Disc versus Grease on hitch

[AlanPat]

I have been told by several folks that I should clean the grease off my hitch and replace it with one of the round disc. Does this sound like it would be as good or better than the grease?

[muddflapp]

I use the disc and have had no problems with it. And its less messy

[Delaine and Lindy]

I agree the Teflon disk is the cleanest, but I can't use the regular size disk with the Trailer Saver. The TS is just to tight for the Teflon disk to work. GBY...

[LonnieB]

I use the disc and wouldn't have it any other way. A greasy fifth wheel hitch in the bed of the truck has a way of getting lots of other "stuff" greasy that I prefer stays clean.

[dsprik]

I think most use the disk...

[blarkman]

It sure keeps your clothes cleaner and wife happy
bob

[exav8tr]

I use both, disc on the trailer saver plate and grease around the pin on the Morryde Hitch pin...

[Waynem]

I used the disc and I also used, as recommended, white lithium grease around the king pin where the jaws close. Just a little dab will do ya!

Edited: I have also been told, and the RV Doctor says, that the disc should be replaced yearly as a minimum, or, upon inspection, if it has any groves in it then replace it.

[firetrucker]

I use a disk on my TrailerSaver hitch, but because the clearance is less than with most other hitches, I went to McMaster-Carr and bought a 24" x 24" sheet of UHMW polyethylene for less than $20. I cut it to the dimensions of the other disks and it works fine. It doesn't last as long because it's thinner, but it's cheaper.

Those other disks aren't teflon, BTW, but polyethylene, also.

[Art-n-Marge]

Disc here, too.... Clean all the grease off and the only grease need is on the groove on the down pin from the 5er pin where the claws of the truck bed hitch make contact with the 5er pin. Of course, there need to be grease on the claws and movable parts of the bed hitch, but this is mostly concealed by the hitch.

Definitely much neater.

The discs do have to be replaced because they can get brittle and break if you whack the metal parts of the hitch up against it. The more careful you are the longer it lasts. I replaced the first one after three years. I am on the second and will try and be more careful.

If you use a tripod for the pin, it's your choice to remove the disc, but you don't need to and it's kind of a pain to put it on and off anyway.

[hookman]

We use the disc and are happy with it and it is away cleaner.

[AlanPat]

Thank you all for the insight. I will clean up the grease and use the disc. I really like being able to attain insight from those that have had the experience. Thanks again. Alan

[dsprik]

This forum is such a life/money/pain saver. For me it may not have been in that order...

[FLSTS03]

Ditto with Waynem, I think I read somewhere if you spray the hitch plate with some wd40 or something simular your ride will feel like an air hitch, not sure I believe it nor am I sure that it would be good for the disc. but I seem to recall anyhoo. Anyone else that has read or heard of this ? Steve

[Cyrus]

I bought the disk because I thought it was a good idea then realized I had to grease the pin anyway! So what do I gain with the disk relative to getting rid of the grease, nothing. If they were a good investment I would think you would see them on tractor trailers. They use a lot more grease then we do so look at the money they could save?

[BB_TX]

Never used anything but the disc on mine. With just a little lithium grease on the pin. No greasy mess.

[dsprik]

quote:Originally posted by Cyrus

I bought the disk because I thought it was a good idea then realized I had to grease the pin anyway! So what do I gain with the disk relative to getting rid of the grease, nothing. If they were a good investment I would think you would see them on tractor trailers. They use a lot more grease then we do so look at the money they could save?

I'm not sure, but I'll take a stab at this... Commercial tractors have upwards of 10x the weight on their hitches as we do. While ours with 2K to 3K of weight may be doable with the disc, a 48K commercial trailer, with the majority of that weight on the hitch, is too much for that type of system and would require a special grease.

I can't remember what a disc costs, but I don't remember any posts about any fifth wheel towing complaints about them? And they are certainly low maintenance and much less mess.

Also, since these tractors are many times towing many different trailers, they would have to continuously be putting on and taking off their discs, if these were to use such a system. RVers always are towing the same 5ver and leave the disc right on it.

[kdeiss]

I have been using the Disc for 14 years on Fith Wheels also a dab of Silicone/Teflon Spray

[LonnieB]

quote:By Cyrus

I bought the disk because I thought it was a good idea then realized I had to grease the pin anyway! So what do I gain with the disk relative to getting rid of the grease, nothing. If they were a good investment I would think you would see them on tractor trailers. They use a lot more grease then we do so look at the money they could save?

They DO make a teflon disc for the big rigs and I know a few truckers that use them. Weight isn't the reason you don't see many in use, dsprik hit the nail on the head, constantly changing trailers is the biggest reason.

quote:By dsprik

Also, since these tractors are many times towing many different trailers, they would have to continuously be putting on and taking off their discs,

[KathyandDave]

I've been using both. The Monty came with one, but I noticed that I was chewing up the hitch plate a bit when hitching up, making that initial contact with the leading edge of the pin plate, especially if the TV wasn't level to the Monty. The disk doesn't separate the plates until they are parallel and the pin is well into the jaws.