Ball Lube and Bearings.

[X213_2015]

So I've read a ton...and I still have the question to lube or not to lube...and if you lube with what:

Popular choices

reese ball lube - pros - very obvious lube - cons messy dirty can attract dirt/dust causing premature wear - have not seen in a lot of stores.

wax paper/shopping bags - pros - clean and abundant - cons does it do much more than running dry?

parafin wax - pros - like the reese lube wax is a clear lubricant - cons low melting point and not very high pressure

Then I got to thinking...what about something like Dry Moly Lube? High temp, high pressure, dry lubricant that won't attract dirt or dust. Has anyone used this? I happen to have a can of this sitting around because I use it to laser mark metal...not it's intended purpose but it allows me to mark on my cheap Chinese 40W laser.

I'll be pulling my camper 8K+ miles this summer on a grand tour of the US...and I'd love to hear what others who have done long-duration/lotsa hauling have done.

The second question is what's the average life of those electric brake magnets. Is this something I have to plan on servicing sometime along the course of this epic journey?

Third question...wheel bearings - how often do I need to pull the hubs/inspect and repack? I've heard everything from check periodically and adjust occasionally...to every 1500 miles religiously. This is on a 2015 Jay feather (3rd season camping) very few miles on it prior to now. I've owned old jeeps with non-unit wheel bearings so I do know how to do them. But never on a jeep did I regularly inspect/adjust the bearings.

[Sundancer330]

Dexter recommends checking bearings every year or 12k miles so you should be ok. As far as lubing the ball I just give it a squirt of grease, cover with a plastic cup when unhooked so I don't rub against it and make a mess of my pants. You can use about anything and will know if its working if all is quiet. Have a great trip.

[Jagiven]

Remember the ball is not a high precision bearing. Also a little wear is not a big deal. Also the trailer ball sees very few revolutions compared to a wheel bearing.

Me, I use high temp wheel bearing lube, I buy it in a big tub. I wipe off the old dirty grease every 1500 miles or so. I might, wipe the inside of the coupler, usually don't. I then slather on a good amount over the entire ball surface.

When the hitch is not in use, I place solo cup (I think a 12 oz cup) it fits perfectly and stays on at highway speeds) over the ball.

The lube turns from red to brown fairly quickly. My hitch never makes noise, has not shown any signs of wear since starting to lube. Before lubing, I was creating a large grove in the ball, and had a lot of noise.

When traveling long distance, and have had to do an oil change mid trip, I have asked if they would slather the ball with new grease. I do not care if the lube is not perfectly compatible.

Break magnets; not sure how long they last. I have never worn any out, nor has anyone that I am familiar with. On this trailer I probably have close to 20K miles and they are still good.

Wheel bearings; I am good about PMs except for wheel bearings. I have only done it once in 20K miles 5 years. I would recommend on a new trailer doing them sooner than later, check them, ensure they are properly packed and then you should be able to relax a bit. If you drive though standing water, especially if the water is up to the axles I would strongly repack them shortly later.

[robkelly]

When we had the TT I used axle grease on the ball and pivot points of the hitch. When we got to our destination I'd use a paper towel to wipe everything down and never had a problem with dirt or other contaminants. I've also used vaseline, but found that it washed out pretty quickly in the rain, and when that happened the hitch became noisier than ever.

Not sure about the life of the brake magnets, but we had well over 11k miles on the TT, and so far ~8k on the 5er and haven't noticed any degradation in performance.

Agree with Sundancer on the bearings.

[Marcm157]

I grease the ball before every trip. I wipe down the old grease and clean out inside the coupler before I apply the new grease. I checked my wheel bearings on my new trailer last year. 3 of the 4 were acceptable but the 4th was severely lacking grease. I traveled about 150 miles before I checked. Fortunately no damage. I check my bearings every Spring as part of my de-winterization process.

[X213_2015]

Thanks! You folks are awesome! I'm going to do a little dry-moly on my first leg and see if it holds up. It's hard a a diamond.

[FeatherFam]

I keep a tub of bearing grease for the ball and the Equalizer WDH sockets. I lube them each before every trip. Keeps things quiet and smooth!