Hi there. Welcome to the technical forum.

My biggest concern with a modified lube plate would be the ability for it to work its way free by squeezing forward while towing. I'd stick with grease. If you're using the wedge, most of the motion (wear point) will be in the turning point mechanism on the pin box, and not the interface between the king pin and the hitch's skid plate.

Jim

Thanks for the advisement Jim. I was wondering also if when turning the lube plate would handle the turn with the wedge. The grease is a big messy, any suggestions for a good brand?

regards...Craig

With the wedge installed all the pivot work will be done at the bearing and not the plate/king pin interface. If it were me, I'd just put a very light coat of white lithium grease on the plate. I use the same type of grease on my hitch ball when I'm towing my conventional trailer. I just quickly wipe it off when I set up camp. Remember to do your bearing maintenance once a year. Here's a great video on from Lippert on the initial set up of the pin box.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTEIO8-ZWfQ

Jim

I don't know about this particular kingpin but on my Pullrite Superglide which works in a similar fashion, they recommend nothing thicker than WD40 for the baseplate lube. Remember, all you are doing is lubing against minor chatter. The pivot point is at the kingpin and not the hitch.

Craig,
I am relatively new to fifth wheel towing and have done both: tried with lube for the 1st 2 trips but the paint was wearing off on my hitch head, even with generous lube. My Reese Elite 16k hitch allows you to have a lube plate up to a max thickness (which is a standard lube plate). I notched it and it worked fine for the last 2 trips. Including when I drove 3,800 kms across all of Ontario. Worked without any issues. However, I still got some paint wear on the hitch head but at least I didn't have a mess.

Hope this helps.

Thanks everyone, I too am new to F/W, having TT before. I am learning that with the turning point the surface where F/W mates with hitch doesn't swivel, rather up and down action primarily. Having noted that a grease may be fine, or even the lube plate 'modified/notched', the few times I have had it out am seeing some wear on the hitch surface so want to minimize that. Appreciate any additional thoughts...

Double check with your hitch manufacturer (B&W). There may be an issue with not enough bearing surface on the side of the wedge and the hitch head. Also be sure you are using the specific wedge for your hitch. The generic wedge may have some play, leading to your wear. There should be practically ZERO slop side to side when installed properly. Now I have a Reese Titan R20 that has the lube plate built into the head and you CANNOT use a lube plate as it prevents proper hitching (high hitch), They also have a very specific wedge to properly function with a rotating point pin pox (there are several out there). If the wedge is properly set there should only be hitch wear from hitching up (no grease needed) - which is normal. Now having said all that I do not use my turning point set up yet as I have a long bed.

Hope this helps

Thanks everyone, upon receipt of the unit from the dealer they did grease it up a bit on the hitch, maybe I'll forgo notching the lube plate and get some spray lube just to allow and kingpin/hitch interactions to go smoother