Fifth wheel hitch lubrication

[H. John Kohl]

I put my new Reese hitch head on today and applied a liberal amount of axle grease to the four pivot points.
This is a reminder to lubricate your hitch pivot points and moving parts at least yearly.
I use to just silicon spray them before and found the top part of the hitch sets on a rod and it was polished shiny meaning NO LUBRICATION. I took care of that with the axle grease and will check that area more frequently from now on.
Cheers,

[ggranch]

Thanks for the reminder John. Don't forget to clean and re-lube the kingpin. Bob

[Bill and Ann]

John: I tried some slide out dry lube. It seemed to work ok and not as greasy.

[Andy]

I hate showing my ignorance, I have a Reese slider hitch, and only lube the slider bars. If you would, please be a little more specific as to where else I should be using some lubrication.

Thanks,
Andy

[H. John Kohl]

I am not current on your slider hitch although I saw Gunner's and Art's at the rally. I would try and get lubrication on both sets of pivot points fore and aft and side to side.
Cheers,

[richfaa]

I was watching the reese guys at the N.E rally and they indicated that the dry lube and the white lith grease was not a good thing to use????

[dsprik]

Part of my rig down checklist is to spray down my hitch parts (and pin) with Jig-A-Loo dry lube (orange can). It is different from the dry silicone spray - and more expensive ($8.00 from Walmart - the only place I've ever found it). Doesn't collect dirt. I also use it on my slide gears and rubber slide seals.

[racerjoe]

Andy,
If you can pull the two pins that hold the 5th wheel portion of the hitch on, remove it and flip it over, you will find the mechinisim for the latch. I usally lightly oil all the moving parts, and put a thin film of grease on the latches,where they surround the king pin.
I must say that my hitch is covered when not in use so weather is not a factor. If yours is exposed to the weather, it might need to be lubed more often,

[Waynem]

Rich,
Why is Lith. bad for the hitch?
Did they tell you at the rally what to use?
I use tube white lithium and spray can on my 16K Reese.

[Andy]

Thanks guys, I do appreciate the responses, Rich, it seems they told you what not to use as a lubricant, but not what to use. At least I now know I should lubricate more than the slider bars. RACERJOE,I also have a cover for my hitch, for when it's not in use.

Andy

[richfaa]

I do not recall what they said to use..perhaps H.John who was dealing with these guys will recall.

[sreigle]

Good call, John. I just an hour ago finished cleaning all the Slip Plate (dry graphite lube) off my SuperGlide and replacing it with white lithium grease. But I neglected to grease the head pivots. I guess I'll go back out and pull the cover off and lube those points. Thanks.

[richfaa]

I resorted to reading the instruction manual on the Reese and Draw Tite 16K hitch in light of the conflicting information of what to use for lube. They say to use ordinary auto motor oil on the pivot points?????

[billhoover]

quote:Originally posted by richfaa

I resorted to reading the instruction manual on the Reese and Draw Tite 16K hitch in light of the conflicting information of what to use for lube. They say to use ordinary auto motor oil on the pivot points?????

The directions for my Husky say the same thing re the motor oil. That dry lub is great for light duty applications, but not for a hitch.

[dsprik]

Bill I have been using that dry lube so far, but you are probably right on long term use. But motor oil? That seems like a mess worse than grease...

Maybe, though, if you apply by pouring a little motor oil on a dry cloth and rub it on that way?

[H. John Kohl]

I am using axle grease on the main pivot points and light squirts of motor oil on the hitch (latching mechanism) parts. That is from now on. And I will check their lubrication about quarterly. Definitely an easy PM.

[richfaa]

John had a in depth discussion with the reese folks at the N.E rally. I heard just enough of it to arouse my curiosity and cause me to do some homework and ask some questions.. As a result I now will do as John has indicated in the above post and put Hitch maint on my Quarterly maint schedule.

[H. John Kohl]

Why does it take something like this for us to read the manual.
From the Reese web page:

What kind of maintenance needs to be done to the 5th Wheel Hitch?

1. Lubricate skid plate surface of the hitch with automotive type chassis grease or use a plastic lube plate to provide a lubricated surface. Use white lithium spray lube or engine oil to lubricate pivot points of moving parts within the hitch.


2. Plastic lube plates can be used to avoid messy grease. The plastic lube plate must not exceed 3/16 of an inch in thickness to ensure hitch will operate properly. Lube plates must be 10 inches in diameter or larger to properly distribute king pin weight.


3. Before each trip or maneuver, operate the handle and check that the jaws open and close freely.


4. See that all hitch pull pins are in place and the spring retaining pins are installed.


5. Recheck tightness of all hardware every 1000 miles of use.


6. Lubrication to the hitch is essential to provide for a good long service life. Any pivoting point inside the head should be lubricated with a white lithium spray lube. The pivoting points outside the head need to be lubricated with a high pressure lube, such as 80/90 gear lube or grease. Reese offers the high pressure lube. This will allow for easier operation of the hitch. The skid plate can use either grease or a minimum of a 10" lube plate. When lubricating you should always remove the old lubricant to remove any road grim that has collected to prevent excessive wearing of components. All hardware should be inspected and torqued periodically per the recommended torque specification in the instruction manual.

[Delaine and Lindy]

Well I'm running the B&W turnover ball with the Companion 5th wheel hitch. Its so easy to remove and its comes out in two pieces which can be handle by one man, before installing to pull the 5er I always put dry lube on some parts and oil on other parts and wipe on the excess, the hitch has lube points that are used in weight baring points. However with the B&W system the 5th wheel hitch is not in the rain very much since its so easy to remove. I also use a teflon lube plate. GBY....

[Delaine and Lindy]

Sorry double post..