Hydraulic lines, no room, special tools?

[Strouty]

I have a cluster of hydraulic lines on my bucket truck. I need to remove one line in the middle, can't even get my finger between the lines. Is there a special tool that allows access? I am figuring I will have to pull half the lines to get access to the one I have to replace. Pictures to follow. I do not own any 12 point crows feet, but I am not sure they would even help.

 

[kd3pc]

it is like unraveling a rope...loosen everything up and spread them out. I have used wedges and hardwood stakes to keep things apart. The other annoying thing is marking both ends of the line you want to replace..you would think the factory would have notched or stamped some ID on each end of every line.

I have abandoned the bad inner line before, and just strapped a new one to the pack, if there is room.

take notice of the other lines, you may want to replace the next worse one(s) you see, as you get to the bad one.

 

[Strouty]

There is no spreading things out.

 

[kd3pc]

what model/make?? You may have to buy the whole octopus or drop the manifold to get access...

but Wow!, and I thought JD was bad, that sure was not made for service. I would at least send that picture to the CEO....and ask, just how do you suggest this be serviced???

 

[zkdiesel]

Take them loose till you get to one that needs service

 

[zkdiesel]

Also, is that nonconductive hose? Make sure proper dies get used to crimp it

 

[Spareparts]

I had to take the rotation joint out of one of our bucket trucks, marked all the hoses and fittings with different colored tape, foreman came out to send me about 200 miles for a service call. Told him it is all removed and marked, he looked at it and said I am color blind. It was waiting for me when I got back.

 

[Strouty]

It is a Versalift and the spacing is so tight that I am not sure I can even get a wrench in there. There are two sizes that need to be removed, one uses a 5/8" wrench, the other 11/16" wrench.

As for the non conductive, you are correct, we have to special order the fittings, if we can even get them. The line is very odd and the fittings seem to be unique as well. If we can't get things from the local Parker store, it will be from Versalift, they are very expensive, so I hope I can make it work with a custom line.

As for removal, I think I am going to have to make a couple sockets. Think O2 sensor socket, except 12 point and a lot taller. I don't see any other way around it. Snap On drive is going to see what he has fro 12 point crows feet, but I don't think it will clear. I was hoping that GJ was going to have some magic tool for me!

 

[Strouty]

My regular flare wrenches won't go over the hose, so the 12 point ones are probably the same, but it is worth a shot. The best part is that I am standing on the cab of the truck, luckily it is already dented up, otherwise I would be concerned. Wait until you see the picture of the fitting that was leaking on the other end!

 

[walrus]

I think every bucket truck cab, hood, tops of fenders are dented. That looks like a *****. Mark and take the hoses in the way off until you get where you want. That must be full hydraulic, mine is electric over hydraulic

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[Corndoggeh]

I really feel like there has to be a tool for a job like that, like a oversized extra long O2 sensor type of socket to get down in there...

 

[Strouty]

I spent 30 minutes with every style of open end wrench that I had, not one would work. There just wasn't enough room. So I made a wrench.

 

[Strouty]

That didn't work, not enough room! So I made another one.

 

[machine_punk]

Well done!

Kev

 

[A_Pmech]

That looks positively hateful. Nice tool though!

 

[Strouty]

Thanks!

I forgot to post the pictures of the fitting that was leaking, here you go...........




Yes, you can see through the threads. The two next to it were perfectly fine, but this one and its neighbor were not as nice. At least the other one is easier to get to.

 

[3baygarage]

That fitting looks crazy. Nice job. Did you turn that wrench like a T bar?

 

[jeepinerdeep]

Nice work!

 

[kd3pc]

very well done!!

 

[Richard Cranium]

Just remember they will be just as fun to put back on.
Good job on making a tool that works.
It is nice to have some extras to make into what you need. Rich

 

[walrus]

Got any idea how that fitting got so screwed up. Nice job on the tool

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[AA/FC]

Unbelievably tight spot! Nice job making the proper tool.

It's a good feeling when you "win"

 

[Strouty]

I have no idea how that fitting got that bad. There are four in one area, it was the worst, two look just fine and one is so so.

I used a pair of knipex pliers wrench to turn it. I need to make the other end of the wrench the same, then I can use it for the other size fittings. The manufacturer must have a tool like this, there is no way anyone could put those on with normal tools.

 

[Strouty]

I think the next hardest part is going to be finding the fittings and the hose. It appears to be 5/16" non conductive and the fittings don't seem to match 37º flares dimensions. They almost look like a 45º flare, I will know more tomorrow when I go to the Parker Store. I hope we can make a new line rather than buying the complete assembly. I will check with Versalift as well, but I think the general story with them is "give us your left nut".

