Hydraulic Floor Jacks

[D45]

All my floor jack's leak oil and I want to fix them all

Two are pretty old and two are newer, only paid for one.....

I assume a seals or o-ringd in the hydraulic cylinder is leaking?

Is this something I can do myself or should I take the cylinders out and pay to have them rebuilt?

I called two locals hydraulic cylinder repair shops and they both said they don't work on floor jack cylinders.......ok? They both said to just buy a new floor jack. Nope!

Are special tools required?

 

[L.Cheapo]

I have a late 90s Craftsman 3.5 ton jack that would no longer lift a vehicle. I bought a rebuild kit online and did it myself in an hour or so. The only issue I had was getting the gland nut off. I had to hold the cylinder assembly in my hydraulic press and use a large pipe wrench with a cheater pipe to get it off.

Other than that it was just a matter of keeping track of which check balls went where and in what order and matching up each seal/o-ring as I removed it to a new one.

It now works as it should again.

 

[D45]

I just wonder why no one wants to work on these

I even told the shops that the cylinder would be removed from the jack before bringing it in

 

[SusKatCas]

Similar to L.Cheapo I found a kit online and rebuilt a roughly year 2000 Craftsman floor jack in about 2015. Most of the non-metallics fit. That jack is in service today. However, I had to get a lower jack when my daughter was driving her Mustang so it is now in backup service.

I was able to use my largest adjustable wrench with a cheater bar to break the gland nut loose.

Some folks have had success disassembling the jack and then ordering the big seal and a few o-rings. Knowing myself, I feared that if I attempted this method it would be torn apart for two years.

Cheers, Alan

 

[Tchicken]

I'd be interested in the real reason also - but my guess is there's little prospect of the shop making a profit when brand new jacks (no comment on quality) can be had for as few dinero as they can nowadays

 

[Nocturnal]

I just wonder why no one wants to work on these

I even told the shops that the cylinder would be removed from the jack before bringing it in

Probably due to the liability of having it fail and causing catastrophic injury.

 

[L.Cheapo]

I just wonder why no one wants to work on these

I even told the shops that the cylinder would be removed from the jack before bringing it in

Likely because no one would want to pay what it costs to do the job.

If the rebuild kit is $30 plus shipping, figure $45, plus an hour of shop labor at probably $100/hr...plus tax and oil, you're looking at the cost of a comparable new jack, unless it's something special.

I did it myself as a first foray into hydraulic repair. If I screwed it up it'd go to the scrap man and I'd buy a new one--I had very little to lose--it was already junk.

 

[zendriver]

I just wonder why no one wants to work on these

I even told the shops that the cylinder would be removed from the jack before bringing it in

Maybe too many people bitching about paying $150 to repair a $50 jack (when it was new)

Or, they'd rather be busy making money working on standard hydraulic components, for customer happy to pay the higher bill.




These jack surely have rebuild kits, right? Go for it yourself.

 

[D45]

Two jacks are probably 50+ years old

Two jacks are probably 20 years old

I'd hate to toss any of them, I guess I need to try and source a cylinder rebuild parts seal kit

 

[D45]

Here's the ones I have

The green-ish Sears jack is my favorite

 

[mervyn]

All my floor jack's leak oil and I want to fix them all

Two are pretty old and two are newer, only paid for one.....

I assume a seals or o-ringd in the hydraulic cylinder is leaking?

Is this something I can do myself or should I take the cylinders out and pay to have them rebuilt?

I called two locals hydraulic cylinder repair shops and they both said they don't work on floor jack cylinders.......ok? They both said to just buy a new floor jack. Nope!

Are special tools required?

Probly the o rings. That's about all that is in there. Might just be dirty. Easy to take apart and clean. I fixed a Harbor freight jack that had a piston sticking by doing that.

 

[mervyn]

Only other thing is if dirt and grit has gotten in the bore it might be scored. Especially on the older ones. Don't think that can be fixed.

 

[mervyn]

Maybe too many people bitching about paying $150 to repair a $50 jack (when it was new)

Or, they'd rather be busy making money working on standard hydraulic components, for customer happy to pay the higher bill.




