Lubricate Hitch Ball | Lube Camper Tow Ball, Coupler, Trailer 

Great to hear, thank you so much for watching the channel!

Thank you so much for the kind words. I really enjoy making these videos. I appreciate you watching -Brian

Both work really well, after years of doing both, I definitely prefer graphite now.

Thank you, definitely no looking back for me, I love it!

Thank you, I appreciate that you tuned in.

The black looks sleek, put a little spray on each each time you use it and you'll be amazed how well it works!

It's the best! Thanks for tuning in.

It’s definitely improved operation for me too, thanks for watching!

@@DIYOutdoorLife any update from your 2 yr video of this method still works and any negatives?

@@kimwong2053 I love it, I wouldn't go any other way!

@@DIYOutdoorLife Awesome. I just bought a can tonight and can’t wait to try it out!

We are cut from the same cloth, I wish you said that earlier… lol. I recently made plastic covers and put a DIYOL sticker on them. Now I just have to remember to use them!

@@DIYOutdoorLife Yes, I think we are. I have been referring to you as "my friend Brian whom I have never met" I am eight days away from getting my Bushwacker. I had the brake controller wired for less than the dealer would install the wireless one. I already am thinking about my first mods which probably will be to replace the heater thermostat.

@@jeffreyhuebner5388 do the master switch mod too. Should be high on list. Congrats on new trailer!

Spray it inside the coupler and on the ball, I think you'll notice the difference right away. Spray it frequently.

Thanks for mentioning “White Lightening. I’ve been using it for years on my bicycle chains. I’ll give it a try this coming spring.

Excellent tip, I will give it a whirl!

Thanks to both of you. This sound like what I am looking for. (White Lightning Clean Ride Bike Chain Wax Lube)

@@veaseyr You might be able to use ordinary (solid) paraffin wax. I think the bicycle chain products are liquid to carry the fine wax particles into the pins and overlapping plate surfaces. I don't think there's anything special about the wax. The specialness is getting it into the tight spaces of all the links. A single ball surface could have solid wax rubbed onto it. Spray some silicone onto it for more slipperiness (without the dirt-trapping of grease). I don't think a ball & hitch have that much surface movement to require grease. There's a lot of bang/bang contact of mostly flat surface. It's not rotating like a wheel bearing at 20k rpm. A wheel bearing has 1000 pounds and rotates that fast, needs lubrication for that metal/metal contact. But, a ball & hitch might hold that weight, but it's mostly slam contact. It has not been my experience that it needs much help. It doesn't seem like a risky proposition. A ball can be replaced for $15 if you notice it's worn. As long as a trailer's hitch can be replaced (another $50?), not integral (welded) to the tongue, it seems reasonable to test wax, no lube, dirt-attracting grease. See how each wears.

Does your wife call you “White Lightning “ 😂😂

Enjoy! Spray it frequently at first 😀

Let me know what you think, its def my favorite.

Northeast is tough on metal, that’s for sure. Thanks for watching!

I’ve used that before and it works well. I’ve been pretty happy with the mess free set up. What trailer did you get??

@@DIYOutdoorLife I got an Aero Teardrops Steel High Clearance.

I know I ask every time..lol Awesome camper!!

Its been great, hope it works well for you.

Molybdenum disulfied grease or never. Needs a high-pressure lubricant. It is black and nasty.

I’ve never tried with boat trailers, I wonder how it would hold up. Probably require a lot of touch ups but would work well, def better than the grease slicks in the water. Thanks for tuning in.

Are you putting your boat trailer in the water up to the hitch?? Also, if the wheel bearings on your boat trailer wheels aren't adequately greased, at some point, your boat and trailer will be sitting along the highway, with no wheels. If your trailer wheel bearings are greased, you're exposing that same grease to the water anyway.

@jasonwisor3349 No, on putting my boat trailer into the water to the hitch, some might. Wheel bearings are a sealed unit or should be. If not, they would be throwing greese all over the place just going down the highway. If yours are you, you might think about fixing them.

It’s been a good solution, I’ve been very happy with it.

Thanks for watching, let me know how it works on your set up.

Great to hear, I'll give it a try. Thanks for watching.

Great product, much easier to keep giving light touch up sprays without making a mess!

I think this is going to help fix your problem, thanks for watching!

I couldn't be any happier with this graphite, thanks for watching!

Waiting is the hardest part! I can’t wait till your adventure begins, thanks for watching!

