Hitch care
Printed From: R-pod Owners Forum
Category: Non-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: Mods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
Forum Discription: Same as podmods, just... not for pods
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=9088
Printed Date: 02 May 2024 at 3:25am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.64 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Hitch care
Posted By: kansasfrogs
Subject: Hitch care
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2016 at 2:44pm
Can anyone tell me how to care for the ball and hitch? Is lubricant necessary and what kind, if so. The latch on the hitch sometime doesn't want to click in place and our 182 G was newly purchased in May 2016. What am I missing. First time female camper learning the ropes! ------------- FROGGY |
Replies:
Posted By: TheBum
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2016 at 3:14pm
You should lubricate the hitch ball and anything else that moves (e.g. WDH bars where they insert into the "head" of the hitch and sway bar balls). One exception is anything that needs friction, such as sway bars (other than the balls) and WDH bars that act as sway bars (other than the front pivots). I use the red sticky grease that's often used for wheel bearings. I get it at Home Depot.
You likely have the tongue too far forward on the ball. When that happens, you can inch the TV forward until the ball is resting against the front edge of the tongue socket. The latch should go down easily then.
No need to be embarrassed. Everybody has to start somewhere. What part of Kansas do you live in? I grew up in Salina, but I live in Texas now. |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2016 at 3:32pm
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I use http://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/Reese/58117.html?feed=npn&gclid=COuL2ICm0dACFUhMDQodrcgO1A - Reese Hitch Ball Lube for the hitch ball and for the pivot points on our Equal-i-zer hitch. Equal-i-zer also makes a lubricant for this purpose. If I had not purchased the Reese lubricant, I would have gotten the Equal-i-zer lubricant as it comes in a squeeze tube instead of a jar. For the sway bar brackets, I use the Equal-i-zer http://www.equalizerhitch.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=66 - Sway Bracket Jacket . This helps quiet the hitch when turning so it does not make all the creaks and groans of an unlubricated bracket. I also added a https://www.amazon.com/StowAway-Tightener-Anti-Rattle-Stabilizer-Hitches/dp/B0001CMUV4 - hitch tightener to lock the shank into the hitch receiver which helps reduce that source of clunking noises. I agree with TheBum about the hitch and latching. I usually bump the tow vehicle forward once I lower the tongue of the trailer to make sure it is as far forward as it can go. The hitch locks down easily then. I verify that it is fully connected when I raise the tongue once it is locked in order to put on the bars. If it were not connected properly, it would not lift the TV. I give you a lot of credit for getting out there and trying. There are many men and women who don't even try. It will be easier as you gain experience. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: Leo B
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2016 at 3:51pm
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+1
------------- Leo & Melissa Bachand 2017 Ford F150 2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk Previously owned 2015 Rpod 179 2010 Rpod 171 |
Posted By: TheBum
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2016 at 3:56pm
| I wonder if those Sway Bracket Jackets would fit the Fastway E2 L-brackets. |
Posted By: Shelpod
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2016 at 5:01pm
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Just on caveat. If you have the Andersen WHD you should not lubricate the ball. The manual specifically warns against it since the ball is locked in place above and below when the hitch is fully set up and there is a sleeve that the ball post sits in that acts as part of the sway dampening system. ------------- Pod: 2013 178 TV: 2014 Explorer Limited with tow package |
Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2016 at 5:41pm
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You can also buy a self lubricating ball. We have run one for the last 3 years, very happy with it.
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Posted By: kansasfrogs
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2016 at 5:43pm
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Thank you all for your help. ------------- FROGGY |
Posted By: Bama Pod
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2016 at 6:52pm
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Hmm - I've never considered that I need to lubricate my balls. Now on my TODO list. Thx.
