Greasing 5th wheel with gear oil

That’s dumb.

high pressure oil is made for harden surfaces, the horse shoe and trailer plate is not harden surfaces.

use grease, ep grease.

 

My truck has 578k on it, I got it with 244k, and I haven’t had to replace the pads on my top plate.

 

For a temporary solution if that is all you have to use then and only then would I use oil until I could get my hands on some decent grease for the 5 th wheel.

 

Well I don't know about anybody here but I think in general people over Grease the fifth wheel.

If you use a pump grease gun it really does not take very much grease at all.

When you break away from the trailer you can tell when it's time to grease it.

I'm sure I'm not telling anyone anything they don't already know but when I grease my fifth wheel I drop the airbags and then back under the trailer. Then I raise it up to back a little and lock the fifth wheel. It keeps you from smearing all the grease on the end of the trailer. And more of the grease should be on the back end of the fifth wheel because it's only going to slide forward as you go underneath.

I'm sure cheap grease will work but I use the regular nlgi 2 grease that I grease the truck with. I think it stays in place better and gives you better lubrication. And lasts longer.

 

I don't know if you noticed, but the trailer kingpin is upside down. Oil doesn't usually stick to stuff that's upside down. Grease does that, so use grease and you won't need to have a constant stream of oil to your 5th wheel.

That or the no grease 5th wheels. That's what I've had for 5 years and I've never had trouble turning.

 

I’ve used gear oil every winter when the temps hit minus 20 or colder . It won’t stiffen like grease does . In 40 below a truck has a hard time turning after a longer straight away when there’s a fair amount of grease on fifth wheel especially pulling a tri axle.

 

I use the Lucas product specifically for 5th wheel lube every week or so. It's got the consistency of STP oil treatment and very sticky. It won't dry out like grease does. We nearly never swap or drop trailers, so that matters too. There's usually a stop at a place like Walmart where you have to drop, or an off-duty bobtail trip where it's not a chore to remember. Just put some on every time I drop the trailer. I also hit it with the grease gun when greasing the rest of the truck. The Lucas mixes with the grease and holds slightly better in my opinion.

The Lucas product is a little pricey, about $8-10 a bottle, but a little bit goes a long way. Usually 6-8 applications per bottle, so that lasts a couple months per truck. The only negative is wintertime you have to keep it somewhere warm or it pours like glue.

 

Google search turned up dang near $15 per bottle most places, however Walmart has it for cheap right now. Might just order up a couple and give it a try.

I'm sure you'll never find it in store.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lucas-Oi...Xwc428xGhsB8i7YF1KhoCVSsQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

I just ordered a couple bottles from Walmart. Free shipping, grand total of about $14 bucks. Looking forward to trying this stuff.