Moaning & Groaning

[jimp]

Learned something yesterday after towing the rig 450 miles down to the FL panhandle for a month. As we got closer to the CG and slower speeds, making turns and such, even just rolling in slow to the check in office, the Equalizer hitch was really talking back to me. .

I had lubed the hitch ball and sockets on the Equalizer 4pt hitch (at least I thought I had) before we left, but the lube gave up the ghost after 450 miles. I kinda laughed but it was pretty loud.

For you long distance guys, what lube do you use, and do you lube the hitch head sockets at a gas or rest break when towing a lot of miles in a day?? I normally don't tow that far in a day, usually <100 miles so first time with this rig for me.

Kinda thinking of a spray lube I can hit it with to freshen up things but wanting some more experienced voices to chime in.

[wags999]

Originally Posted by jimp

Learned something yesterday after towing the rig 450 miles down to the FL panhandle for a month. As we got closer to the CG and slower speeds, making turns and such, even just rolling in slow to the check in office, the Equalizer hitch was really talking back to me. .

I had lubed the hitch ball and sockets on the Equalizer 4pt hitch (at least I thought I had) before we left, but the lube gave up the ghost after 450 miles. I kinda laughed but it was pretty loud.

For you long distance guys, what lube do you use, and do you lube the hitch head sockets at a gas or rest break when towing a lot of miles in a day?? I normally don't tow that far in a day, usually <100 miles so first time with this rig for me.

Kinda thinking of a spray lube I can hit it with to freshen up things but wanting some more experienced voices to chime in.

When I'm towing, i lube before the trip and typically not again for weeks. I use lithium spray grease sparingly.

[oldmanAZ]

I remove the sockets, clean the bearing surfaces on the head and sockets, and reassemble using a lithium wheel bearing grease. It has served me well for the ~12yrs I've been using the hitch.

Check to be sure your frame brackets are tight. I haven't had a noise issue like you describe with the current design of their frame brackets. With the older design brackets, I needed to tighten them frequently.

[ShawnR]

Get the bracket jackets. They eliminate the noises.

[jimp]

Are the noises being made by the spring bars resting on the L brackets??

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

I remove the sockets, clean the bearing surfaces on the head and sockets, and reassemble using a lithium wheel bearing grease. It has served me well for the ~12yrs I've been using the hitch.

...snip

Oops! I neglected to include how often I lube the hitch head!
I lube it at home, once a year, before starting a new camping season. If we are home for several months between trips (~4 to 6), I will do the cleaning and lube a second time.

Also once a year, I use black spray paint on the 'L' brackets and weight bars. The fresh paint looks good and, with the old style 'L' brackets, acted as a very clean lube.

[NorCal Eagle]

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

Check to be sure your frame brackets are tight. I haven't had a noise issue like you describe with the current design of their frame brackets. With the older design brackets, I needed to tighten them frequently.

I totally agree. I recently had the same issue, one of the L-bracket bolts was not tight enough and caused some noise. I tightened up the bolts and everything went back to normal.

[jimp]

Will check the L brackets soon.

[SkyBound]

I second the use of bracket jackets. I have used them for a few years and my hitch is silent. Aside from making sure everything is tight as stated above, I clean off all the old grease and then apply a finger swab of all purpose grease to the surfaces of the hitch head that the sockets rub against, and also the hitch ball. But likely the noise you are hearing is from the friction of the load bars against the L brackets. Bracket jackets will fix this and you will not notice any negative changes to the performance of your hitch.

[goducks]

I used an EQ for 2.5 years. Hated it. Greasy noisy mess. I could only get about 150 to 200 miles out of a lube job before it shreaked like crazy.
JMO but I think it may depend on how tight you're cranking on the bars. I had mine really loaded up. If you're not stressing the bars to the max then it may not be as bad for noise since the pressure in the sockets isn't pushing the grease out as fast.

If the noise is from the L brackets then it would be making noise all the time. I had no noise after a fresh lube job. Only after the lube dissipated did the noise return.

[doghauler]

I use the bracket jackets as well and they make all the difference. I don't know why they don't already come with them pre-installed. Get them and you won't have any more problems.
https://www.amazon.com/Equal-i-zer-9.../dp/B007HRJNIE