Greasy Balls

[mdt]

Who puts grease on the tow ball? An old boy the other day told me to but some grease on my ball… but was pointing to the tow ball.

What is the reasoning for this, did not want of feel the need to start a debate with the gent in the petrol station.

[three-rex]

a dry ball will generally mean that your towhitch creakes and judders every time it moves relative to the car ... get it greased

[Sixy_the_red]

Yep. I always keep my ball greased. Get a cover for it though or else you'll make a mess everywhere when you're not using it...

At the end of the day it is a moving part - you wouldn't run your wheel bearings dry, so consider your tow ball the same. At the very least, running it dry will cause premature wear to both the tow ball and the trailer hitch. At worst the trailer might bind during towing, preventing it from articulating properly, causing instablilty and a very dangerous towing condition.

Also keeping it properly greased will help to prevent corrosion on both the tow ball and the trailer hitch - both should be plated but it soon wears through.

[Nasher]

All

I thought everyone greased their ball.

Only thing to watch out for is TTR or 'Towball Trouser Rash'.
Which if not treated quickly rapidly becomes a sore ear.

This occurs when you forget to put the cover back on your greasy towball, and then the grease rubs off on your trousers when you go in the boot.
The grief from the person in your life who does the washing gives you the sore ear.

Nasher

[ashbypower]

Be careful greasing the Tow ball if it is also used for towing a trailer using ALKO AKS system hitch, these must ne coupled to a Dry Ball
See here for detail. http://www.al-ko.co.uk/edit/files/su...ubrication.pdf

Regards

[mdt]

have not noticed any creakes and judders on any of the cars I have towed with... mind you only normaly tow it 50 - 100 yards... and I was keeping it grease free to avoid the TTR, can get nasty up our way.

have a longer trip soon so greasy ball time it is then.

[matt h]

I grease my Ball !!

[MikeCC]

Originally Posted by Nasher

Only thing to watch out for is TTR or 'Towball Trouser Rash'.
Which if not treated quickly rapidly becomes a sore ear.

This occurs when you forget to put the cover back on your greasy towball, and then the grease rubs off on your trousers when you go in the boot.
The grief from the person in your life who does the washing gives you the sore ear.

Nasher

Or even worse, when that person is a victim of TTR! (I've still got the scars)

[UKPOWERBOAT]

Greasing your ball.........

Well, greasing your ball is very much like making love to a beautiful woman. Take off the cover, clean all the relevant surfaces, smear on some grease, and hitch her up. Then you clean your tool, light your pipe, stand back and admire your handiwork.

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by Sixy_the_red

At the end of the day it is a moving part - you wouldn't run your wheel bearings dry, so consider your tow ball the same. At the very least, running it dry will cause premature wear to both the tow ball and the trailer hitch. At worst the trailer might bind during towing, preventing it from articulating properly, causing instablilty and a very dangerous towing condition.

In addition, you may get enough torque applied to the ball to loosen the nut. Not usually a good thing.

jky