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07-10-2014, 05:55 PM
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#41
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Longview, WA, Washington
Trailer: 2013 Escape 15B - 2014 Nissan Frontier SL
Posts: 854
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I keep wondering when people are hearing the squeaky hitch. Our hitch cannot be heard traveling down the highway. Our hitch cannot be heard when leaving a campground and it has not been used for 24 hours or so. Our hitch CAN be heard after a long and/or hot day and if there is no lubricant on the hitch ball AND one of the windows is rolled down. Although the hitch ball moves with the trailer, this does not prevent the "rolling" (side to side movement) that I have mentioned before on previous posts. The flat top of the ball does not contact the trailer coupler (at least not on ours.) There is, however, wear below the top of the ball on both sides from the rolling movement. These are the two places that need a little lubrication. There may also be some noise from the friction material after a long, hot day. As I have also indicated on previous posts, this material I believe has a "sticky" nature which has interfered with backing up again after a hot day. (Remember that our 15 has a short distance between hitch and axle and the friction material wants to bind and cause the trailer to want to jack-knife more. ) some of this is taken care of by loosening the WD feature before backing. We now have over 8,000 miles on our Andersen. Our friction material is now exposed almost 3/8 of an inch.
__________________
Tim and Julie
2013 Escape 15B
2014 Nissan Frontier, Previous 2012 Santa Fe
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07-10-2014, 06:03 PM
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#42
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Trailer: 1979 Boler B1700
Posts: 14,935
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Quote:
Originally Posted by techfan
Although the hitch ball moves with the trailer, this does not prevent the "rolling" (side to side movement) that I have mentioned before on previous posts.
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... and "rocking" or "pitching" (front /back movement) such as when going over bumps.
Interesting wear pattern! Almost looks eroded rather than scraped or abraded.
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07-10-2014, 06:18 PM
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#43
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Trailer: 2017 Escape 5.0 TA
Posts: 15,552
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Quote:
Originally Posted by techfan
We now have over 8,000 miles on our Andersen. Our friction material is now exposed almost 3/8 of an inch.
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Mine is actually sunk inside the hitch by near 1/4".
__________________
2017 Escape 5.0 TA
2015 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5L EcoBoost
2009 Escape 19 (previous)
“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” — Abraham Lincoln
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07-12-2014, 03:08 PM
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#44
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Yellow Springs, Ohio
Trailer: 2013 Escape 19
Posts: 709
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I just greased the ball really well, hooked up, and towed our Escape back to storage. It still has the noise, that is probably more appropriately called a creak instead of a squeak. I hear it going over bumps and any time I'm turning or twisting. This is really just a curiosity. The noise is nothing compared to the friction damper we had on our old Casita. So what I can say with certainty is that greasing the ball will probably reduce wear, will definitely ruin a pair of pants at some point, and may help reduce the squeaking for some of the people, some of the time. My work is finished here.
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07-12-2014, 03:18 PM
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#45
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Site Team
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Canyon Lake, Texas
Trailer: 2015 19 "Past Tents", 2021 F150 Lariat 2.7L EB
Posts: 10,222
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My Mother now tows a humongous 5th wheel, but when she used to have an Airstream, they used an Andersen hitch. The squeaking was only present when turning, and was caused by the brake/friction material in the ball socket -- not the hitch itself. They never greased the ball, but they did replace the friction material once or twice.
__________________
"You can't buy happiness, but you can buy an RV. And that is pretty close."
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07-12-2014, 04:08 PM
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#46
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Tucson, AZ, Arizona
Trailer: gone, 19 and 21 & 17B with 5.0 now. gone
Posts: 790
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squeaky hitch
On this trip I had a much more noisy hitch, in N. CA I bought a tube of white lithium grease and lubed the ball now 80% of the noise is gone.
Jack
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07-12-2014, 04:40 PM
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#47
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Southwick, Massachusetts
Trailer: None, sold my 2014 5.0TA
Posts: 7,124
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If anyone is using an Equalizer brand wdh they sell rubber jackets for the trailer frame sway bar brackets. Cut down the squeaking by about half.
Sway Bracket Jacket (pair) : Equal-i-zer Hitch Store
__________________
Happy Motoring
Bob
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07-12-2014, 04:43 PM
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#48
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Portland, Oregon
Trailer: 2002 Escape 13'
Posts: 967
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Quote:
Originally Posted by padlin
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I have the plastic jackets and it doesn't squeak at all. I get a little noise on sharp turns or backing but no noise at all while driving.
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07-12-2014, 04:47 PM
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#49
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Southwick, Massachusetts
Trailer: None, sold my 2014 5.0TA
Posts: 7,124
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Agreed, when they were fairly new.
__________________
Happy Motoring
Bob
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