Rebuilding/servicing a hydraulic jack?

[Tom]

Anyone do it successfully?  I've seen some vids and curious if it worked out for you?  I have one floor jack that I'd like to service.  Any advice?  While I'm at it, one of motorcycle lifts slowly loses lift, fortunately there is a lock and doesn't dump the bike.

[Travlr]

Sorry, but I removed my cylinder and sent it off to be rebuilt.  Seems like it was $100-$150 to do the job.

Mike

[pehayes]

I have a moto lift table (similar but not from HF) which has a foot hydraulic pump combined with and air pressure system which drives the same pump.  I can thus use an air hose or my foot to lift a moto.  The hydraulic ram pump is the same as a traditional 'bottle jack' but it lays down sideways.  Charlie Mullendore has the same table.  Mine was always leaking out the control valve area.   I disassembled and fabricated a new control valve.  I recall adding a second o-ring groove.  Works perfectly and hasn't lost a drop in years now.  Fairly simple and crude construction throughout.  I did NOT disassemble the entire ram and reservoir.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Tom]

My motorcycle lift is leaking on the piston, I'm guessing that it needs a seal.  The floor jack that I need to fix has a slight leak too, looks like it might be the same thing.  Thanks.

[OldMojo]

I have an old Sears floor jack that was no longer pumping up. Found the manual online - long since discontinued (no surprise), but regardless, none of the hydraulic parts were listed - just the whole hydraulic unit. No kit numbers, no seal numbers, nada.

Figured I'd take a shot in the dark and search YouTube for "Sears floor jack repair". Wouldn't you know it, there's a whole genre of jack repair and restoration videos. Wasn't long before I found a video of a guy fixing the same problem with the same jack, with the trade numbers for the seals helpfully posted.

Sometimes the internet is actually good for something! 

[Tom]

   Were you able to fix it?

[OldMojo]

  Were you able to fix it?

Guess I left you hanging there - 

Yes, once I knew the o-ring size, I ordered a lifetime supply from McMaster for about $4. Probably took me longer to post this than it did to fix.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

I have a moto lift table (similar but not from HF) which has a foot hydraulic pump combined with and air pressure system which drives the same pump.  I can thus use an air hose or my foot to lift a moto.  The hydraulic ram pump is the same as a traditional 'bottle jack' but it lays down sideways.  Charlie Mullendore has the same table.  Mine was always leaking out the control valve area.   I disassembled and fabricated a new control valve.  I recall adding a second o-ring groove.  Works perfectly and hasn't lost a drop in years now.  Fairly simple and crude construction throughout.  I did NOT disassemble the entire ram and reservoir.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

Still working great after all these years, Patrick. 

[Tom]

Guess I left you hanging there - 

Yes, once I knew the o-ring size, I ordered a lifetime supply from McMaster for about $4. Probably took me longer to post this than it did to fix.

I have a assortment supply of o-rings too.  Just need to pull them apart.  I'll do the low profile floor jack tonight.  I need to replace a rear brake cylinder on a car.  Then it's to lift the front of a scooter to replace the front tire.

[Chuck in Indiana]

This is more than weird. I looked at this thread. Period. Never googled anything. The next time I went on youtube, there was a guy showing me how to rebuild a hydraulic jack..
(looking over shoulder)

[guzzisteve]

Cookies for Christmass Chuck!!!                 If you ever farmed & had to rebuild Hyd Cylinders, it's bout the same. I have 2 that need it, I don't use them. Unless I buy myself a press. Only thing I never bought.

[80CX100]

I had an old All-Trade? floor jack that came from Costco originally,after 15-20 yrs it stopped working.

Unbelievably,not only was I able to find the manual I had filed,but taped inside was a package of O rings/plastic seals that had been included with it,in case it ever needed rebuilding.

It was a very simple rebuild of the piston and it's been working fine ever since, 8-10 yrs.

I think the hardest part of the job would be to find the right seals etc, I'm glad I didn't have to do that.

[Tom]

Good to hear.   

[moto-uno]

  This posts timing is frigging unbelievable , just yesterday the 20 ton jack for my tubing bender
 stopped working ,( I've used it for over a quarter century ) good thing it's turned to winter here
 in "The Great White North"  , Peter

[normzone]

This is more than weird. I looked at this thread. Period. Never googled anything. The next time I went on youtube, there was a guy showing me how to rebuild a hydraulic jack..
(looking over shoulder)

Yeah, all the softwares interface these days - privacy is an antiquated notion I'm afraid.

As they say, "If you're not paying for the product, you ARE the product" or something to that effect.

[s1120]

So many of these jacks are really all the same, and were imported over the last 30-40 years. Unless you have a odd ball they are really simple to fix. I had a old one pump two stage jack that I got in the 80's at the parts store "Wheels" [thats a blast from the past!] that sadly was one of those oddballs, and after much searching at the time, I struck out, and scrapped it.