These jack surely have rebuild kits, right? Go for it yourself.

Harsh !

 

[manwithtools]

My question is, why do you need 4 floor jacks? They take up a fair amount of space and really you could get by with just one.

 

[L.Cheapo]

Here's the ones I have

The green-ish Sears jack is my favorite

That middle 3.5 ton looks just like the one I just rebuilt, mine was model 50145.

I bought the kit from Lazzar's HCRC Now online. It was about $30.

 

[D45]

My question is, why do you need 4 floor jacks? They take up a fair amount of space and really you could get by with just one.

They were all acquired for free or next to nothing

I have plenty of space, it doesn't bother me

 

[zendriver]

Grab one and start taking it apart might be an easy fix

It might not be

With the advances and machining and so for this hard press to believe that those old jacks are actually better quality than new ones

 

[jayemm]

Grab one and start taking it apart might be an easy fix

It might not be

With the advances and machining and so for this hard press to believe that those old jacks are actually better quality than new ones

If those old jacks worked for years then the quality was good enough being the simple devices they are. Cheaper to repair than replace with new assuming the hard parts still usable. And that green one may be a better quality one made in Japan that's worth keeping. But like you say, take one apart and go from there.

 

[bigfunwmu]

My shop guys can work on a $10,000 sprayer hydrostat or a jack that can be replaced at horrible freight for $200-$300. Nobody wants to pay hydrostat prices for jack repair, so there's no money in it for us.

This doesn't even touch on the liability risk for everybody that crawls under stuff that they jacked up with no stands or any thought of safety.

We quit doing hydraulic cylinders a few years ago for the same reasons. Too many cheap yahoos bitching that they could buy a new chinese POS cylinder off the internet for $250 vs fixing one. Buy it from the internet then and when it doesn't fit right or breaks then call the internet and see if they'll stand behind it.

Good luck on fixing your stuff, it's nice to see somebody keeping stuff running instead of filling landfills and bitching about labor prices.

 

[charbar]

Pretty easy to rebuild them if you can find the parts. This thread just reminded me that I have an old 3.5 ton OTC stashed in the corner of the shop that I need to rebuild again. Wish I would have remembered I had that before I bought another jack last week since Napa has their Carlyle branded ones on sale right now ($200)

 

[MWitte]

Dad had one real similar to that green Sears jack. It was made in Japan. Much nicer than anything made in china.

 

[65ranchero]

I had a China sourced 2.25-ton jack that leaked after sitting from the 80's filled with oil would work as designed.
Let it sit it would lead down, one day I got ambitious and took it apart and made note of all the seals took picture and sent info. to a hydraulic jack specialist.
Spent $60 for parts and put it back together and it leaked bad and would not raise it at all, so it went to the scrap yard.
Wasn't worth taking it apart again and trying to figure out what went wrong, and besides it was free.

 

[ajchien]

Top jack is a Walker/Lincoln, likely some version of the 93632 or 93630. Second one from top looks to me that it is probably a Blackhawk relabel, maybe SJ1 or SJ2. Third from top looks like a Shinn Fu design. Bottom one looks to be one of the Chinese (probably Torin) copies of Japanese Yasui design.

I would think that the top two would have available seal kits from different vendors somewhere. For the bottom one, pretty sure you will have to disassemble first to measure seals.

Walker rebuild thread by @GeorgiaHybrid:

Walker 93632 Jack Rebuild

Well, My buddy asked for his vent cap back (mine broke off) and the jack was starting to leak down so a PM was sent to Hiball for a Walker 93632 kit and vent cap. It came in yesterday (thanks Steve...) so I thought this would be a good Saturday morning project. I don't know if you guys would...

www.garagejournal.com

Here is a rebuild/refurbish thread of a Blackhawk SJ2 by @paulsomlo :

Blackhawk SJ-2 Floor Jack - The Conclusion

Back in January, I started a rebuild thread on this jack, a $20 CL purchase: The original thread was a bit scant on info, a bit scattered, and basically never went anywhere: (http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=232242&highlight=blackhawk). There have been many excellent...

www.garagejournal.com

Hiball’s Yasui rebuild thread:

Overseas Jack Rebuild Help Tutorial.