Great stuff, thanks for watching!

It’s been the best for our use, hope it helps you too. Thanks for watching!

I would, but the smartest thing for me to say here is to check your owners manual. Some sway bar hitches are made to not require external lubrication, they apply materials which are supposed to be lifetime lubrication. The whole unit needs to be replaced when they wear out. You should be able to find info on your SB online, if it says not to lubricate, I would follow that . If it doesn't, this is a great product to use. I hope this helps, thank you so much for tuning into the channel.

Thank you, I appreciate you swinging by and subscribing. Welcome!

Keep me in the loop, most people have been thrilled. Just apply a little spray each time you use it. 👍

Thank you for watching!

hope it helped, thanks for watching!

Lithium grease works well too. Ive had a lot of luck with the graphite now, little touch up each time we couple up. Thanks for watching.

Kudos on you for reading the manual! You're already steps ahead of the game if you're doing that. Even though it typically says household lube, I like to use a little electric grease. amzn.to/45WcsaH Pull the pin, apply a little coating, securely reattach it and you're done. if you would like to put a little bit of this dielectric grease on the prongs of your seven pin plug, youll be doing great there too. Thanks for watching!

The grease works… just messy right?

I'm glad it helped, there's been a lot of success stories. Thank you for watching your video and sharing your experience!

That’s great, glad it helped.

​@@DIYOutdoorLife cannot believe how well it worked and how not too many people know this. I was looking to replace my whole hitch coupler since it was kind of rusty after only one year. Making the coupling/de-coupling time horrible. sometimes 10 minutes there fighting the hitch going up/down and jumping into it to release it. this freaking spray transformed the coupling/de-coupling into a 20 second deal. even with my original hitch which was all rusty. one thing tho, dont know why, but my ball does not keep the black spray as yours. it wears out in one use. if you touch the ball you get gray on your hands. FOR SURE better than grease. is not as much mess. ive tried spraying it several layers. but no big deal. i think the most important thing is the lubrication on the coupler hitch side. the system moves like brand new first day of use. thanks brian

I have to touch mine up too, but far less than I did at first. It might be because I got to it before rust. Great tips, thanks for sharing!

30,000 miles with this trailer, incredible results with graphite. Light coat each use, doesnt muck, keep co of friction extremely low. Also seems to be the favorite of most full time RVs, w some preferring white lithium.

Thank you for watching!

👍

What product did you use??? Screeching? Something wasnt right, ive done this hundreds of times and its silky smooth and quiet, even have dozens of emails from people saying they could t believe how big a difference it made. Either way, hope you have better luck with the lithium.

Ive used it a lot, very good stuff. Ultimately, I really liked how buttery the graphite spray is. Both better than the messy alternatives.

Happy to have you, thanks!

It might make for a smelly job, but gasoline would work really well. Otherwise, just take your time and then wipe it off really well. If you keep applying this graphite spray, you’ll be much happier!

Brake cleaner, which is in a spray can that you can buy any auto parts store, would also be a good option. Is the stuff they use at the dry cleaners. Smells just like walking into a dry cleaner. Cuts right through any grease or oil.

Thanks for tuning in and contributing to the conversation. I have used them both a lot, and I don't think you can go wrong either way but I do prefer the graphite. For me, it holds up a lot better, and I don't find the mess to be too bad, but try lithium is excellent too. Thanks again for swinging by !

I’ve done that too, works well. I was pleasantly surprised with how well this graphite worked and avoided stained pants and messy hands at camp. 👍 👍

If you already have a little rust build up, it will take a few more applications. Keep applying and it'll clear up, trial and error indeed.

3 in 1 dry lube liquid for all bars and balls , clean.

I like to spray the coupler and the ball. How often you spray depends on how often you use, it's so fast and easy, I tell people to spray it every time. After a while, you see it starts to build up and not need as much, but it's well worth it and very fast and cheap.

I have heard of people trying that. Circle back if you try it and let us know how it works.

It would be best to use some rust remover on it first. The graphite spray works great, but it definitely works best if you apply to cleaner surface. If you have some rust on there, you'll have to apply it more frequently, but you get tons of applications in one can.

@@DIYOutdoorLife Awesome, I really value the input, thank you!

