Reese Airborne Sidewinder Lubrication

[RobWNY]

Can anyone tell me if I need to grease the skid plate on my hitch while using the Reese Sidewinder pin box? I know not to use a lube plate but even though the Pin won't be rotating, it will still slide in to position or out of position when hitching up and unhitching. Can I Spray White Lithium Grease or should I use a traditional grease like what everyone used before the lube plates became popular? The dealer told me to contact Reese so I emailed them. They responded with instructions to call their towing tech support. When I called, I listened to a recorded message telling me to contact the dealer who installed the pin box. Uggh!

[sande005]

When I had mine, the official answer was to just put a little on the front of the pin and the edges of the wedge. I ended up doing some on the skid plate, just so things would "skid" a bit easier. Since there isn't any movement when hitched, anything will work. Spray can, red grease, bear fat, whatever... It's more of a corrosion/rust preventer than anything. I got too excited the first time, and gave it a nice heavy coat. Then the sand storm came, and made it all nasty. So wiped most off with paper towels, and from then on only gave it a very thin coat, if I thought about it at all.

The real secret is to get the wedge adjusted just right. The dealer installed mine, and really snugged it up to the hitch, probably using a sledge hammer (!) The wedge should make good contact, but if it is too tight, it makes unhitching a bear. I loosened it, then reset it, with just a couple of pretty light taps with a rubber mallet. Made a world of difference.

[RobWNY]

When I had mine, the official answer was to just put a little on the front of the pin and the edges of the wedge. I ended up doing some on the skid plate, just so things would "skid" a bit easier. Since there isn't any movement when hitched, anything will work. Spray can, red grease, bear fat, whatever... It's more of a corrosion/rust preventer than anything. I got too excited the first time, and gave it a nice heavy coat. Then the sand storm came, and made it all nasty. So wiped most off with paper towels, and from then on only gave it a very thin coat, if I thought about it at all.

The real secret is to get the wedge adjusted just right. The dealer installed mine, and really snugged it up to the hitch, probably using a sledge hammer (!) The wedge should make good contact, but if it is too tight, it makes unhitching a bear. I loosened it, then reset it, with just a couple of pretty light taps with a rubber mallet. Made a world of difference.

Thanks for that information regarding the wedge. I'll do the same thing if I have issues. I'm sure somewhere in the manual it will tell me how much to torque the wedge bolts.

[huntr70]

Thin coat of WD40 or ZEP lubricant.

Even a dry graphite lube.

Grease attracts dirt.

[mcl1jw]

OP says they know not to use a lube plate. Curious as to why not as that's what I use with my Reese Elite 5th Airborne Sidewinder, B&W Companion with custom hitch.

[huntr70]

OP says they know not to use a lube plate. Curious as to why not as that's what I use with my Reese Elite 5th Airborne Sidewinder, B&W Companion with custom hitch.

How do you use it with a wedge in place to stop the movement at the pin?

[mcl1jw]

I trimmed the lube plate to fit around the wedge. Just wanted the lube plate to act as as buffer for keeping the pin and hitch from making metal to metal contact. Drove from NY to South Texas without a problem. Only movement was at the Sidewinder. I'm new at this so any advise is appreciated. Read about others that have trimmed the plate.

[huntr70]

I trimmed the lube plate to fit around the wedge. Just wanted the lube plate to act as as buffer for keeping the pin and hitch from making metal to metal contact. Drove from NY to South Texas without a problem. Only movement was at the Sidewinder. I'm new at this so any advise is appreciated. Read about others that have trimmed the plate.

Realistically, the only reason they say you can't use the lube plate is because of the wedge.

Trimming it solves that problem.

[2goods]

Reese has a service bulletin that states not to use a lube plate with the sidewinder. The reason is it diminishes the depth of the puck in regard to how deep it fits in the receiver. I installed the 19,000 pound sidewinder on my Solitude 385GKR. The hitch in my truck is a Curt A20. The problem I had was that the notch in the kingpin was too low. If I hooked up without a lube plate there was down pressure on the jaws on the Curt hitch. In other words, the kingpin was designed to be used with a lube plate. I explained all this to Reese technical support and it was a head scratcher for them. I told them the only solution I could think of was to use a lube plate and to have another ¼” plate welded to the puck. The guy at Reese agreed. I just put the modified puck on the hitch and will be traveling for the next 5 months. Hope all goes well.

[mcl1jw]

Hello 2goods,
How thick is your wedge?
Thanks,
Mike