Nylon lube plate and other towing questions

[parver]

I am installing a BW Companion hitch in to my 3500HD duramax. I am picking up our 360IBL next week.

First time camper, first time towing anything this big. I am trying to figure out what else I need for the pickup day.

What about a nylon lube plate? Seems like a good idea... do you use one? Also, what type of grease/lubricant (if any) goes in to the jaws on my hitch? Anywhere else I have to lube?

Also I wonder if my mirrors are good enough? Attached are pictures of my truck mirrors.

I was looking at the extendable version, but they are pricey:
https://www.etrailer.com/Custom-Towi...KSVS55010.html

[NMWildcat]

Yes on the nylon lube plate. I use a dry lube on the jaws and the kingpin (also on the slide rails).
Are you sure those mirrors don't extend manually? i haven't seen any like that on Chevys that do not. Give them a tug.
Enjoy!

[J8manski]

I agree that those Mirrors should extend. Attached are the mirrors I installed on my TV. Both extended and retracted so you can see.

THe pictures on my computer are the correct orientation. However when uploading them they seem to want to tip sideways. Sorry for that, I dont know how to fix this?

[Cidewayz]

Those mirrors are definitely good enough, you may just need to play with adjusting them to see what works for you. I use a lube plate also, keeps most of it clean.

[Cidewayz]

Also with lubes, it be a personal opinion but take what some people use and try it to see what you like personally. I use Schaeffer Moly 5th Wheel Lube Spray, it works pretty good but can be messy depend how and how much is applied.

[CHICKDOE]

Nylon lube plate gets put high in king pin. No need to lubricate it. I use just plain old black general purpose grease on the jaws and kingpin. Read the manual for your hitch as the are probably a couple of lube points in the hitch itself. Mine has a couple of zerk fittings. Again plain old general purpose grease.

[Jeff95814]

Another yes on the lube plate. I use silicone spray on it, keeps it clean and slippery. For the jaws, rails and king pin I use a thin coat of white lithium grease. Have fun.

[SlowrideHD]

I use a nylon plate but I still put a thin coat of premium red tacky grease on it. Because I use it for everything else. Tractors, dozer, mowers. anything that has a grease zerk gets the red tacky!

[DrLewie]

I use lube plates with no additional lubes. Be careful when hitching to be sure your kingpin is at a height that clears the 5th wheel when you back up to hitch. It's easy to bend or break the lube plate. Based on experience we carry an extra.

[ThruHiker]

Parver… you'll like the Companion, I just installed one two weeks ago. First tow with it was bringing the 5er home, about 70 miles. I'm using a nylon lube plate with white lithium on the kingpin and jaws. That's per BW, although you have to read the "Hitch Maintenance" section of the manual to find that.

You'll need some white lithium to grease the polyurethane bushings on the BW, too. That is in the install instructions at least. They actually include a little packet of grease in the manual LOL. IDK if it is enough for the bushings and plate... probably is if you are careful. But, the nylon disk worked fine and is a lot cleaner so I am sold.

BW recommends a 10" disk if you get one; I think mine is bigger than that, it was what was at the dealer that day. If you get one ahead of time it would help!

Oh, and it took me about an hour and a half... not including a Home Depot run... to install and set up the hitch. You should have a torque wrench good to 80lbs to tighten the bolts holding the uprights to the base. Only issue I had was, they supply a drilled and counterbored block for the bolts (instead of nuts) and the cbore on mine wasn't quite deep enough. I just added some washers under the head of the bolt so that the bolt shoulders would not bottom out on the block. BW was pretty nice about it, and has in fact sent me a new set of hardware, but I haven't gotten around to changing everything around yet.

[primo20]

Originally Posted by Jeff95814

Another yes on the lube plate. I use silicone spray on it, keeps it clean and slippery. For the jaws, rails and king pin I use a thin coat of white lithium grease. Have fun.

x2

[jeff_s]

Hi all,
X2 what DrLewie said about making sure the hitch is at the proper level or you may break the lube plate. I've been using the lube plate for many years now and it's the only way to go except.....the last few I bought have not wanted to stay on the king pin. The internal ears wear and the plate falls off. I was thinking maybe if I wrap a few layers of black electrical tape around the king Pin before putting on the lube plate it might help it grab the king pin. Not sure if any one else has had this experience. Good luck towing Parver!
Jeff

[DouglasReid]

With our prior Pin Box we used a lube plate....clean, efficient, worked well.

Our current Pin Box is a Reese Sidewinder. There is no movement at the King Pin because the wedge on the hitch prevents that.

So we use white lithium grease as per the Reese manual for the pin box.

[rjshiflet]

Absolutely use the lube plate - and you'll love the BW Companion...we do.

[Iwannacamp]

In case...

I have bought a bunch of stuff from this seller. Fast and good and usually cheap.

[TheWolfPaq82]

Those are adjustable mirrors. Grab and pull strait towards you. They'll extend a couple more inches.

[whj469]

I would use the lube plate. It will use a 10 or 12 inch plate. Your 3500 should have expendable mirrors. I would be very surprised it it didn't? It is for towing. Both of my trucks have had extendable mirrors, 2011 F250 and now 2019 F350.

[Comanchecreek]

Lube plate is the way to go. No grease mess on the hitch or the pin box. You'll be in and out of the bed, and under the pin box a lot, and it won't take long for your wife to get pissed about the grease on your clothes or in your hair.
I have a set of GM mirrors like yours. I bought them after market because the stock style for my older Duramax were junk. Those should easily pull out. If they are too stiff when you pull them put a little dry silicone on the slides and should make them much easier to move. I also use a little spray of WD on my king pin and all of the joints on my hitch. Not a lot or you end up with a mess. Keeps things quiet and moving easily.

[parver]

A lot of great feedback here. Thanks to everyone.

You guys were right about the mirrors. I wasn't at home and asked my wife to try to extend the mirrors. She gave it the half assed wife try, and said they didn't extend at all. I think she had a bag of groceries in her hand while trying?

I got home and yanked on them. They were tight like a couple of you said, but slid out!

I went with a 10" nylon lube plate. Hopefully I don't break it hitching up for the first time. I'll be at the dealer, so should have someone helping me. I don't think I will put any additional lube on the nylon plate... although feedback seems 50/50 on this.

B&W recommends "Grease jaws with automotive type chassis grease"... can anyone recommend a brand for this? I do have a can of CRC White Lithium grease I will use for the polyurethane bushings. Probably good enough for the jaws?

It looks my a day and a half to install the undermount frame work on my 3500HD and I am just about wrapping up the top part. The bottom was tough, I won't lie! But I am a first timer and was pretty thorough with the instructions.

The only question I have is with the mounting of the brackets on the base... there are 9 different positions. I don't really know how this will play out with my trailer being level, so I guess I am just going to go with the middle position for vertical and front/back. It's a long bed truck so I don't think I will have clearance issues with the cab. The vertical part is what I am more interested in because I have a hilly driveway.

Thanks again, pickup is in a couple of days. With relation to the hitch and tow setup... anything I should show up with? I'll bring my nylon lube plate, some white lithium spray grease. Do I need the safety chains or is that part of the trailer?

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by parver

The only question I have is with the mounting of the brackets on the base... there are 9 different positions. I don't really know how this will play out with my trailer being level, so I guess I am just going to go with the middle position for vertical and front/back. It's a long bed truck so I don't think I will have clearance issues with the cab. The vertical part is what I am more interested in because I have a hilly driveway.

Long bed, no fore and aft clearance issues.

As far as the height goes, start out in the middle and adjust up and down to get the camper level as possible while towing..

You can even move the pin box up and down on the camper to accomplish this