Keeping the towball rust free?

[unclerichy]

I have the retractable towball on my Superb and use one of the rubber golf ball style covers on it. However as it's tucked under the car that tends to trap water and when I dropped today the towball to check it had rusted.

 

How do others keep their towball rust free? My caravan has a stabiliser hitch so the paint had to be removed from the ball. If it were still painted I doubt I'd have the problem.

 

Tomorrow's job is sanding the rust off.

[CWARD]

Rub it round with a green scotch bright pad obviously don’t use oil, grease and other coatings. 

[unclerichy]

12 hours ago, CWARD said:

Rub it round with a green scotch bright pad obviously don’t use oil, grease and other coatings. 

 

I use wet and dry to tidy it up, however I'd like to avoid it building it up to start with.  With all the salt on the roads it looks like it's more rust than towball at the moment 

[Ootohere]

Do use Grease, Waxoyl or Silicone Spray / coating, and clean off before using to tow.

Better than leaving to corrode then cleaning off.

 

Brake Cleaner and a rag will clean off.

An oily rag in a poly bag is handy to give a wipe over when putting away again after use.

Edited 10 March, 2018 by AwaoffSki

[xman]

Doesn't a tow ball need greasing anyway? After all its an articulated joint with sliding surfaces.

[CWARD]

Not if your using a stabiliser hitch which requires friction to stop the trailer/caravan fish tailing about.

If you apply a lubricant and don’t clean it off throughly before using the hitch it will contaminate the pads that provide the friction to the tow ball. 

 

OP, if you wrap a bag around the tow ball and secure with a Velcro strap or elastic band for when it’s next t in use it will provide more protection than a rubber cap. 

[penguin17]

Bilt Hamber offer an extensive range of rust inhibitors and treatments. 

[unclerichy]

So a high-tech plastic bag and elastic band it is then 

[CWARD]

Simplest ideas are usually the best. 

[RickTT]

I just leave mine... but then i only use a bike rack or small garden trailer.... the trailer hitch wears the rust off it .

[ACWarwick]

On ‎10‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 17:22, unclerichy said:

So a high-tech plastic bag and elastic band it is then 

Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention.

 

My new Superb arrived on Friday and the lease company never checked the state of the tow ball when the old one went back.

 

As a result I now have my high-tech solution ready to install. I opted for the colour co-ordinated option to match the car

 

Not towing for a while, so hopefully this will save some time, when I am ready to use it.