Well after numerous requests ive decided to put together a tutorial that will assist you do it yourselfers resurect/maintain your Taiwan Jack. This tutorial will cover the Main version of these jacks and i will try to include any variances that you might encounter. Again your jack might be...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[paulsomlo]

@ajchien is correct - the green Sears jack (2nd one down) is indeed a Blackhawk, made in USA. I can't read the label, but if it says "1 1/2 ton", it's a SJ2. It's a very simple jack, takes a single U cup on the ram. The difficulty in servicing these is removing the tank nut - it's a rounded and scalloped affair. I used a 3' pipe wrench to remove it, my rebuild thread has info on it. Ignore the machine work that I did on it, unless you have access to a lathe and are looking for a project.

The uppermost jack is maybe the best of the bunch and possibly the easiest to find a rebuild kit for.

 

[mm08822]

I rebuilt my sears jack years ago. No regrets.....still an awesome jack. My 3 original posts on this forum (2012) detail what I found/did.

A member named Hiball on this forum is the Master for jack rebuilds.

Plenty of sources mentioned for rebuild kits and even help to identify your jacks.

 

[SusKatCas]

A member named Hiball on this forum is the Master for jack rebuilds.

Yeah, Hiball's posts are well worth digging up. I'd forgotten that name.

 

[m.d.hunter63@hotmail.]

I talked to my hydraulic repair guy about repairing some US Jacks, he said that the biggest concern is corrosion in the ball seats, once they get pitted the jack is toast.

 

[ajchien]

I talked to my hydraulic repair guy about repairing some US Jacks, he said that the biggest concern is corrosion in the ball seats, once they get pitted the jack is toast.

Or it will take extra time and effort. Here is a thread where Jeeper re-did his ball valve seats, it starts on post #56:

Got a Snap On YA642

Decided I'd look into the valves on this guy again. Still don't know what the issue is of why the ball bearing is not seating. From looking at it with a magnifying glass, I don't see anything obvious as in a cut or piece of dirt. If anything it looks like maybe the jack was try to long and...

www.garagejournal.com

and if the internal lifting cylinder is corroded/pitted, I believe there is some thread by EDGAR detailing how he cleans those up. I can’t seem to find the thread right now.

 

[vssjim]

Top jack is a Walker/Lincoln, likely some version of the 93632 or 93630. Second one from top looks to me that it is probably a Blackhawk relabel, maybe SJ1 or SJ2. Third from top looks like a Shinn Fu design. Bottom one looks to be one of the Chinese (probably Torin) copies of Japanese Yasui design.

I would think that the top two would have available seal kits from different vendors somewhere. For the bottom one, pretty sure you will have to disassemble first to measure seals.

Walker rebuild thread by @GeorgiaHybrid:

Walker 93632 Jack Rebuild

Well, My buddy asked for his vent cap back (mine broke off) and the jack was starting to leak down so a PM was sent to Hiball for a Walker 93632 kit and vent cap. It came in yesterday (thanks Steve...) so I thought this would be a good Saturday morning project. I don't know if you guys would...

www.garagejournal.com

Here is a rebuild/refurbish thread of a Blackhawk SJ2 by @paulsomlo :

Blackhawk SJ-2 Floor Jack - The Conclusion

Back in January, I started a rebuild thread on this jack, a $20 CL purchase: The original thread was a bit scant on info, a bit scattered, and basically never went anywhere: (http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=232242&highlight=blackhawk). There have been many excellent...

www.garagejournal.com

Hiball’s Yasui rebuild thread:

Overseas Jack Rebuild Help Tutorial.

Well after numerous requests ive decided to put together a tutorial that will assist you do it yourselfers resurect/maintain your Taiwan Jack. This tutorial will cover the Main version of these jacks and i will try to include any variances that you might encounter. Again your jack might be...

www.garagejournal.com

Top jack being a Walker / Lincoln is defiantly the one I would do first as they are lifetime jacks for sure.

 

[D45]

I will give one a try first

Hopefully model numbers are still there