Fifth Wheel Grease

Not all drivers are mechanically inclined people. What may seem like common sense to many is not to all of us.

New drivers will learn this during their training just like you did Bruce. At my previous company I had my fifth wheel re greased every time I got an oil change. But my company changed oil every 14k miles or so. Sometimes I would do it sooner if I saw some small dry spots. Depended how many drop and hooks I had going on.

Come on Bruce...is this real? Without the grease, you have a metal king pin slamming into the skid plate and locking jaws. You have a metal trailer apron turning constantly and rubbing on a metal skid plate. Bouncing and bumping around during the ride. What happens with metal on metal if no lube? Bad stuff. Damaged equipment. Metal grinding. Excessive Heat from friction... and what happens with excessive heat?

Kearsey, I am serious. I know grease is important and I grease on a regular basis. I’m trying to fine tune my knowledge by finding out what other drivers do.

Plus, new drivers need to know this stuff.

This wasn't covered in any class I had, and wasn't covered in orientation. I didn't know about keeping track of X number of D&H's, either.

Glad it is being discussed.

I look at the plate often, since I've started driving, and check that it looks well covered in grease; but I didn't think to carry some grease with me, for just in case. Thanks for the idea you guys and gals!

You don’t need to be mechanically inclined to understand that metal rubbing against metal will need adequate lubrication. It would be like asking why do the tires need adequate tread. The trainer I had certainty went over fifth wheel maintenance. Sounds like I’m in the minority on that.

And FR8 M4N I was just speaking for myself in regards to the drop and hooks. Sometimes I could go five weeks without really greasing it sometimes I could not. I did a lot more drop and hooks than a typical otr driver

Not all drivers are mechanically inclined people. What may seem like common sense to many is not to all of us.

Not all drivers are mechanically inclined people. What may seem like common sense to many is not to all of us.

Right. Many drivers have no common sense either.

Yeah, good stuff, both this discussion and grease.

I don’t like to over-grease, because it just get scraped off by the front of the trailer and then ends up on the ground.

If I see bare metal or rust areas forming, then I know it’s time to get out the grease and put on a thin coat. But I would say that if you see rust on your fifth wheel, you are already too late with the grease. I would estimate that I apply grease about once every two weeks, or as needed.

I always carry the packs, and throw a pair on if I see a spot or two looking pretty dry. If it's been 10 trailers dropped and hooked, I'll make sure to throw the packs on next time. I think it's possible to over do it, but the number of drivers I have seen who scrape the entire lube from the shop onto the nose of a trailer, makes it pretty unlikely that the trailer apron has "enough residue" to suffice it.

This is an example of why I posed this question. Thank you, NaeNae, I never heard about “packs”. What are they and does your company supply them?

Robert says:

What happens when you don’t keep a pivot point lubricated? It won’t pivot properly. In the case of a truck and trailer when turning, rather than be fluid and smooth, it puts it in a bind causing abnormal wear on tires, suspension, steering and everything else. Once bad enough, rather than making a smooth transition in a turn it will cause the truck to push as the weight of the trailer wants to fight the tractor and in anything less than dry conditions can cause all sorts of bad things to happen. Honestly, this is a question that should have been answered when you first learned how to do a pre trip before earning your license and if it wasn’t covered, well, I’d have to say you had crappy training.

I had to scroll way too far for this comment honestly. This is the absolute number one reason for regularly greasing the fifth wheel in my opinion.

To clarify, thanks for asking the question Bruce. Obviously you knew to grease it and were already doing it but it never hurts to get more information

You don’t need to be mechanically inclined to understand that metal rubbing against metal will need adequate lubrication. It would be like asking why do the tires need adequate tread. The trainer I had certainty went over fifth wheel maintenance. Sounds like I’m in the minority on that.

And FR8 M4N I was just speaking for myself in regards to the drop and hooks. Sometimes I could go five weeks without really greasing it sometimes I could not. I did a lot more drop and hooks than a typical otr driver

Not all drivers are mechanically inclined people. What may seem like common sense to many is not to all of us.

You quite literally described a function of mechanics. Not being mechanically inclined means that those sorts of functions are more natural for some to consider than others.

A member here asked a legitimate question and a common response is to make it seem like a stupid question.

The only stupids ones are the ones thinking it was a stupid question.

Ryan I’m not talking about overhauling an engine or replacing a blown air bag. You don’t need to be mechanically inclined to check the oil during your pre trip nor do you need to be to eyeball your fifth wheel, and decide if it could use some grease or not. Sorry if that offends you that I believe it’s common sense.