Hydraulic floor jack troubles

[JHT67]

My dad has 2 Craftman floor jacks one goes down when it has weight put to it and the other hasn't been used for so long he has forgotten what it does, so for the sake of the thread we'll just say it won't pump. So I'm just wondering if anyone has had luck with repairing hydraulic floor jacks?

[kingsolver72]

There's a guy on garage journal I think. Hiball or something like that. Suppose to be super knowledgable. He rebuilds them and sells kits.

[Stocker]

Hiball it is... http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/member.php?u=34969

About Hiball

Biography
I'm a Hydraulic Jack Junkie.....
Location
Missery
Interests
Fishing, and working in the shop.
Occupation
Railroader

Signature

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[cdowns]

I'd try by adding hydraulic jack fluid first befofe takin apart

[JHT67]

Thanks for the info, we'll see how it goes.

[Domer]

look up bleeding floor jack. that helps sometimes.

[special-K]

That sears 4t low-profile jack is pure junk from the get-go. I scrapped the one I had. If it's junk new it's not worth a rebuilt. I bought one to do an axle swap on a 4wd. It worked fine, I guess, or I never needed it to stay up and never noticed the problem. It was just over a year later the next time I used that one. I was removing a 4L80E/NP241. I slid it under, pumped it up, and it wouldn't lift. It was out of warranty and I only used it that one time. I bit the bullet and bought another. I considered returning the older one as the one I had just bought and just get a refund, but decided not to. The second jack wouldn't hold, so I returned it, which turned out to be an ordeal in itself. Long story. It was supposed to be a quick lift and each pump barely moved it. The handle was so long it was limited where I had enough room to use it. And yes, I know how to bleed a jack. My last Craftsman jack lasted over 25 years. Too bad I lent it to someone who let something fall off of it and bend it up.

I also bought the little 2 1/4" toy jack for jacking just the axles. That wouldn't hold. I took it back and got another right away. That one didn't hold either, so I got another. I'm afraid to use it and if I do it will not be under my trucks, maybe to lift 1/2t or so. I've had it a couple years now and it's like new! I think it also doesn't hold. I use it on my son's Ranger to change a tire. Have to jack up past where needed with jack stand ready and slip it in real quick. I bought their 3t to replace the 4t because it looks like the same jack as the one that lasted, and so far so good. What I really want is a Hein-Warner, but haven't been able to afford one yet. They are still no BS jacks made in the USA for people who rely on jacks to make a living

[BR3W CITY]

I've rebuilt the HF "Aluminum race jacks" before with some generic parts. Depending how its setup, some petrolium friendly o-rings or vuitton rings is usually all it takes to "re-gasket" the jack, at least if she's leaking from the pistons (They work like motorcycle forks sorta).

I really don't like those steel-bodied jacks unless its the ULTRA-low profile ones that have the 20" of extension for kit bodied cars etc.