I don't know if it makes any differance when pulling a trailer if you grease your balls or leave them dry. What do you guys do?

YES I GREASE MY BALLS! You really should put some type of lube on them . LOL if you don't it just grinds away at them ! Look at a fifth wheel hitch plate. I see new fifth wheel hitches that have a Teflon coating on them .

I don't see any reason to. I help deliver hay and straw. We put alot of miles on each year. No grease and the same hitch ball for years. None of the pins on any of the tractor equipment whether its draw bar or 3 point hitch get greased. Most of that equipment sees a helluva lot more pressure than a car trailer. We save the grease for the bearings and moving parts.

Grease collects dirt and other grit which really grinds on the ball and socket. Leave it dry.

But what if it leaving it dry pulls the chrome off your balls? Then you can't polish them.

Always use grease, clean it off once in while and re grease.

I remember reading somewhere that if you don't grease it the two can gall together enough to cause control problems. Mine squeaks when it needs grease and I clean if off and re grease, both the ball and the hitch.
Can't imagine trailing across America at 75 mph with A DRY HITCH, THAT'S ASKING FOR TROUBLE,IMO. I have made a bunch of trips out west and go 5000+ miles before unhitching my trailer, it can't go that long metal to metal without wearing out and possibly coming off the ball!!

I've done a bunch of trailing, your nut's if your on our highways with a dry hitch and a danger to the rest of us.

Always use grease, clean it off once in while and re grease.

I remember reading somewhere that if you don't grease it the two can gall together enough to cause control problems. Mine squeaks when it needs grease and I clean if off and re grease, both the ball and the hitch.
Can't imagine trailing across America at 75 mph with A DRY HITCH, THAT'S ASKING FOR TROUBLE,IMO. I have made a bunch of trips out west and go 5000+ miles before unhitching my trailer, it can't go that long metal to metal without wearing out and possibly coming off the ball!!

I've done a bunch of trailing, your nut's if your on our highways with a dry hitch and a danger to the rest of us.


ive run dry before and seen where it had started to grind against the ball. understand grease collects dirt but clean and regrease. you repack your wheel bearings dont you? how hard is it to smear grease on a trailer ball? grease and be safe !! tube of grease $5

Well, darned, I put over 150,000 miles on my truck and trailer when I was hauling cars and another 30,000 all those years racing, I never put a drop of grease on the ball. Same ball (I'm a cheap bum) and the trailer coupler was the same one as well. I did have to change the coupler one time after I let someone borrow my trailer and he bent the tongue and coupler. Didn't notice any wear on the coupler, and the chrome was still good on the ball. It was probably the quality of the chrome on the ball that "saved" me.

I just hate to think of all those "unsafe" miles I logged on my truck and trailer without greasing the ball.
However, given the current quality of available parts around these days, I would probably grease the ball if I was going to do much towing now. Gene

I grease mine. That way when people bark their shins on my hitch the grease helps stop the bleeding. Don't know why they can't see a hitch sticking out!

We have some goose neck trailers at work and we started using them dry by mistake(just didn't think about it) when they were new. It didn't take long for them to have metal shavings in the bed. It was amazing how much more quite they were once we greased them. We have a grease gun in the warehouse and just give them a squirt when we think about it now, no problems.

I stopped when I was about 16, since then I've subbed the job out.

I hire a staff of properly trained professionals to care for my balls...

Ohhh...at first I thought you were referring to my balls, because I only have one trailer ball! Anyway, of my three balls, I only deliberately put grease on one of them...the other two tend to get all greasy when, nevermind!

for the first time in internet history, this thread is perfectly fine without pictures.

Amen to that, but you just gave everyone that scary idea!
YIKES!!! Time to set the nasty photo censorship dial to maximum!

...Does K-Y count...

Yes that'll work, sure better than nothing.

A little Polygrip can be used to tighten up loose ball couplers.