Was down the hole this morning using the jack hammer and thought of another close friend who is passed, mate of mine in the Landy club, maybe the post on Alan started a process of thought,
But,

-----DO YOU ALL GREASE YOUR TOWBALLS, IF NOT , DO IT NOW,


Now I,ll put the wind up you all ,my membership with the  LandRover club entitled  to a lot of freebies, one of them was entrance to field days where demo's where on all the time , one was of the use of rescue equipment  and we were all watching when a towball was used the wrong way, a snatch strap was just hooked on to pull a vehicle out of a bog, and it snapped off,
Like slingshot it went in a striaght line backwards, straight through the front window and then through the back window of the old landy that was bogged
It was all carefully orchestrated and planned and was very impressive,
that was the reason why there was no driver in it , if there was he would have been very poorly,  and the weight of a bogged vehicle is many times the original weight of the vehicle

==SO BE WARNED

Hey Mike. excuse my ignorance, but where would i grease it and why ? Johnw

Just a smear on the ball itself,stops any friction between the ball and the top part.Cheers.Ibbo.

Grease collects dirt and dust; makes a mess on any thing that touches it. Supermarket bags are made of a very low friction material. A couple of layers of the plastic will act as a great "slip" and can replaced at every hook up. Just make sure that the tug and van are well "earthed" to each other.

Always keep the tow ball covered when not in use.I use a spray on Lanolin.

I grease it, but take the bulls head off with the ball if I'm not towing for a while, like now. I sprayed it with lanoguard before I stowed it. Having dusty grease is still better than no grease to reduce friction. It's my gear and I look after it so it will last. Prevention is better than a wreck and the long wait for insurance. Nothing like the feel of new, sticky grease between the fingers. Cheers Chris

   hi all.       i hope everyone is having a great day????                        i have even used margarine to grease my towball.          if you have no lubicant on the towball,   this creates a lot of heat,  and you start to get a bind up in the metal.      as you steer  around a corner, your caravan or trailer,pushes you onto the wrong side of the road. ( the bind up wont allow the trailer to follow the car )  this has caused hundreds of head-on crashes.            if you have a lot of weight on your towball,the friction is greater,and i do believe this has caused a lot of vans to tip the car over.                 so dont forget grease the ball 

Use silicone spray on mine, if none handy use WD40, always put a tow ball plastic cover on it when not towing. Have heard Rolly's tip is great also. I clean and spray mine just before towing. Vic

Thanks for the info people. As usual i have not made myself clear. Is it better to grease the tow ball or can you grease the hitch coupling socket ? Johnw

The grease on the ball will be shared with the coupling when you hitch up and tow away. I pack a fair bit on the ball at the time of hitching, especially if I've been parked up for a while. Anything to reduce friction and wear and tear on these vital parts. I've been using wheel bearing grease because I have a pot in the car (shed) left over from repacking the van wheel bearings. I'm not sure if the grease is good for the skin, but I don't think it hurts. Doesn't do the manicure much good tho'. Cheers Chris

John, I usually give my A frame towing socket a wipe out with a rag now and then to get rid of any grit and give that a spray of silicone or WD40 as well as the ball before hitching up for a long trip. Vic

just be very carefull here folks, greasing the ball is a great idea and if you are going to stay on the bituman go ahead and slap it on but if you are heading offroad for a good number of km's please wipe all the grease off, just leave the tiniest of smears right up in the socket when old man dust gets in there, and he will, he will chew your socket out in a matter of a few hundred km's on a road filled with bulldust, one thing you dont want out in the simpson is a chewed up socket a small ammount on the tip of the ball before hitching is the way to go, they dont move all that much on the road to warrant a great deal of friction modification clean and respot with the grease every other day if travelling any distance over dusty roads, keep that dust at bay check that ball for tightness every week, it will come loose, and if you are using a hayman reese type hitch then keep an eye on that hitchpin for wear as well

If any of you have those lockable hitch pins with the circular keys which are a good idea to prevent theft just check it, a mate had one on his car and somehow the QA department in "tow pin hitch factory No21 in Shanghai" had not hardened his and it actually cut through and the van came adrift with a clunk, fortunatley the chain held it.......