How To Prevent Trailer Hitch Failure

Hey folks. Glenn May here with BassResource.com, and today I want to talk about an often overlooked piece of equipment, your trailer hitch. Now, most people just bolt on the trailer ball and let it go. You're done. No, don't do that. You could have some problems down the road. You might even find out one day to see your boat trying to pass you going down the highway if you neglect this little piece of equipment.

There's only really two things you need to do. It's pretty simple and pretty basic. One is see this nut right down here on the bottom? Make sure that's tight. Go there and check it. Check it right now when you're done watching this video. Make sure it's on good. Even if it's got a lock nut or a lock washer or something like that on it, it can and will come loose. All of that work, all of that vibration going down the road, and all of the pot holes that you hit jars it loose. It will work loose. The last thing you want to hear when you're going down the road when you stop at a stop sign and get ready go, you hear this thump. You don't want to hear that because that's your hitch bouncing up and down on here. Don't ask me why I know this. Suffice to say, I put Loc-Tite on this. I put it on extremely tight. I make sure it's on there good and strong with that Loc-Tite it's not going to go anywhere.

The other thing you want to do is put grease on the hitch. I know a lot of you guys don't do that, and you look at the hitch and say, "Look, I've had this for 15, 20 years. The ball looks just fine. It doesn't need grease." Well, the problem is it's not occurring on the ball. It's occurring inside here. You've got metal on metal, and that hitch ball is stronger metal than your coupling. You're doing a lot of damage and wear on the inside, and you don't even know it. That's what the grease is for. Metal on metal grinding is never good. Don't think, "It just pulls straight behind a truck. It's not big deal." Again, you have turns, left right turns, hill, potholes, bumps, the angle of the grade of the road, and everything. This is going all kinds of different ways and wearing down on your coupling. A little bit of grease will go a long way.

Get the right kind of grease, too. Get the trailer hitch grease. Don't put lithium grease on it, or marine grease, or spray it with WD-40. I know some of might be chuckling right now, but there are people who do that. Just get yourself a little bit of grease. It costs four or five bucks for a jar of it. If you don't like to get your hands all dirty putting it on there, just grab a paper towel, swab it in there, wipe it around the ball joint, and you're good to go. I do it on every trip. That's how religious I am about making sure that everything is working properly. It's just a little dab every trip, and you're good to go and don't have to worry about it. For more tips and tricks like this, visit BassResource.com.