[pressureangle]

When I was a kid my best friend's dad made beer money rebuilding floor jacks. Back then they were very heavy, very high quality professional equipment. They were easy to rebuild and repair, as parts were easy to source. So the work itself is easy but I wouldn't bet you can find parts easily- if you can be sure you have the right parts, have at it. Personally I think that good jacks are so cheap now I'd give it to the scrappers and buy a new one. The Harbor Freight 'Daytona' series are the same exact unit Snap-On sells for 3 times the price- SnapOn actually sued HF over that.

[guzziart]

The Harbor Freight 'Daytona' series are the same exact unit Snap-On sells for 3 times the price- SnapOn actually sued HF over that.

After reading some of the posts here I got enthusiastic about resurrecting my old Hein-Werner & Craftsman leakers vs spending $400+ for a Lincoln or NAPA brand jack but now think I may opt for HF unit the next time I need to use a floor jack.  HF's are way lower profile and higher capacity than my antiques.  I hate getting off my wallet for something I use less then once per year these days.  The last time I used a one of my jacks was in 2019.

Art

[Mike Tashjian]

Fixed a Sears two stage 4 ton for my nephew a few months ago.  Found a seal kit for 40 dollars. Didn't need but one seal for the piston(ripped) so I found one close(just thinner) and used a spacer for under five dollars.  Working great for him.  I had an issue with my HF one ton last week.  I had used it to hold the engine up in my car while I changed the timing belt.  When I put it away it was leaking fluid from the control o ring.  It had sucked in air while it was up(day and a half) and was expelling fluid. I opened up the fill and air came out.  I just added a couple of ounces of new fluid and it seems happy now.  I don't usually have a jack holding anything up for any amount of time so I'm not sure if it's a fluke or not.  But really for the price and features the HF jacks seem to be a great value for the home garage. 

[sign216]

What timing.  After 35 yrs my floor jack stopped working too.  It's so old and beat that the labels and painted marks are all worn off.

So they are easy to re-build?  Okay, I'll give it a try.  Any websites or books to help a simpleton out?

[Mike Tashjian]

I watched  a few you tube videos and they should give you an idea if you want to tackle it.  The o ring store web page lists a lot of the seals and available sizes. Another web page lists Kits for some of the jacks too if you need a lot of the parts. I would get it apart and assess what you need first if you decide to fix it.  The jack I did only needed the main seal and the rest were still good. It was a 4 ton and had sentimental value to my nephew.  My son just bought a real nice Harbor Freight jack for just over a hundred dollars a couple of weeks ago.  Makes it hard to spend 40 dollars on a full seal kit and ten more on a bottle of oil. 

[sign216]

I watched  a few you tube videos and they should give you an idea if you want to tackle it.  The o ring store web page lists a lot of the seals and available sizes. Another web page lists Kits for some of the jacks too if you need a lot of the parts. I would get it apart and assess what you need first if you decide to fix it.  The jack I did only needed the main seal and the rest were still good. It was a 4 ton and had sentimental value to my nephew.  My son just bought a real nice Harbor Freight jack for just over a hundred dollars a couple of weeks ago.  Makes it hard to spend 40 dollars on a full seal kit and ten more on a bottle of oil.

Mike T,
I checked a youtube post, and they said you had to make a few special tools.  On top of that, I doubt seal kits are available for my 30 yr old no-name brand.

So the next decision:  get an Oriental jack like H. Freight, or a decades old American-made jack?  I might end up w new Asian jack, as they have some lightweight ones.  The old Amer. jacks all seem to weigh a ton.

What does the board think?

[John A]

There’s a bunch of them out in the shop. I bought an old low profile big one. It needs a going through because it settles slowly with a large load.  US made, high quality, it works really nice so it’s worth repairing . I recently got a little one to put in the trailer but it’s been handy around the shop. It’s Taiwanese which are generally better quality than Chinese. The rest of them are a mix of one tonners from various places. I’ve been into some and have been able to find seals when I needed them. The carriage on them is about the same on all of them with different levels of quality  . The non pivoting wheels on the HF are sometimes not round which is a pain, especially with a load on it.

[Mike Tashjian]

If I was unable to make tools and had to buy a seal kit at 40 dollars I would probably not even try to repair an old jack.  Decide what will work for you and try to move forward.  I have two old Sears jacks and one HF jack.  This combination works well for me for the work I normally do.

[John A]

I have a Larkin one ton floor jack. It leaks hydraulic fluid. I have a seal kit that I’ve had for a few years but I don’t want to do the work. I think I overloaded it several times and now it piddles . Might get bored this winter. I walked by it today and saw that it hasn’t repaired itself .