Tow ball is pretty scraped up

[Chad Flaugher]

My wife was reading these posts over my shoulder giggling... blame her. :lol:

 

[oldjeep]

My guess is that you bought one of those $10 Chinese sort of chrome plated balls that will be peeling and rusting in no time. Get yourself a quality name brand ball, preferably stainless.

As for lube, I run an Anderson aluminum ball with the black cap that provides lubrication. Never greased a ball.

 

[BigManDan72]

My guess is that you bought one of those $10 Chinese sort of chrome plated balls that will be peeling and rusting in no time. Get yourself a quality name brand ball, preferably stainless.

As for lube, I run an Anderson aluminum ball with the black cap that provides lubrication. Never greased a ball.

I don't know the quality of the ball because it was provided by the company who installed the tow hitch on my vehicle but it definitely matches what you described as "peeling chrome". The chrome is largely missing from the car side of the ball where the coupler would pull on it. The boat side is nice and shiny. I will look at the coupler when I get a chance but I suspect, from the advice I've received here, that all is well and I just have typical ball wear.

 

[redneck joe]

chrome peeling if totally expected, deep gouges are different

 

[Scott Danforth]

from an outsider looking in on this thread about greasing or scratched balls......:facepalm:

seriously, though, there are a bunch of low cost, super low quality hitch balls out there imported from who knows where. Never had an issue with a Reese or Draw-Tite or Curt ball with chrome coming off from normal use (unless left on the truck for years of Wisconsin Winters). Have one where the chrome has worn thru from use. Never had one where the base metal was scratched or gouged except the marks from a pipe wrench on Dad's tow balls (because he kept pipe wrenches in his truck).

 

[JimS123]

Not sure how this became a thread about grease. What I need to know is this : am I doing something that is damaging my tow ball or is it normal for it to get torn up so qukckly?

No, its not normal. Either there is a problem or its a cheep chinacrap ball. I have a 35 year old Reese chrome plated ball and even after all these years the chrome is not peeling.

I don't see how anyone can grease on their pants. A greasy ball has to be covered.

 

[H20Rat]

never thought the topic of greased balls would be a 2 page (and growing!) thread!

Btw, never greased balls, cursed at anyone who did previously whenever I encounter one. Absolutely no point, I have yet to see a ball that is visibly lopsided/worn. If it were actually needed, you would see tow balls wearing out.

 

[ondarvr]

I was a plant manager and we hauled trailers every day all over the NW, in those 20 years I had one ball wear out. The Ford diesel PU pulled a Bobcat every day for several years, not sure how many years this ball was on there. The front half of the ball was almost gone.

 

[SilverSS07]

Are you sure the ball is the right size for the trailer?

 

[redneck joe]

A correctly size ball is important.







Ask me how I know

Or don't

But hope you have good tongue weight

And chains

 

[roscoe]

I don't see how anyone can grease on their pants. A greasy ball has to be covered.

And when you uncover it to tow something, you need someplace to put the greasy ball cover.
Whereever you store it, it will get greasy.
When you retrieve it for use, you will get greasy.

I tried that one, and threw the cover in the trash.

Now the only grease that ever touches it, is the little bit of lithium grease that is in the coupler latch.

 

[lmuss53]

We need a picture of the ball. If you are actually losing material from the side of the ball something is very wrong. If you are rubbing the ball without removing material everything is fine.

You don't have a 2 inch hitch on a 1 7/8 ball do you?

45 years of boating and I have greased one ball. It took a whole summer to get rid of the mess, never did it again. It hurts nothing, absolutely nothing. I shoot the latch mechanism with some PB Blaster once a year, that is plenty of lube for that whole set up.

 

[tanker1983]

A small dab of grease on the inside of a cleaned coupler is what I do each spring. Scratches are gonna happen.

 

[Grub54891]

Never greased any myself. They are fine for years. I agree a pic would be nice, if its grinding away something is wrong.

 

[Frank Acampora]

" Balls", said the Queen! " If I had them I'd be king!"

+What no one has mentioned is that if you trailer in a dirty or dusty area, while towing, grit blown by the tow vehicle will work up into the grease and act as a grinding compound, accelerating wear.

 

[jayhanig]

You could always wax it with some decent car wax instead of greasing it. That's what I do. Then if you accidentally rub up against it, no big deal.

 

[bigdee]

You could always wax it with some decent car wax instead of greasing it. That's what I do. Then if you accidentally rub up against it, no big deal.

A handful of wax paper works good too and is less messy. IMO I think greasy balls are unnecessary. I would check the coupler for proper adjustment.

 

[WIMUSKY]

What happened to the pictures? It may be normal wear. No-one can tell w/o pix...... You're going to see rubbing marks.... Heck my balls have a coating of rust on them. After a tow or two they clean right up.......

 

[phiny1134]

I use of bit of dry silicone based spray once a year. I doubt it makes much of a difference vs. no lube at all. But I can tell myself that it is lubed, and it doesn't leave any greasy mess on me if I accidentally rub up against it. It may also help a teeny bit with repelling water and preventing rust. This stuff: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0083V8NC0 drys completely and does not seem to attract any dust or dirt. It does a great job of stopping the squeaks on my garage door rollers, so i figure it must be helping a bit.