OT - 4 ton Floor Jack - Maintenance?

I just bought a 4 ton floor jack at a garage sale. It's very used, but the seller said it works fine.

I jacked my car and it's been holding for 30 minutes.

Is there any maintenance I should perform on it or are these things essentially maintenance free?

Yes, I know: Don't rely on the jack itself, use jack stands.

Thanks!

Reply to
DerbyDad03
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Assuming that this is a hydraulic jack, if it isn't leaking and the fluid level is where it is supposed to be, just keep it clean and dry. ALWAYS use jack stands.

Don't fix what isn't broken.

Reply to
Worn Out Retread

They're really pretty simple. 'Bout the only thing that can go wrong are the seals (usually just an O-ring) and that's easy to spot (the jack won't work or leaks) and easy to fix. Even if it does leak, some automatic transmission stop-leak usually gets a few more years of life out of it.

Reply to
HeyBub

Check it for leaks, broken or cracked parts, change the hydraulic fluid, clean it up. I have one that is at least 45 years old that my father had when he ran a service station 45 years ago and he got it from the previous owner. About 15 years ago I had it overhauled because it oozed oil around the pump and cylinder.It needed new o rings and rubber pads on the swing arms. It cost about $75 to repair and may last another 40 or

50 years. Wife hates it because it takes up too much room in the garage, I love it because I can jack up one whole side of the car at a time to rotate tires.

Jimmie

Reply to
JIMMIE

Plus it is like your old man is there helping you. Yeah, we all get it, we really do. Most of us regulars and semi-regulars on here have a tool or three like that.

-- aem sends...

Reply to
aemeijers

Thanks guys, that's kind of what I thought. $40...well worth it

re: Most of us regulars and semi-regulars on here have a tool or three like that.

I still got my grandfather's favorite hammer. Between the 2 of us we've replaced the handle 3 times and the head twice.

Best hammer we ever owned.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Thanks guys, that's kind of what I thought. $40...well worth it

re: Most of us regulars and semi-regulars on here have a tool or three like that.

I still got my grandfather's favorite hammer. Between the 2 of us we've replaced the handle 3 times and the head twice.

Best hammer we ever owned.

Reply to
benick

Thanks guys, that's kind of what I thought. $40...well worth it

re: Most of us regulars and semi-regulars on here have a tool or three like that.

I still got my grandfather's favorite hammer. Between the 2 of us we've replaced the handle 3 times and the head twice.

Best hammer we ever owned.

Not to nit pick but if you replaced the handle AND head , how is it the same hammer ????

Reply to
benick

He's riffing on the old vaudeville joke about George Washington's hatchet, of cherry tree fame. As in how a con man was selling it to tourists as an antique, and when they noticed how new it looked, he told them that the head and handle had been replaced multiple times, but that it was the same hatchet, really.

Both for hatchets and hammers, I have seen replacement handles. I have never seen replacement heads.

-- aem sends...

Reply to
aemeijers

-snip-

My favorite is a level my dad gave me a decade or so ago. It is a nice little Stanley 1' level of about 1900 vintage-- it is a No. 237, all metal.

He hadn't used it much but related that he had taken it to GE [where he was a balance machine operator in their turbine division from

1950-1975 or so] and checked it against their best levels and it was still dead on.

He said his dad had given it to him in the 40's and told him it was something special & to take good care of it. Since it isn't a particularly unusual level I suspect it must have either been a tool my Gr-grandfather, or Gr-Gr-grandfather handed down to my grandfather.

Gr-grandfather was truck driver and might have had a good level. But I like to think it belonged to Gr-Gr-grandfather, George Prier, who was a house-builder of some repute on Staten Island. He died in 1911 when my grandfather, his grandson, would have been 15 and working for him.

At any rate the level commands a spot amongst my genealogy records, and it gets pulled out for use in the occasional tight spot- or when I just need to summon the guidance of those who used it in past years.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Elbrecht

heck, the tools that I USE most often are:

  1. old S-K socket set that I inherited from my grandfather (SAE)
  2. old Craftsman wrenches, same (SAE)
  3. old S-K polished wrenches, friend bought them at yard sale or pawn shop, and since he never used them (bought as part of a lot) I traded him for new Craftsman (metric)
  4. new Craftsman socket set (metric)

of all those, #4 is my least fave...

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

LOL should've caught that...LOL....

Reply to
benick

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