Does anyone just grease the inside of the coupler rather than the trailer ball? Just curious and if it’s not recommended? My boat is the only trailer I haul around.
Does anyone just grease the inside of the coupler rather than the trailer ball? Just curious and if it’s not recommended? My boat is the only trailer I haul around.
I use a dryer sheet over the ball and hook up. No mess.
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As much as I hate the mess I put a little on the ball. It will help keep the wear down.
just have to watch it if you leave it in place or remove it when not in use.
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Whats the difference? Ball still gets grease on it.
I figured if I greased the inside of the coupler most of the grease would stay on there. Just curious to see if anyone did it that way
I don't grease coupler or ball. Don't want grease all over. Would rather replace ball or coupler from long term wear than fight grease issues.
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I use a teflon coating instead of grease. Might be a starbrite product
spray graphite. cj
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Its pretty hard/costly to replace a welded on coupler that some trailers have. I myself have one on an enclosed snowmobile trailer and an RV trailer, both welded. I would prefer not to wear them out so yea grease it is.
Using a good sticky grease like Lucas red and tacky keeps the grease in place and one of these mitigates any mess when the trailer is off.
Has anyone actually worn one out? I would think you would need to go hundreds of thousands of miles to put any wear on one. They are mostly back there pulling, even corners they dont rotate much, and then back. There would be no heat buildup to accelerate the wear. Just curious, never even thought about greasing one.
2020 Ranger 521L Tour, 300 Mercury, 112 Minn Kota Ultrex
3 12" Helix Units, Mega Si, Mega Di, Mega 360, Garmin 8412 W LiveScope mounted on Rite Hite Turret.
I have seen a few that got real loose over time. I have welded some new ones on for a buddy that owns a local landscape company and he has worn a few to the point they were banging away and loose on his mower trailers. You could literally feel the slop in them if you grabbed the trailer and gave it a tug, a new ball did not help. They were loose up and down and side to side. It was the socket that was badly worn. These trailers see maybe 15k miles a year in use and he would wear one out in a couple years. He greases them now and has learned his lesson, he does them weekly since they generally never come off the ball when the trucks are parked for the day. Has had zero worn out couplers in 10 gears since he started greasing them.
I always just put a very little grease on the front of the ball and around the bottom of the ball where the coupler grabs it. It only takes a little dab, and there's no mess. If you are concerned about getting grease on something, a quick wipe with a paper towel will remove it when you disconnect the trailer. That's the way my Dad did it, and I guess just passed it on to me!
My Dad was a truck driver and required everything to be greased like the fifth wheel coupler on his rigs. He always had covers for the ball though. Being the obedient son, I never greased anything until I started having trailer light issues. The hitch ball had gotten so corroded that it was not a ground any longer. I now just lightly grease the ball or the coupler...either works.
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