------------- Bama Pod Huntsville, AL 2017 Ford F250 2017 Airstream 26U |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 30 Nov 2016 at 11:06pm
They might fit. The Equal-i-zer web site (Progress Industries makes both the Equal-i-zer and the Fastway E2) states not to lubricate the brackets on the E2 as the friction of the bars and brackets are the only sway control the E2 has. The Sway Bracket Jacket does reduce friction some also, but the Equal-i-zer also has the hitch head and bar pivot points as part of the sway control also. I did not really notice too much difference with and without them except that it is a lot quieter with them. I would address the question to the manufacturer. That would be the best and most accurate information on whether they can be used or not. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2016 at 1:47pm
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28 years of trailer towing here, and I've never lubricated the hitch ball or the sway bar ball (when I had one). I've never noticed any wear, or noise from those locations (only from the intentional friction points).
If you leave the ball in place now you have a greasy ball where you'll walk into it. My father greases his ball and after borrowing his utility trailer last week I left my ball on and sure enough, my wife leaned over it in a white shirt... That said, if you do grease the ball there are ways of covering it when you are unhitched. ------------- Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1723 - Pod instruction manual 
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Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2016 at 2:56pm
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When we first got our R-Pod, I did not grease the hitch ball. Even on the first trip home, I noticed wear on the ball. That is when I decided I had better lubricate it. I put grease on it before hitching. When I unhitch, I take a couple of paper towels and wipe the dirty grease off. Then I put a rubber hitch ball cover on. Next time I get ready to hook the hitch up, I'll have to get a picture of the wear. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: TheBum
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2016 at 6:02pm
I looked for one this afternoon with Google's help and couldn't find a 2" one that would work with a regular hitch bar. The only ones that would were 1-7/8". |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2016 at 5:08pm
| I know it sounds "country" but I've known folks who use soap bars, the little pieces that you can never figure out what to do with. Regardless, I agree you should lubricate your hitch ball. AND use WD40 or like to lube your TT locking mechanism. If you don't think there is friction try a painted hitch ball. The paint will be gone. |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2016 at 5:16pm
| I did find "greaseless" hitch balls at etrailer, that have replaceable nylon caps on the ball, they were for the "Rapid Hitches". |
Posted By: TheBum
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2016 at 5:16pm
WD-40 is not a lube. It's a water repellant. Tri-Flo oil is a pretty good all-around synthetic lubricant. |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2016 at 5:18pm
| Good point, TheBum, will adjust:) |
Posted By: Blue Highways
Date Posted: 04 Dec 2016 at 11:06am
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Heh, everyone, interesting thread. I'm trying to learn as much as I can here. After we reached about mile 5400 of our 7000-mile camping journey this year, I heard a new odd squeaky groaning sound as we rolled slowly over uneven ground into our campsite (at the Crescent City KOA under the big redwoods). When I released the tow vehicle after setting up, the hitch ball was "dry" ...though I had lubed it with just standard axle grease at the beginning of the journey. There was also some very minor scruffed wear points on the sides of the ball, though maybe that is what happens anyway over time.
