VW Factory Fit Tow Hitch

I think this will be better of in the towcar and towing section

You could try wrapping the towball (dry) tightly in plastic, such as a poly bag, and securing it with tape or some other means, John. The object being to keep damp air out.

Maybe clingfilm? 

Worth a try.

And  there  yu  have  a  pretty  effective  cure,  JohnS !

Clear  the  T/b  of  all  rust,  then  use  a  tight  wrap  of  cling  film  inside  a  quality  polybag  all  held  in  place  with  decent  elastic  bands.  The  only  lubrication  EVER  used  should  be  that  from  a  nice  clean  hand  --  left  or  right  should  not  matter  !!

I'll buck the trend if the previous posts cannot work due to tearing etc  In this case and seeing the towball is retracted far more than in use, I would wipe a film of oil on it before retraction then give it a good clean with a proprietary solvent or brake cleaner before use. After all its what we normally do anyway.

Can't be no worse than rust and a pitted surface that will have to be removed and cleaned.

I'm with Metheven ☺

My Audi retractable towball has the same problem, (poor design, the ball faces down. My last car a BMW the retractable towball faced up and never rusted!). I tried all the clingfilm, plastic bags etc. without success, its nay on impossible to get a water tight seal. I now give the ball a light coat of grease and keep some paper towels and a can of break cleaner in the boot which works a treat.

WD40, tried all the bags and covers but all eventually fail.

Tissue and brake cleaner in the van door useless bin thing and clean every hitch.

Which way the Towball faces won`t prevent it from rusting the difference lies in the material used to construct it. Westfalia towballs which are used by VW (or used to be anyway) rust in a bag kept in a garage let alone under a car with water and salt spray flying around. I have a retractable towbar under a Merc made by Bosal I don`t know the material used in its construction (it looks similar to stainless steel) but it came unpainted and is as shiny and new as the day I bought the car over two years ago.