Here is a picture of a zerk fitting I found on Wikipedia so you can know what to look for. These things are very common on all sorts of machinery like tractors and riding lawn mowers. Grease guns and grease can be found at any auto parts store or even WalMart.
Here is a link to a typical grease gun from Amazon.com
Chromag wrote: 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.
I grease my blue ox before every trip, as directed in the instruction manual. I also check the torque of the bolts on the bottom of the hitch (the sway control bolts) each trip to assure the correct torque. Mine always tend to loosen up each trip..
502_Jimmy wrote: I grease my blue ox before every trip, as directed in the instruction manual. I also check the torque of the bolts on the bottom of the hitch (the sway control bolts) each trip to assure the correct torque. Mine always tend to loosen up each trip..
I torque to 60ft/lbs each trip.
John
Thanks John! I'm planning on picking up grease and a grease gun this week - I'll make sure to grease it before going out next time. Suppose I should also pick up a torque wrench and check that out.
I'm getting quite a bit of sag in the rear of the TV. According to the manual I need to turn the thumbscrew on the hitch head out one turn and possibly raise the chain by one link as well. I'll hopefully get it all worked out before our next trip!
2012 Crossroads Z-1 271BH
2004 Nissan Armada with Blue Ox BXW1500, Prodigy P3
If you're new to the world of grease, I would suggest you buy a pistol-grip grease gun with a flexible hose. They are much easier to use than the lever type with a metal tube. The cost will be insignificant. After a few trips you'll be able to monitor the hitch components and arrive at a good schedule for grease. Sometimes, it's not necesary to add more grease but until you become familiar with the equipment, add it before every trip.
Good luck with your hitch and remember, grab a rag before you grab the gun.
You don't need a really expensive torque wrench for that... If you were building an engine, it would be different. But for this application, a harbor freight special should be just fine.
A couple of things I had to do, that my POS dealer did not do for my blue ox...
Make sure you have the correct rise ball for your trailer frame. If I remember, a regular hitch ball is fine for a 4" tall tongue tube. A 5" tongue requires a 1" rise ball, and a 6" tall tongue tube (like mine) requires a 2" rise hitch ball to let the weight bars clear the frame at the bottom.
I could never get the correct tension on the bars with the wrong ball. When I put the correct ball on per the manual, it worked great. I did have to move the hitch head down to accommodate the taller ball.
Chromag wrote: 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.
I grease my blue ox before every trip, as directed in the instruction manual. I also check the torque of the bolts on the bottom of the hitch (the sway control bolts) each trip to assure the correct torque. Mine always tend to loosen up each trip..
I torque to 60ft/lbs each trip.
John
And the bolts John is most likely referring to, are the "sway control" bolts. You can torque those up to 90 ft-lbs for the maximum sway control, or less if that is all that is needed.
Those bolts take a 3/4" socket.
There are two other bolts on the bottom that take a smaller socket ( 9/16" ). Those bolts should have a couple drops of Loctite 242 ( blue liquid, it comes in a red bottle ....use only 242....do not use Loctite that is a red liquid ) and be torqued to 47 ft-lbs. That spec is not in your instruction manual, but it is in the factory manual for installing the trunnion kit. I have that document as a pdf, so if any of you need/want the doc, PM me.
george
PS. insure that the large bolts that hold the head to the shank are torqued to spec. Those too can loosen if not tight enough.
Offline
