I broke my press...

[derf]

... or at least the bottle jack.

I was trying to get the u-joints out of the old axle shafts and one decided to be stubborn. I had it under some load but was about to release it when it decided to suddenly pop free. When it let go it pushed the stuck cap all the way out of the yoke. I think the shock broke something in the valving. I can hear fluid bypassing when I try to use it now.

Anyone know how to fix that or if it's even worth it to fix one of those? I suppose I could just go to Harbor freight and buy another one.

[Lindel]

I'd just get another bottle jack...should be cheap enough.

[derf]

Well, if all I did was blow out a rubber o-ring, I can get another one at the hardware store down the street. I have to drive all the way across town to get another bottle jack at Harbor Freight. The whole trip might take me all of half an hour...

[Blacksmith01]

they have the 20ton air over hydraulic jacks there.

[REDONE]

I TOTALLY FEEL YOUR PAIN!!!!

Not even a year ago I was doing side work for a friend of a friend replacing the ball joints on an 09 F-350 (500
clams for a ball joint replace? sHells yeah!). Got the knuckle out just fine, but pressing the ball joints out? I blew up MY press, then, against my better judgement I used the customers (with permission of course, but still, not my MO) and blew up HIS press. Then went to our mutual friends house and blew up HIS press too!

I wound up mostly disintigrating it with ox/acet until the remains fell out. Worth mentioning, the other three (two lowers and one upper) came out with no extra guffah whatsoever. STRANGE.

If it's HF, I'd get another one. In fact, I did. I won't lie, it worked a 100 times before it blew, it earned it's keep. If it's a name brand like Jet or Rigid, I'd order the rebuild kit. It's cheaper than the HF jack if you actually CALL Jet or Rigid. They pretty much only charge shipping for replacement parts.

[Headhoncho]

I replaced the lower ball joints on my Charger and thought I was going to break my press with them (HF20 ton). I would take it apart and get a new o-ring even if you get a new one. Good to have a spare. I have a 2 1/2 ton Jet floor jack going on 30 years old that I had rebuilt once. Great jack well worth keeping.


JR

[billyj7175]

I'll toss out another idea. Head on over to HB and pickup another bottle jack (you needed another 12 pack anyways right?)...when time allows, tear the broken one down...and rebuild it (like you say, probably just an o-ring). Now you have a spare...besides, bottle jacks can be pretty darn handy to have laying around.

Example: There was an odd bottle jack that my Great Uncle had left in my J10, that is about 2' long, fully compressed. I've packed that thing around in my garage stuff for years without ever using it. Just the other day I had to do some home-repair (carpenter ants are bad ju-ju), and that jack worked perfect for taking stress off of some headers and footboards.