Friction plate and grease

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
Back2PA

Back2PA

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 26, 2015
Posts
5,766
When I bought my fiver from a private party he gave me a Teflon friction plate (which was great because I intended to purchase one). However, there was also grease on the kingpin and other parts of the kingpin area. My question is, if using a friction plate does one still need to grease the kingpin and other metal-to-metal areas? The flat plate on the fiver, and on the hitch, are protected by the friction plate, but it seems like there are other potential wear points. Thx
 
I had one of those nylon plates as well for our previous unit. Works great!  However, yes, I still had to grease the mechanism under the hitch plate every so often as well. I also kept a very light smear on the kingpin itself for the reasons you mention.
 
The friction plate should be sufficient for the area is covers, but there are other places to lube, e.g. the latch mechanism and the pin itself.  I also used an anti-corrosion film under the Teflon pad and on the hitch plate (Boeshield T9 or similar).
 
Like Gary said, the linkages and also the king pin. With the king pin, you only need to grease the groove around the pin. That's what the jaws of the hitch grab onto.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
The friction plate should be sufficient for the area is covers, but there are other places to lube, e.g. the latch mechanism and the pin itself.  I also used an anti-corrosion film under the Teflon pad and on the hitch plate (Boeshield T9 or similar).
Click to expand...


I've gone through the entire hitch so I'm good there. Re the Boeshield, it's referred to as anti corrosion but largely a lubricant. Are you basically saying both sides of the friction plate should be sprayed?  Also, I don't have any Boeshield and am towing tomorrow. Which is the best Boeshield alternative, silicon, triflow or spray lithium?
 
Rene T said:
Like Gary said, the linkages and also the king pin. With the king pin, you only need to grease the groove around the pin. That's what the jaws of the hitch grab onto.
Click to expand...


Done
 
Back2PA said:
I've gone through the entire hitch so I'm good there. Re the Boeshield, it's referred to as anti corrosion but largely a lubricant. Are you basically saying both sides of the friction plate should be sprayed?  Also, I don't have any Boeshield and am towing tomorrow. Which is the best Boeshield alternative, silicon, triflow or spray lithium?
Click to expand...

Don't loose any sleep over not having lubricated the plate. I've been towing fifth wheels for 22+ years with the same friction plate and never lubricated it.
 
Rene T said:
Don't loose any sleep over not having lubricated the plate. I've been towing fifth wheels for 22+ years with the same friction plate and never lubricated it.
Click to expand...


OK thx. Assuming of course that it's not necessary it's my preference to not lube the plate then. Just spent awhile getting it cleaned up and was considering where I was going to store the greasy thing, since it won't quite stay snapped to the kingpin
 
Yeah, find a way to keep it on the kingpin. If it won't stay there, then you may want to get another one that has a tighter center hole. it is my understanding that the whole benefit of these things is not only to reduce friction, but to do it in such a way that the area remains clean so you don't get filthy off of it every time you go near it.
 
You might look into getting a Andersen Hitch, no lubrication needed anywhere.  Its only like 45lbs so you don't loose the use of your bed, you can just pop it right out.  And it is very very strong, if i recall thier load tests passed with the simulated weight of about 5 fifthwheels before it failed.  I love it! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMW-ynhTatA
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 984 (members: 18, guests: 966)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,927
Posts
1,387,647
Members
137,675
Latest member
ozgal
Back
Top Bottom