Then, somewhere (maybe not on this forum), I read that "Dialectic Grease" is the best choice to use on the hitch ball, as the trailer relies on "a ground" at this hitch point that benefits your TV's 12V charging circuit, plus all the 12V tailight/sidelight wiring, plus a good connection there discharges any static build-up from the road in very dry climates (which can have odd side-effects I guess). Out in CA, I went ahead and bought a tube of Dielectric grease (which turned out to be not expensive and a much easier dispenser to use that my messy round tin of axle grease in a greasy zip-lock bag)... I figured it wouldn't hurt to use it, even if the "ground" information I heard is not accurate. Maybe, the electrical ground established by the trailer's hitch ball link from the vehicle to trailer is not present, or not relevant? The positive end result for me was the WonderPod from that point on, stopped making squeaky/groaning sounds over lumpy camprgound access roads, based on the "lube your ball" view. The benefits of making a more reliable "ground" point seemed like a convincing theory, so I wanted to run the validity of this across anyone with an electrical engineering background, or who is smart in electrical theory. Or even if you don't have electrical background, what is your view on this? Brad & Layli Wonderpod 179 towed by "BG" (Baluga) the 10 Tundra WesternNC |
Posted By: Tars Tarkas
Date Posted: 04 Dec 2016 at 11:26am
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There should be a sufficient ground through the Bargman but I seem to recall a million years ago, trailer connections relied on the hitch for the ground, but no way I can document that now. I figure it can only help though. Dielectric grease is good but I don't know that it really matters. Maybe it does. How's that for helpful? TT ------------- 2010 176 FJ Cruiser |
Posted By: Blue Highways
Date Posted: 04 Dec 2016 at 12:27pm
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Thanks Tars, helpful enough.... "Whether dielectric grease really matters or not" ....kinda falls into the "deer whistle" category for me: Q? Do deer whistles on your front bumper really emit a sound that causes them to hear you coming in advance, so as not to bound further into the range of your headlights???? Debatable I suppose. So I've always spent the $8 or so, plus the 6 minutes to attach them to my various vehicles over the decades. Previous to my first animal whistles, the only deer I ever hit was decades ago in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho with my young son on a camping trip in the old slant-six Dodge pickup.) Still, after that early incident, no way to prove their effectiveness for my family's road trips since. That's my story, and I'm sticking them to the bumper anyway....  -B
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Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 04 Dec 2016 at 5:41pm
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Oh boy you bring up a sore subject on deer whistles. After my 4th deer kill with my '94 F-150 I was told by some locals, put on a pair of deer whistles, that will prevent you from killing all our deer (I had 4 deer kills in 3 years). So I purchase and install them on the front bumper as per the instructions. I truly believe (and the guys who sold me on this idea are now convinced) that it only exasperated the problem. Like a trooper I continued to put on deer whistles on the front bumper after the previous deer kill would take them off. Long story short, with deer whistles I was able to kill an additional 7 deer in 3 years and was out the money to keep replacing them. So now here I sit with my '94 F-150 with 31 notches (deer kills) in the 18 years I have owned the truck. I travel between 30-35 mph on my way to work (at 5:05 - 5:15 am) and only travel 5 miles to get to work, yet with 1 exception all the deer hit have been in the morning on this 5 mile jaunt. And I'm not counting the ones I have hit and they limp/scamper/walk away. Yes, I have killed more with my truck than with my rifle, kind of embarrassing. At my place of employment the truck is appropriately called "deer slayer." AND . . . . no more deer whistles. ------------- God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
Posted By: codycountry
Date Posted: 04 Dec 2016 at 6:57pm
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Perhaps your deer whistles are working more like "wolf whistles" and actually attracting the deer? Are you by chance hitting more doe deer than bucks? Try turning them around and see if that changes anything then you'll know for sure. You might have purchased the wrong kind of deer whistle..... I saw a show on one of those hunting channels about this.....
there are auto deer whistles and there are hunting deer whistles. I do feel your pain, my ex wife hit a deer on the way home from the auto body shop getting her repaired car back from hitting a deer. We have nothing like you folks do for deer strikes, but one is too many. Around here the two places that appreciate the Game and Fish department the most are the auto body shops and the taxidermists.  |
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 04 Dec 2016 at 7:40pm
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Been there, done that. After the first couple strikes, I was told to turn them the opposite direction, made zero difference. Yes, these were auto deer whistles. Funny thing, this is really a Ford tough truck, although my front bumper kinda looks like a twisted pretzel, I have never had it in to a body shop, even after 31 kills. The worst damage I incurred was when I had just gotten the truck (company truck) and had it for 3 days. It was during the rut and about 25-35 yards ahead of me I counted over 20 deer crossing the road, so I came to a complete stop. During that time a deer came out of a cornfield on my left (traveling the opposite direction of the deer in front of me) and ran full tilt into the truck, just behind my door, made a pretty good size dent in the side. It was laying down on the pavement, moving around in circles, I thought for sure it broke its neck. As I got out of the truck, the doe proceeded to get up and limp off into the cornfield, as far as I know it lived. I took the truck to the owners and showed them the damage, they shuddered as they hadn't put insurance on it yet. I still am reminded of that hit today, as it never was fixed. I have hit mostly all does, only a few were bucks. Maybe I should try to get a few pics of this fine old truck and post it for you all to see. It is in pretty rough shape but still runs fine after 307,000 miles with a 5.0 L V-8 and manual stick shift. ------------- God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
Posted By: codycountry
Date Posted: 04 Dec 2016 at 9:19pm
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Jato, You ought to get some sort of deer hit stickers for the front left fender, like the WW2 airman had for their airplanes. You have earned them and it would look cool.
