My Balls are a chatterin!

[Joseph Donnelly]

The rule of thumb is that tongue weight should be 10% to 15% of the trailer weight. The stock Dodge hitch in weight carrying mode is rated for 500 lb tongue weight, so that puts you into weight distributing mode (spring bars). I use Moly wheel bearing grease on the ball. Also you want the ball height such that the trailer is level--frame to ground height the same front and rear. Best wishes with your trip.

 

[CoreyPerez]

Well folks I made it!



Well I ended up with a EZLIFT WDH. I also got the antisway bar. I ended up moving the blazer forward about a foot and with the new hitch, the entire thing worked like a charm. The second day I re-positioned the hitch to a more aggressive position and lifted the rear of the truck a bit more.



But thanks guys for everything. Your suggestions worked out great!



Thanks again,



Corey

 

[rickhans]

In 37 years of towing, I have never greased a trailer ball. I have seen discussions on it and believe that it would be harmful to do so. Unless you have a ball cover, it will collect dirt, and sand if you go near any sand, and will act as an abrasive on the trailer's hitch and on the ball.



I have been tempted to grease my gooseneck because it seems a little noisy, but have not because of this reason.



Has anybody else ever used grease?

 

[DarrellB]

Yep

I put some on my goose-neck ball just to keep it from driving me crazy. If I don't put a little grease on the ball the thing will squeak so bad it will almost run you out of the cab. What I do when I'm not using the hitch is take out the ball and drop it (Hey I dropped my balls:-laf) in an old sock and put it in my truck box. I've been doing this for about 4 years now and there is enough grease in the sock I don't have to grease the ball anymore. I slso put a little grease on my other trailer balls to seems to help keep them quiet to.



Big D

 

[Ben Rumson]

YES Grease

For light loads, I don't grease.



For heavy loads I grease them faithfully. Sand and grit are no problem if you "off with the old and on with the new" each time you haul long or heavy. It's part of my pre-trip preparations along with checkiing tire pressure and fluid levels.



As long as your hitch locking mechanism is adjusted correctly AND is locked in place with a retaining pin (or equivilent) grease will NOT make it slip off. I believe the comst comon reason for hitches poping off is not because of mechanical failure, but because people forget to lock them down AND properly use retaiining pins to KEEP the locking mechanism engaged.



Yes, anything mechanical can fail, but not generally. I've had an equilizer hitch tear apart and drop the trailer tongue on the road. The lock was fine, but the welds on the hitch had "cancer" in them that was not visible from the outside. The lock held onto the ball and the ball and some surrounding metal separated from the rest of the hitch. Glad I had the mechanism locked. Luckily I was alone and only going 25 mph in town as opposed to hauling Aaa on the interstate...



The pull is much smoother with the grease. Just keep it clean.