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Old 06-08-2018, 04:22 PM   #21
JRTJH
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matt303,

I believe the lube plate would decrease the distance from the kingpin and the jaws on the hitch by raising the pin about 3/16" (the thickness of the lube plate. It probably won't make any difference and would have no impact on towing, hitching or releasing the kingpin except if your hitch is off center. If the trailer/hitch angle is "twisted" the jaws may not couple or uncouple correctly. That "could" (who knows how often) lead to problems locking the kingpin into the hitch jaws and/or unlocking the jaws when unhitching.

I've not been told the above by Pullrite, but it's my "idea" on why they might recommend against using it. My Curt hitch has more clearance between the jaws and the kingpin flange, so it is much easier to unlock when at an angle than my BIL's Pullrite. We've attributed his difficulty to the lube plate and the lack of extra clearance where the jaws lock around the kingpin flange. YMMV....
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Old 06-08-2018, 08:21 PM   #22
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My Curt Q24 came with a lube plate.
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Old 06-11-2018, 09:20 AM   #23
MattE303
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JRTJH View Post
matt303,

I believe the lube plate would decrease the distance from the kingpin and the jaws on the hitch by raising the pin about 3/16" (the thickness of the lube plate. It probably won't make any difference and would have no impact on towing, hitching or releasing the kingpin except if your hitch is off center. If the trailer/hitch angle is "twisted" the jaws may not couple or uncouple correctly. That "could" (who knows how often) lead to problems locking the kingpin into the hitch jaws and/or unlocking the jaws when unhitching.

I've not been told the above by Pullrite, but it's my "idea" on why they might recommend against using it. My Curt hitch has more clearance between the jaws and the kingpin flange, so it is much easier to unlock when at an angle than my BIL's Pullrite. We've attributed his difficulty to the lube plate and the lack of extra clearance where the jaws lock around the kingpin flange. YMMV....
ah, that does make sense, thanks!
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Old 06-11-2018, 10:06 AM   #24
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I have been using the same lube plate for 4 years, actually pulled it off my old 5th wheel and put it on my new 5th wheel. Guess now it has over 5000 miles on it, however I do have another one I keep in the rv as a back up. I spray it occasionally with WD40 just for added protection
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Old 06-14-2018, 07:19 AM   #25
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I've always used the black lube plate and have never had any issues.
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Old 06-14-2018, 07:29 AM   #26
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I do. No greasy mess.
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Old 06-14-2018, 07:36 AM   #27
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Lube plate

I use a lube plate on my 42' Montana Legacy 3791rd. I have not used any grease with it. Doesn't seem to be any problem. I was told no need for the grease if the plate is used. To use both defeats the purpose.
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Old 06-14-2018, 07:50 AM   #28
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I always used a lube plate until I got the PullRite SuperGlide. Now just spray WD40 on hitch plate before hooking up.
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Old 06-14-2018, 07:51 AM   #29
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Moly grease is best for sliding surfaces like a hitch ball or 5th wheel. However on my 5th wheel I use a polypropelene disk.
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Old 06-14-2018, 07:58 AM   #30
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Darn I totally missed what you meant. John Deere has Lube Plate, a spray lube and I immediately thought you were talking about that.
So, yes I do use a polypropelene lube plate and it works great. I do use moly grease on the hitch pin and 5th wheel jaws. Yes a bit messy but greatly reduces wear.
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Old 06-14-2018, 08:13 AM   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MattE303 View Post
Last year, shortly after we got our trailer and hitch (Pullrite Super 5th non-slider) I was talking to Pullrite customer service about something else, and happened to ask about lube plates. I was told they recommend against using them, but she couldn't tell me why. I've always wondered what the reasoning could be...
From the Pullrite user manual:

"The king pin box and SuperGlide plate or “head” move together and since there is no friction, there is no need for any grease or a lube plate. Use of a Teflon disc or lube plate would cause the king pin to be too short and problems hooking up will occur. "
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Old 06-14-2018, 09:14 AM   #32
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We have a live plate as well. No grease!
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Old 06-14-2018, 11:16 AM   #33
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We bought a Cougar X-Lite 25RES last year. Dealer included the lube plate. Would not tow without one.
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Old 06-14-2018, 02:18 PM   #34
MattE303
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Koladog View Post
From the Pullrite user manual:

"The king pin box and SuperGlide plate or “head” move together and since there is no friction, there is no need for any grease or a lube plate. Use of a Teflon disc or lube plate would cause the king pin to be too short and problems hooking up will occur. "
My Pullrite isn't a slider (my TV is long bed), so I'm not sure if the same thing applies or not
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Old 06-14-2018, 05:48 PM   #35
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lube plate

Put a lube plate on mine soon as I bought it, have no regrets. TV is a long bed with a Reese 15 K. I do "rub" in some straight weight ND 30 oil once a season. Have never had any problems in the last 3 years. Don't believe I would not use one.
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Old 06-14-2018, 07:09 PM   #36
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Ditto on lube plate. Grease is REALLY messy. We carry a spare, but I'm not sure why,
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Old 06-15-2018, 12:55 AM   #37
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If you tow in cold weather the the plate can break when you hook up if the hitch is to high or off axis. At least that was when I broke one I had.

On some of the early 5-w hitches for P/U, they were designed to only tilt front to back but not side to side. On this type of hitch if the 5-W is tilted to the left and your P/U is tilted to the right the king pin has to move up and down some. With our hitches of today this lack of side to side tilting is not the problem it used to be. (Simi truck 5-W only tilt front to back, not side to side). (I'm trying to keep this short and simple...) I hope it's understandable. The "old style" 5-W were very difficult to hook or unhook if your P/U and 5-W were not on the same plane, side to side. Because our 5-W hitches can now tilt to match that of the 5-W it's much easier to hitch and unhitch. I've known of campers with "old style" hitches that were unable to unhook because the hitch was in enough of a 'bind' that they could not pull the latch...so they would have to reposition level enough to let the king pin release.

The lube plate is the way to go!
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Old 06-15-2018, 05:03 AM   #38
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Another vote for the lube plate. Yes, lube the other working parts of the hitch. I also spray graphite lube on the hitch plate to prevent/minimize rust.
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Old 06-15-2018, 06:21 AM   #39
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I broke a few when first starting out with the 5th wheel. I was backing up not too fast, but all in one motion. Lube plate could bend and break if not perfectly aligned. Now I stop as soon as there is contact with the hitch to make sure everything is where it should be before final hook-up. No more breaking issues.


On the Reese 25 (Ford), the 14" disk works much better and is recommended over the 10". Could not find a 14" at a dealer so ordered from Amazon.
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Old 06-15-2018, 07:51 AM   #40
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MattE303 View Post
My Pullrite isn't a slider (my TV is long bed), so I'm not sure if the same thing applies or not
In that case, I agree with everyone else, use the lube plate. These instructions only apply to SuperGlide models. If you don't have one then you definitely have metal to metal friction. Anything to reduce that contact will help regardless of situation/application.
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