 

[T_Roze]

I was thinking along the lines of 02 sensor socket as well. But that wrench was a great idea. Gives a lot more flexibility around the hose.

Next challenge is getting it back in! Hopefully you can start the difficult side first and turn it in using the hose?!


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[zkdiesel]

I think the next hardest part is going to be finding the fittings and the hose. It appears to be 5/16" non conductive and the fittings don't seem to match 37º flares dimensions. They almost look like a 45º flare, I will know more tomorrow when I go to the Parker Store. I hope we can make a new line rather than buying the complete assembly. I will check with Versalift as well, but I think the general story with them is "give us your left nut".

They can be special ordered. Just make
Sure they order the special die to use in there crimper!
Don't ask me how I know, but we had to reline a whole terex lift after someone already did it using the wrong dies to crimp proper fittings and hose. Would blow ends completely off or bubbles the line right at the fitting.

 

[cthulu]

Wow, that fitting is toast. Nice job on the tool to remove it.

 

[sberry]

I actually modified the nut on a fitting on my Hiab. The lines are not special that they are non conductive but they are millimetric suckers and I was going to try to work around it and was super surprised that the dealer ones were reasonable.

 

[Strouty]

I don't want to mess with modifications to the fittings if I can, but I guess that would work if it came down to it. Here is the picture of where the bad fitting was. You can see the one next to the red cap is pretty bad as well, then the others are essentially perfect, go figure?

 

[sberry]

Yes, I didn't mean to mod your fittings, it was just talk here. Yours may have got a gob of stuff in there at some point and corroded it. Have you priced factory hoses?

 

[Strouty]

The dealer told me that Parker should be able to make the hose no problem.


A manual is just under $100, so I will order one of those. The parts guy said they do not make a special tool for the job, he said they used crows feet, I politely told him he was crazy.

 

[Billythekid1]

As someone already said it may b even harder getting the hose out now I use to work on bucket trucks and some lines were 40 foot long can b a pain to get them out once u get the ends off at the shop we would have just marked the ends and took them off one by one till we could get the ends off

 

[Corndoggeh]

Doesn't hydraulic fluid attract water? Could be a reason why the ones next to the bad one are terrible too.

 

[WhiffySpark]

99% snapon has a socket that is like a o2 sensor socket for those.

 

[Strouty]

The socket Snap On offers is way too short and not available at 6:00 on a Sunday.

I have to wait until tomorrow, but the local Parker Store can get the proper size. Cost was just over $100 for an almost 13 foot line. I don't think that was too bad at all. They had every size except 5/16" in stock and I was told that they could use 3/8" and the fitting would be the same dimensions and size as the 5/16", but I did not want the larger hose diameter.

 

[Strouty]

I am looking into getting 12 point flare nut crows foot wrenches. I can see the value in them and I want to have options when doing future repairs.

I also dug out the old set of Craftsman offset box end wrenches, I think I am going to modify an entire set of them.

 

[bigguns69]

I have modified several wrenches for working in tight hydraulic connection applications just like you experienced here. Crows foot get used a lot, specific hydraulic line wrenches are thin then standard open ends. Also have created long crows foot sockets by cutting in half, adding a section of pipe to give length and then slotting the majority of the length so you can drop it into the spaghetti of connections and slip it on the swivel of the hose. Fun times.

 

[WhiffySpark]

The socket Snap On offers is way too short and not available at 6:00 on a Sunday.

I have to wait until tomorrow, but the local Parker Store can get the proper size. Cost was just over $100 for an almost 13 foot line. I don't think that was too bad at all. They had every size except 5/16" in stock and I was told that they could use 3/8" and the fitting would be the same dimensions and size as the 5/16", but I did not want the larger hose diameter.

Good to know. I knew I saw them in the catalog. You mean your dealer won't let you at his house? I used to go to mine every week. And then he passed away from a sudden heart attack. Haven't really brought anything since

 

[Strouty]

Also have created long crows foot sockets by cutting in half, adding a section of pipe to give length and then slotting the majority of the length so you can drop it into the spaghetti of connections and slip it on the swivel of the hose. Fun times.

That was my original idea, but the second wrench modification worked for me.

I just picked up the line, but the leaking part under the truck is some fancy, rare flow control valve that I am not even sure needs to be there. It will be a couple of weeks before I can get it, so my goal is to figure out if I can eliminate it completely.

 

[johnnyradiant]

I think every designer regardless of paper validation behind their name needs to work on the floor in service before being allowed to design anything and then after they design something they should have to go back on the floor to service their design at a very reduced rate if not free. Ya wanna bet they learn how to design stuff that is a little more forgiving when it comes to service?

Pictures to the CEO probably just makes him smile knowing that even if that one job isn't in their own service dept it still means a bit more money is being made off of the same model elsewhere.