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Trolley jack restoration
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jessejazza



Joined: 18 Mar 2009
Posts: 75

PostPosted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 3:54 pm    Post subject: Trolley jack restoration Reply with quote

During the time I have done my own car maintenance I have found the 1.5T - 2.5T trolley jack seems to work fine for about five years and then the pump seal seems to go.

I've found this smaller size rather useful compared than the larger garage 3T jack as it is portable enough for keeping in the car as well.

I looked on You Tube recently and in the US guys seem to get 'O' rings from somewhere and resto their bottle jack or trolley jack. I hadn't thought of doing this before but decided to give it a go. Just wondering if any members have tried this and where they have gone for new seals.
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alastairq



Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 1950
Location: East Yorkshire

PostPosted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 5:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've known of others mending hydraulic rams in the same way...rams for engine hoists, and suchlike.
EBay fro O rings perhaps?

Although I have one of those neatly-packaged O-ring selections from Lidl.....not expensive [for an OAP]....but one has to grab when stocks arrive.
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Whitegoatie



Joined: 01 Feb 2016
Posts: 59
Location: Stamford, Lincolnshire

PostPosted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 10:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Is it worth messing about with? You would not want it collapsing at a critical moment.
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alastairq



Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 1950
Location: East Yorkshire

PostPosted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 10:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Whitegoatie wrote:
Is it worth messing about with? You would not want it collapsing at a critical moment.


No more risk than a borrowed trolley jack?

A brand new jack is just as likely to fail as an overhauled one. Is it wise to place one's unfailing trust in something , the history of which is unknown?

Better to take precautions regardless.....a jack collapsing under load can happen at any time, for a variety of reasons.....including operator error. [probably the most common cause, perhaps?]

Which is why safety precautions need to be taken when lifting heavy stuff?
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Ray White



Joined: 02 Dec 2014
Posts: 6283
Location: Derby

PostPosted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 12:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My father in law was a mechanic and a pretty tight fisted one at that. I inherited his trolly jack and it has a habit of loosing it's oil pressure as the oil seeps out, What he did in the distant past was to drill a hole in the cylinder where oil can be squirted in to restore the pressure. I have found that this actually works!!! There is even a little rubber bung to prevent dirt from getting in. Cool

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ukdave2002



Joined: 23 Nov 2007
Posts: 4100
Location: South Cheshire

PostPosted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 1:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

alastairq wrote:
Whitegoatie wrote:
Is it worth messing about with? You would not want it collapsing at a critical moment.


No more risk than a borrowed trolley jack?

A brand new jack is just as likely to fail as an overhauled one. Is it wise to place one's unfailing trust in something , the history of which is unknown?

Better to take precautions regardless.....a jack collapsing under load can happen at any time, for a variety of reasons.....including operator error. [probably the most common cause, perhaps?]

Which is why safety precautions need to be taken when lifting heavy stuff?
Most of us on this forum would happily change seals in our braking system, so why not in a jack?
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Ray White



Joined: 02 Dec 2014
Posts: 6283
Location: Derby

PostPosted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 2:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Most of us on this forum would happily change seals in our braking system, so why not in a jack?[/quote]

Too tight fisted?
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BigJohn



Joined: 01 Jan 2011
Posts: 954
Location: Wem, Shropshire

PostPosted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 3:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have a few trolley jacks, the one I use most, as it's a small one, is an Argos special from about 40yrs ago, when it was nearly 20yrs old a seal failed so it got O ringed, filled with brake fluid and bled. It's still going strong.
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Churchill Johnson



Joined: 11 Jan 2011
Posts: 359
Location: Rayleigh Essex

PostPosted: Tue Jan 16, 2018 12:31 am    Post subject: Jack's Reply with quote

I have over the year's re-sealed bottle jack's suitable for lifting 5 ton the biggest problem is getting the right seal's most are lip type seal's and not o-ring's and a close look at the at the small diameter primary pump might show score's this is why most seal's leak and every jack i have come across take's a jack oil not brake fluid unless it came from a citroen,i must admit to using eng oil in mine but only because i have never re-sealed it and it leak's a little it's at least 30yr's old trolley jack 2.5t made by Weber [German] and heavy ,i did buy a small one from one of the two german supermaket's over here and the very first time i went to move the handle the primary pump top broke off it went straight back for my money,as regard's safety no hyd jack of any sort should be used without a stand even though i have never had a jack fail and most time's they will not lift is because they are short of oil ,
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