Chromag
Florida
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Joined: 02/20/2012
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I've got the Blue Ox BXW1500 WD/antisway and I recently read a thread about greasing the ball. I checked my manual under the maintenance and care section and it suggests greasing the ball with molybdenum grease. It also says I should push grease into some zerk fitting prior to each use.
What the manual doesn't tell me is what a zerk is, where it is located, how much grease, etc. Any particular brand? I'm guessing I need some sort of grease gun? Before every trip? Any particular connector to fit the zerk?
I also saw some sort of dry molybdenum spray. Would this be better for the ball?
Sorry - so many questions. I couldn't find any molybdenum at local auto parts stores or Wally world. Anyone I asked about it had that deer-in-the-headlights stare.
Thanks.
2012 Crossroads Z-1 271BH
2004 Nissan Armada with Blue Ox BXW1500, Prodigy P3
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midwest
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The grease zerks are on the backside of the part that your spring bars plug into. Yes you will need a grease gun, which you can get at any auto parts store or even walmart.
Look at the auto parts house and you will see tubs of moly-disulfide grease. A small tub of it ( about 4 inches in diameter and 3 inches tall ) is a few bucks, and will be a lifetime supply.
On your hitch, make sure you torque the bolts correctly. It's covered in the instructions. And make sure you "adjust" the anti-sway by torquing those bolts correctly also. That too is covered in the instructions. And finally, make sure you trailer ball is torqued correctly. You may need to take it to a shop for that. Depending on which ball you put on it, the correct torque can be as much as 450 ft-lb....which is a LOT....so it needs to be right. And, amazingly enough....that too is covered in the instructions !!! You can see, I'm a big fan of reading the instructions !
Great hitch, works well when properly set up. Good choice.
george
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Chromag
Florida
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Thanks George! Wasn't able to find it at a couple auto parts stores or Walmart. I'm sure I can find it on Amazon fairly inexpensively. Just wasnt sure if there was a good brand to look for. As far as the torque on the bolts and ball I had the dealer install it. Due to the sag in the rear of the TV I'm pretty sure they didn't do a great job setting it up. But due to a little glitch in renegotiations and their communications with the service department I got it for free.
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midwest
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Chromag wrote:Thanks George! Wasn't able to find it at a couple auto parts stores or Walmart. I'm sure I can find it on Amazon fairly inexpensively. Just wasnt sure if there was a good brand to look for. As far as the torque on the bolts and ball I had the dealer install it. Due to the sag in the rear of the TV I'm pretty sure they didn't do a great job setting it up. But due to a little glitch in renegotiations and their communications with the service department I got it for free.
you're welcome. The grease you will be looking for will be something like this:
http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/VLV0/633.oap?ck=Search_moly+grease_-1_1216&keyword=moly+grease
....or just do a search for " moly grease ".
If you work thru the installation instructions for the BlueOx hitch, you will find out it's not that hard to set up. Just take your time with it, and I suspect that unfortunately that is where things go wrong at the dealer install level.....they just don't take their time with it. Maybe they just want to get it "close enough" and send the consumer on his way.
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Chromag
Florida
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Yeah we had a set delivery date and they found out there was an issue with the line running into the freshwater tank when they tried filling it for our delivery night stayover. After fixing that they had to install the Blue Ox - all on a late Saturday afternoon. I suspect they were trying to get it done so they could go home.
Thanks for the brand info. I'm planning on using the manual to try and get it tweaked properly.
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WyoTraveler
Northwest, Wyoming
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I never give these things much thought over the years but guess these newer vehicles don't have many, if any, zerk fittings like the old vehicles. Makes sense that some people may not have seen a zerk fitting. The word zerk doesn't even come up as a word in my dictionary and labels it as such. Time marches on.
2013 Monaco Monarch motorhome
2012 Jeep Wrangler toad
AC6CV/7 ex-W8RUR since 1954
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coolbreeze01
Redding, Ca
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The grease fittings or zerks, are easier to get to if the hitch is mounted, but not hooked to the trailer. Using the bars for leverage, move the sway units until its easy to get the grease gun on them.
Congrats on buying quality equipment.
* This post was
edited 04/11/12 08:38am by coolbreeze01 *
2008 Dodge 3500 With a Really Strong Tractor Motor...........
LB, SRW, 4X4, 6-Speed Auto, 3.73, Prodigy P3, Blue Ox Sway Pro........
2007 Komfort 212 on 225 75R 15E Maxxis 8008 Tires.........
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Chromag
Florida
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coolbreeze01 wrote:The grease fittings or zerks, are easier to get to if the hitch is mounted, but not hooked to the trailer. Using the bars for leverage, move the sway units until its easy to get the grease gun on them.
Is there any specific grease gun attachment or size that I need to fit in the zerk? It looks like I can buy moly grease in the tube (like in the auto parts link above). I'm guessing they sell a grease gun to attach that to (like a caulk gun).
coolbreeze01 wrote:Congrats on buying quality equipment.
Thanks!
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coolbreeze01
Redding, Ca
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"Is there any specific grease gun attachment or size that I need to fit in the zerk? It looks like I can buy moly grease in the tube (like in the auto parts link above). I'm guessing they sell a grease gun to attach that to (like a caulk gun)."
I think most any place that sells tubes of grease will also sell grease guns. The fitting supplied with the gun will fit your zerks. The tips are usually adjustable for ease of use.
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Chromag
Florida
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Thanks for the info. I'll try a couple other places this week. Now that I know what I'm looking for it should be easier to find. Does anyone have this same (or similar) setup and do you grease it every time before towing? Seems like a bit much.
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