Remind me never to drive anywhere with you should the opportunity ever occur.
I don't think my new f150 will stand up nearly as well as your truck has to deer strikes. It would probably blow an airbag and break my glasses.
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Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 04 Dec 2016 at 10:16pm
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haha, my airbag has never deployed and it has one, when I got the truck in 1998 the airbag light on the dash was flashing on and off. 18 years later it is still doing it! The guys at work have threatened to do that to the truck, at this point it would look like some of the football helmets with all stickers on them. The owners of the golf course I work for haven't gotten me a new or newer truck because they know that one hit would probably toast a new truck. This one has a heavy duty chrome bumper that is probably 3/8" thick steel, and it sits quite high as well, a bit higher than the new ones.
------------- God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 04 Dec 2016 at 10:31pm
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Tell them they can always get you one of these: http://www.americanmuscle.com/barricade-grille-guard-gloss-black-0914.html?utm_content=AT+Armor+-+Brush+Guards+%2F+Grille+Guards%7CBarricade&utm_campaign=AT%2009-14%20Years&utm_source=Google-pla&utm_medium=Shopping&utm_term=%7Bkeyword%7D&AMID=barricade-grille-guard-gloss-black-0914-GSBasicFitmentV1&year=2014&T5_Var3=orange&GID=T102090 - Barricade Brush Guard The link is for trucks up to 2014. They also have links on the page for one for the 2015 and 2016 F-150s. I didn't look to see if they have one for the SuperDuty trucks. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: Keith-N-Dar
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2016 at 8:46pm
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Deer whistles don't seem to do any good and they cause pan to lots o other wild and domestic animals.
------------- Keith-N-Dar Boris & Betty (Boston Terriers) 2011 R-Pod 177 2010 Ford F-150 |
Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 12 Dec 2016 at 7:12pm
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I hope you took those deer home and hung them! ------------- Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1723 - Pod instruction manual
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Posted By: Leo B
Date Posted: 12 Dec 2016 at 7:21pm
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Ah venison!!
------------- Leo & Melissa Bachand 2017 Ford F150 2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk Previously owned 2015 Rpod 179 2010 Rpod 171 |
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 12 Dec 2016 at 10:42pm
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The problem with hitting them then running them over is that the guts, intestinal renderin's, urine, and the like plus bone splinters go throughout the meat quickly ruining everything. Hence, about all one can do is pull the carcass off into the ditch and leave it for the eagles and coyotes. At least it doesn't all go to waste. ------------- God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 13 Dec 2016 at 10:52am
A shame to let the tenderloins go to the scavengers...  ------------- Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1723 - Pod instruction manual
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Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 13 Dec 2016 at 3:56pm
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I am with you Doug, feelings are mutual. HOWEVER, on more than one occasion I attempted to harvest the tenderloins, but they were nasty, urine, intestinal contents intermixed throughout, hmmmm. Let the scavengers have it!
------------- God's pod '11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 13 Dec 2016 at 8:20pm
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I read somewhere that there are some zoos around that will accept a fresh carcass to feed to the carnivores. However, once they have aged a few days, they will no longer accept them. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |