challenging your ideas simply giving an alternative to consider based on my actual recent experiences......Hoo Roo

Gundog wrote:

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This is not to fuel the case for or against but think about similar mechanical oddities.

In the past all universal joints had grease nipples now they don't why?

The working components of a Grader are greased daily in particular the circle, but when I was taught to operate one, I was taught to use oil on the circle because grease + dust = grinding paste. How long would the so called grinding paste wear out the mating surfaces?

Most meshing or mating surfaces require some form of lubrication, even the turntable on semi trailers get a bit of grease occasionally depending on the owner/operator, however ring feeders don't.

So is there no lubrication applied to mixed mating surfaces Steel 50mm Ball and Cast metal coupling, is it because the material is hard enough to last a reasonable time that it has no need for lubrication.

Before the 2" ball became the standard, the 1'7/8th ball had a rounded top unlike todays ball which has a flat top so the coupling and ball can be mated correctly, some older couplings for 1' 7/8th ball had a grease nipple Why?

So if you drilled and tapped the coupling and fitted a grease nipple for the occasional shot of grease or just put a dollop grease or oil or the plastic bag on the ball what harm can it do? none because lubrication to 2 mating surfaces will help not hinder .

Its not critical to lubricate the coupling and ball but if your comfortable with your choice to do it or not, go with what feels right for you.

Me lubrication is a good thing I do it and always will, because no one can provide me with a credible reason not to do it.

Oh in closing if you asked 100 trailer coupling salesmen/ manufactures you would not get a conclusive reason to do it or not

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 I tend to agree with you there too.

Hi All.

Spent life driving semi trailers regular adding grease to the turntable which you need to other wise it becomes crankie the unit feels stiff, don't lke to turn. There is products out there where you don' need to grease the turntable but I guess I was never lucky enough to have those systems.

Tow ball when young was told no but the debate will go on, I have tried both ways next time out I will try out using a shopping bag that sound good and clean. Ralph.

Me I use the plastic bags over the ball trick,on the old hack car I have I dont grease the ball or use plastic bags,when you compare the two balls the one that is  dry metal to metal has a few scars on it ,the other one smooth as a baby,s bot.

lance C

Good find iana

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