Walker J-122 Rebuild

[greg86z28]

Hi all,

Going to try to rebuild my Walker J-122. I got it a couple of years ago, I think I spent $40-60 on it (can't remember if it was 2 or 3 twenties).

Anyways, its served me pretty well around the garage, even though it leaked. I had to feed it a little oil a couple of times. Now I'm thinking it might be time to give it a once over.

Here are some pictures. The serial tag is really in rough shape. I was able to see that it says "Walker, Lift A Car, J-122, Series A". Does anyone have a idea of the vintage of this thing?

I saw there was another rebuild thread on this site, but the pictures were broken as well as some links referenced in the thread. Hopefully that's OK that I make another thread to track my progress

Where should I start? Is there anything I should look at or inspect right away? I've never really had any experience with hydraulic rams.

 

[cubfarm 1]

that is going to be a fun one. the release is badly worn over time. the fluid has almost gelled and the gland packings are shot. well worth fixing! getting the nut off of the tank will be the hardest part. two slots in it are for removal. please do not use a pipe wrench to remove it. that nut can be hard to find and replace. when the nut and tank are off inspect the pressure tube for pitting.light damage will hone outvery bad and you need a new tube. Only parts for that jack are NOS or used. great jack and has another 100 years useage in it. there is a tool for the tank nut and for the pump spring. the tools have to be hand made now

 

[greg86z28]

Any recommendation for where to buy the seal kit? Hoping (maybe optimistically) I can have this thing apart and back together in the same weekend.

Greg

 

[Hiball]

There are Numerous online suppliers, one in my signature... Do some price checking and Most importantly......Tear that thing down and inspect prior to buying a seal kit, it’s extremely plausible that you will need to do some machine work/replace parts to make it a functional And Safe Jack.

 

[itstippy]

The lift looks kittywampus to the frame in the first pic. What's causing that? I wouldn't lift anything with a jack that's out of square.

 

[ex-x-fire]

Optical illusion?

 

[greg86z28]

The lift looks kittywampus to the frame in the first pic. What's causing that? I wouldn't lift anything with a jack that's out of square.

The picture makes it look really bad.

BUT I do notice some out of square with it, I didn't know if that was normal/acceptable or not. I will try to capture on video.

When you release it, it centers itself right at the end when it falls inside the frame.

 

[greg86z28]

It's off center as you can see, tried to get the best top down shot I could. It's positioned towards the lower part of the frame.

Video - watch at the end, it centers itself when it falls between the frame. Sorry couldn't figure out how to embed this in the forum.

 

[Hiball]

You will need a straight edge to figure out what is really going on, but it’s not uncommon to run into irregular gaps on old lift equipment. I would first look at where the side frame rail meets the front axle, I can see some Remnants of a weld on axle on one end, is the other end solid or allowed to slide between the axle/front wheel? Also check that the lift arm pivot nuts are tight.

 

[greg86z28]

Thank you for the pointers.

I will check it out and report back. I'm also going to clean if up a little bit to help identify any other issues I didn't notice before.

Greg

You will need a straight edge to figure out what is really going on, but it’s not uncommon to run into irregular gaps on old lift equipment. I would first look at where the side frame rail meets the front axle, I can see some Remnants of a weld on axle on one end, is the other end solid or allowed to slide between the axle/front wheel? Also check that the lift arm pivot nuts are tight.

 

[greg86z28]

Looks like the whole thing is loose. It's not supposed to be like that right?

 

[itstippy]

No, it's not supposed to be like that. However, loose and wobbly is probably preferable to solid and out-of-square because if the components are OK it can be more easily trued and made solid again. Solid and out-of-square means something is bent, which is a pain. But I'm not a jack guy. You've attracted Hiball's attention, so you have "hit the jack pot" (pun intended). He's the word on jacks.

That's the correct tool for lifting a 1971 Mopar, so hopefully you can get it functioning like it should.

EDIT: Here is a good rebuild thread on a Walker jack:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=80165

 

[greg86z28]

I pulled it apart yesterday to do a little cleaning to make sure all the surfaces were mating correctly and everything was tight.

Here's what I found. The wheel shaft doesn't have weld remnants. It actually has some sort of tag that must have been used to keep the shaft set to the frame. I'm wondering if years of use has made this joint sloppy.

The valve body (? - the square block that the u-joint connects to and where you can pour fluid into the jack) is loose. It's held to the frame on each side by two bolts. I noticed that these bolts have threads and then a larger diameter shoulder that the frame rides on. I tried to tighten them up and they still don't snug up the valve body to the frame. I'm wondering if it's supposed to be loose like that OR if the holes through the frame are worn and the bolts can no longer tighten the way they should. You can see a visable gap between the frame and valve body here. It's like that on both sides.

 

[greg86z28]

I think one of the frame rails is bent.

This picture makes it look out of level but that's an illusion because the axle shaft isn't quite level. The frame lays level. You can see though that the lift arm isn't centered.

 

[greg86z28]

I also put some washers on the 4 bolts that connect the main ram body to the frame. This secured it so it doesn't wobble as I was showing in a previous video. Now the frame is solid.

What should I do now? It's clearly a little crooked. Do I need to straighten it? Is it junk? Can I just leave it?

Thanks.

Greg

 

[greg86z28]

Looks like someone else had or tried to take the tank nut off at one point with a pipe wrench. I just have to take the outer ring off with the two slots?

At this point, since someone else already used a pipe wrench on it, should I just use a pipe wrench or can I damage things that way?

There is also some light pitting on the ram.

 

[ex-x-fire]

I have one of these jacks that I rebuilt 6-7 years ago, a couple years ago it started bleeding down while lifting cars. Took a look at it today and found that the leak was at the ram, it was making a noise there as it leaked down. I tightened the nut at the ram, got a good 1/4 turn, seems to work good now. Is this something that does happen after rebuilds? I know I didn't go crazy tightening it up during the rebuild.
I also noticed some leather flakes on the ram as I remember the main seal was leather.

 

[plessm]

Did the original poster complete his rebuild project?

I have one of these jacks and it has stopped working completely. Odd, from working one day to nothing the next. This was my Grandpa's floor jack. I remember him letting me jack his wheelbarrow up with it to grease the axle when i was 6 years old. That was 45 years ago. This jack is very sentimental to me and i want to fix it. I have a 1966 Ford Mustang and i believe this jack is just about period correct. My concern is Im not sure I will be able to get that gland nut off. From what ive read it is 300 ft lbs of torque. Im not sure i can make a tool to fit those 2 notches perfectly and not strip out when applying that kind of force.

Looking for ideas for a successful rebuild of this tool that reminds me of my Grandpa every time i use it. Thanks

 

[plessm]

Here are a couple pictures of my J-122

 

[plessm]

It does leak a little. I added hydraulic Jack oil and tried to bleed according to a few instructions I found, but no luck. It feels like the plunger mechanism never primes to start pushing fluid into the Ram or the valve to close the bleed to lower the Jack just doesn’t close off anymore.

 

[Hiball]

Below is a good tutorial, Yours will also have the spanner specialty tank nut.


https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/walker-93632-jack-rebuild.80165/

 

[plessm]

Below is a good tutorial, Yours will also have the spanner specialty tank nut.


https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/walker-93632-jack-rebuild.80165/

Ah thank you!!!

I will tear it down and inspect then order the kit I found.