You can always find links in the video description. You click the drop-down menu or the "show more" button to find that description. I'll just paste you the link here. Clean the surface up and apply a lot, spray some each time you hitch. amzn.to/4etscG9

Great question, I don't have as much experience with WB hitches. Anderson claims to have a friction reducing cone, I believe they factoring that in as something that distributes some lubricant. In that case, I would follow the manufacturers recommendation and not lube. As far as the coupler, I just spray some up into it . I keep it simple and it worked great for years.

@@DIYOutdoorLife Thank you for responding and quickly! I will get a can of the graphite as you suggested. I trust your advice. This week we were camping and twice the Casita trailer’s ball released late dropping the trailer and pulling the trailer off the front power jack! Over decades of camping never had that happen. I have never lubed either ball or coupler since purchasing the trailer in 2021. Any further insight is welcome. Thank you.

The rust can be difficult depending where you live. The graphite spray has been the best on the ball throughout the season. Once a year you might have to rub it down really good with a penetrating oil to try to get the surface rust off and then start applying the graphite again. The graphite can do an excellent job on the hitch as well. The idea is it provides excellent lubrication without the mess. It’s also much easier to visually inspect than a clear product. At first you might have to put it on every single trip, but it’s easy to see when it needs it. Happy camping!

@@DIYOutdoorLife ride on! the ball is still in good condition, so perfect to use this spray as preventive right away. what I see messed up is the coupler underneath/inside. Ive been struggling to couple/un-couple. So im buying a coupler replacement to have it all clean and new again (thinking of CURT 25194 Posi-Lock Coupler Replacement Latch for 2-Inch, unless you have a better suggestion) but im looking for a preventive lube solution to keep it new. its funny how a simple couple/un-couple action can mess you up when in a rush :) so, you would say that same spray for the coupler part? thanks. cool videos bro

@@RaymondCidadMoser I know exactly what you mean. I’ve been in a hurry many times while jumping on the bumper of my tow vehicle…lol I love the curt products, hard to go wrong there. You’re going to notice that keeping the ball lubed really helps the hitch last. Think of it like a mortar and pestle. When the ball gets rusty and rough, it does a lot more damage to the hitch. Happy that you swung by, thanks again!

The lock and roll is really nice. I wonder if the graphite would work well for that too.

Glad it helped! I love the Taco, can’t even feel the light weight camper is there. I added a back up camera, brake controller, additional 12v in truck bed, Decked storage system, and the ARE cap. All the mods were related to optimizing long trips with the camper. My gf just towed the camper 3k miles solo ! I am in the process of installing helper springs. Although the tongue weight is light, the cap, decked sliders and constant cargo add up fast, it’s not needed but I think it’s a cheap improvement. Other than that, I’m considering adding solar to the roof of the cap. Gas mileage will drop to 11pm in mnts but it will pull and brake with ease at these weights, I’m less than ⅓ the towing capacity with this trailer. Thanks for watching and subbing!

I think it would work great and be a lot less messy on the WDH

It got me every time!

Unfortunately, It doesn’t hold up the same way. It works great for the stabilizers but the graphite is the clear winner for hitch ball

It depends. When I used a brand new tow ball, it built a nice lasting finish. With tow balls that are scored or have some rust, you need to apply frequently. A single graphite can can be applied like 100 times. Since it's so fast, it's probably best to give it a little touch up each time... works great

@@DIYOutdoorLife I'll be giving this a try tonight!

Click the video description. It’s a V or “show more”. I always leave a description with links to the products we’re using in each video. Let me know if you’re able to find it.

@@DIYOutdoorLife thank you.

@@beth2513 did you find it?

I’ll check it out, thanks!

Should be the same concept. Use it and report back to us on how it does.

@@DIYOutdoorLife I hope to report my findings after some usage.

White lithium works well, for me, the graphite takes first place. Thanks for tuning in!

@@DIYOutdoorLife i have to check that stuff out

I would be more inclined to clean that up and hit it with black rustoleum. This stuff is great for dry lube on moving parts but rust on the receiving hitch is better off being treated and painted. Hope this helps, thanks for watching!

I'm interested in learning more. I heard that there are several different set ups in the UK and that weight distribution hitches are not used on bigger rigs.

White lithium is good stuff. I really like being able to see the ware lines with a graphite, it’s definitely been an upgrade for me.

I found that I didn’t do as well as the graphite, on my set up. I also like that I can see the graphite as it wears. Silicone works well though, thanks for watching.

I’ve done that, that’s an old trick. Works well.