Turning point hitch maintenance on newer style pin box

[MichaelL]

The turning point pin box on our trailer is the newer design with the castle nut visible from underneath.
My question is to anyone who has performed maintenance on the newer style, do I need to remove the top half of the pin box as well? Thanks

 

[ZMercman]

Remove the 4 bolts on the sides and drop the unit. I used my tractor bucket with some lumber to shim it securely to prevent side to side wobble. Easy to lower and set on ground to remove the cotter, castle nut, and pull apart. I could not budge the swivel from new. After applying red grease to the spindle and bearing (very little lube from the factory) the assembly glides by hand. I also lubed the plastic square pad with lithium spray. I am very pleased with the concept, design and performance. I have read on the forum you should not be able to swivel the pin arm by hand. A properly lubed bearing, spindle, friction pad and a tight castle nut with cotter pin in correct hole in spindle, you can move it by hand. If you over torque the castle nut, you will cause the bearing to fail. It will take two people to drop and install without a lift or tractor. I would not attempt support the lower, remove castle nut, bearing and drop, reinstallation will be difficult and cumbersome.

 

[MichaelL]

Remove the 4 bolts on the sides and drop the unit. I used my tractor bucket with some lumber to shim it securely to prevent side to side wobble. Easy to lower and set on ground to remove the cotter, castle nut, and pull apart. I could not budge the swivel from new. After applying red grease to the spindle and bearing (very little lube from the factory) the assembly glides by hand. I also lubed the plastic square pad with lithium spray. I am very pleased with the concept, design and performance. I have read on the forum you should not be able to swivel the pin arm by hand. A properly lubed bearing, spindle, friction pad and a tight castle nut with cotter pin in correct hole in spindle, you can move it by hand. If you over torque the castle nut, you will cause the bearing to fail. It will take two people to drop and install without a lift or tractor. I would not attempt support the lower, remove castle nut, bearing and drop, reinstallation will be difficult and cumbersome.

Thanks for the info, but my question was regarding the new design with the castle nuti underneath and not on top of the turning point

 

[BigSwick]

The turning point pin box on our trailer is the newer design with the castle nut visible from underneath.
My question is to anyone who has performed maintenance on the newer style, do I need to remove the top half of the pin box as well? Thanks

With the truck bed length you have, I would move the bolts so it doesn't swivel at all.

 

[BrightShadow]

Did you get this process figured out? I’m in the same situation with the new style pin box. I was able to remove the castle nut but can’t get the bearing to come out.

 

[BrightShadow]

In case anyone else runs into the same question/issue, here’s what worked for me.

Attached trailer to truck/hitch. Remove the two lockout bolts if installed. Set a bottle jack under the pin box to catch it once the castle nut and bearing assembly are removed.

For me, the castle nut and cotter pin came out easily. The bearing assembly wouldn’t budge. Lippert support suggested raising the camper while hitched to the truck to get it to fall out. I ended up raising a lowering several times and it eventually fell out, fell out on a lowering interval.(being sure to adjust the bottle jack as needed)

 

[MichaelL]

I had the same problems as you with regard to removing the bearing assembly.
I ended up locking out the Turning point.
I like the idea of the turning point and have towed about 4500 miles with it without problems, but was too frustrated with the maintenance and time it took.

 

[ThomasB]

The turning point pin box on our trailer is the newer design with the castle nut visible from underneath.
My question is to anyone who has performed maintenance on the newer style, do I need to remove the top half of the pin box as well? Thanks

Mostly all I do with mine is make sure it's moving freely and not binding. If I want to lube it, which I do occasionally, I just put the bolts into the rear to make sure it doesn't fall apart, then remove the castle nut and big washer, then add grease as needed. It takes a huge socket to torque the nut back to 50 ft-pounds, 2 1/4" I think. Install new cotter pin and it's ready to go after removing the 2 lockout bolts and it's ready to go. It would be nice if they had installed a grease zerk in it like the Reese Sidewinder has. This is what the manual says to do.

The only reason I can see to separate the halves is if the rear gap in the plates exceeds the 1/2" limit. BTW, the wedges made for the Sidewinder for specific hitches are far better than the wedge that comes with the turning point since it's generic. The Sidewinder one also only has to be torqued to 150 pounds rather than the 200 that the turning point one needs.

 

[ThomasB]

In case anyone else runs into the same question/issue, here’s what worked for me.

Attached trailer to truck/hitch. Remove the two lockout bolts if installed. Set a bottle jack under the pin box to catch it once the castle nut and bearing assembly are removed.

For me, the castle nut and cotter pin came out easily. The bearing assembly wouldn’t budge. Lippert support suggested raising the camper while hitched to the truck to get it to fall out. I ended up raising a lowering several times and it eventually fell out, fell out on a lowering interval.(being sure to adjust the bottle jack as needed)

The manual doesn't say you need to separate the halves, just remove the castle nut and lube. Tork the castle nut to 50 pounds, install a new cotter pin and it's done. Of course the lockout bolts need to be in while the castle nut is off. I found this all to be painless. It's not spinning thousands of times per hour like wheel bearings. It just needs to move without binding.

 

[trailrydr]

If you are going to maint the TP.... IMO (as stated) you want to seperate the turret from the pinbox to clean up any "dirt" acquired on the bearing and race. This pinbox catches all rain, water from carwash, etc plus any grime that can be in that water. No different than a spindle, axle, or pinion bearing (which typically have seals to help protect them unlike the TP) that have had possible water intrusion.