Tripod legs and silicon grease

[zedin]

My tripod legs are getting very very stiff to move at the point where the legs come together. I have manfrotto 3021pro and took it apart today to see what I could do about it. I noticed a lot of rust on the rings that make contact between legs and center piece so cleaned it all up but they are still fairly stiff. Do you think adding just a slight touch of silicon grease would help matters or make it too slick (aka legs would collapse under their own weight back towards center instead of staying nice and spread out).

 

[JDP]

My tripod legs are getting very very stiff to move at the point where the legs come together. I have manfrotto 3021pro and took it apart today to see what I could do about it. I noticed a lot of rust on the rings that make contact between legs and center piece so cleaned it all up but they are still fairly stiff. Do you think adding just a slight touch of silicon grease would help matters or make it too slick (aka legs would collapse under their own weight back towards center instead of staying nice and spread out).

I'd probably try WD-40 (Which is more of a cleaner then lubricant) or Graphite first. Probably the graphite, since it would be quick to clean up if I used to much. Just my 2 cents though.