Sunex 3-ton floor jack leaks - Rebuild? If so, how? Or toss and replace... but with what?

[1998_K1500_Sub]

My 1950s Walker 4 ton air over hydrualic.
This thing is a beast

I want one of those, badly.

A neighbor had a 3 ton Walker that was a beautiful jack (this was around 1994). Long reach / high lift... I wish I had bought one like it for myself, then.

That 10 ton Walker I mentioned earlier, it dates back to 1976. Dad bought it when we converted the barn to a farm shop. It's great for trucks and tractors.

 

[someotherguy]

I had a 20-ish year old Sears 3 ton floor jack that would leak down internally, finally got bad enough that you couldn't lift anything fast enough to get stands under it before it would bleed down. I thought about rebuilding it but it had 2 big problems - the return spring on the handle had broken long ago and I'd been sort of getting by with a bungie cord looped around it, and it also wasn't low profile enough to get under my 300 without driving up on wood blocks first. Said to hell with it and put it out early on trash day with some other metal stuff for the scrap dude to pick up; it was gone pretty quick.

Replaced it with an Arcan A20018 3 ton aluminum low profile which seems to work OK so far. The rubber pad on the saddle already split open but whatever.. guess I'll check Lazzar's to see if it's a cylinder I can rebuild when the time comes.

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Which reminds me, I have a chinesium Porta-Power kit that started leaking about the 5th time I used it.....

Richard

 

[xXxPARAGONxXx]

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Which reminds me, I have a chinesium Porta-Power kit that started leaking about the 5th time I used it.....

Richard

Yeah, that Arcan is one of those Chinese designs that gets re-badged by every manufacturer, and you can't find a rebuild kit for it. Let me show you what I mean.

Just searching on Amazon for 3-ton floor jacks, grabbed a few images (Arcan is on top left) and threw them together:

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There's a couple other designs that are shared among the many. That is just one of them.

 

[someotherguy]

Yeah, that Arcan is one of those Chinese designs that gets re-badged by every manufacturer, and you can't find a rebuild kit for it. Let me show you what I mean.

Just searching on Amazon for 3-ton floor jacks, grabbed a few images (Arcan is on top left) and threw them together:

You must be registered for see images attach

There's a couple other designs that are shared among the many. That is just one of them.

Yep. All too familiar with the badge-engineering of that stuff. It was cheap enough; hope it lasts.

Richard

 

[Erik the Awful]

My Air Force career field involves rebuilding 5, 10, 30, and 60 ton jacks for jacking aircraft, as well as maintenance stands that jack up hydraulically. Typically we remove and replace cylinders, but there's been quite a few times we've had a lack of parts unavailability, or a hydraulic cylinder was priced something horribly stupid, so I've had my grubby fingers inside quite a few. Last time I deployed I did a lot of teaching with airmen whose jacks wouldn't pass a load test. The 30 ton tripod jacks are pretty much a cylinder with outriggers, so when the hydraulics go bad your only option is to dig in and repair them. Very frustrating. Be tediously clean and careful.

The B1, B2, and B6 maintenance stands all use the same 8' long hydraulic cylinder, and about fifteen years ago at home station we went to replace one that was puking fluid. Supply listed the cylinder's price at something stupid like $5,000. I looked down the empty bore and it had a bit of corrosion. The next day I brought my engine bar hone. I don't remember what combination of adapters we used to hook it up, and I think there was some duct tape involved, but I honed the bore out, put new seals on the cylinder, and put it back in service.

If your jack's bore isn't clean, consider trying a wheel cylinder hone before you trash it.

 

[thinger2]

I want one of those, badly.

A neighbor had a 3 ton Walker that was a beautiful jack (this was around 1994). Long reach / high lift... I wish I had bought one like it for myself, then.

That 10 ton Walker I mentioned earlier, it dates back to 1976. Dad bought it when we converted the barn to a farm shop. It's great for trucks and tractors.

Yep. It usually sits in the corner.
But when you need to lift everything in one shot it does the job.
And the air over makes it back saving awesome.
It was worth every dime

 

[thinger2]

My Air Force career field involves rebuilding 5, 10, 30, and 60 ton jacks for jacking aircraft, as well as maintenance stands that jack up hydraulically. Typically we remove and replace cylinders, but there's been quite a few times we've had a lack of parts unavailability, or a hydraulic cylinder was priced something horribly stupid, so I've had my grubby fingers inside quite a few. Last time I deployed I did a lot of teaching with airmen whose jacks wouldn't pass a load test. The 30 ton tripod jacks are pretty much a cylinder with outriggers, so when the hydraulics go bad your only option is to dig in and repair them. Very frustrating. Be tediously clean and careful.

The B1, B2, and B6 maintenance stands all use the same 8' long hydraulic cylinder, and about fifteen years ago at home station we went to replace one that was puking fluid. Supply listed the cylinder's price at something stupid like $5,000. I looked down the empty bore and it had a bit of corrosion. The next day I brought my engine bar hone. I don't remember what combination of adapters we used to hook it up, and I think there was some duct tape involved, but I honed the bore out, put new seals on the cylinder, and put it back in service.

If your jack's bore isn't clean, consider trying a wheel cylinder hone before you trash it.

That is awesome. I thought about rebuilding mine but I wasnt willing to stick my head under an experiment.
I took it to the people who knew how to do it.
Hearing from a professional like you just reaffirms that I was right buy taking it to somebody who knows what they are talking about.
Do it yerself is an awesome concept.
Getting crushed is not.
I will crap rig duct tape and hammer beat anything.
But Im not going out smashed like a bug under a car .
A man needs to know his limits.

The possibilty of being mushed like a turd is a real deal breaker for me.
The most dangerious part of working on a vehicle is the lifting/ Jack stand / stabilizing part.
Ive dropped two. A 1970 Chevy Kingswood Estate wagon and a 1965 Merc Maruader.
I only broke a finger when the wagon rolled off.
The Merc dropped on my left hip with the tire as I tried to roll out and ****** me up for life.
That was in 1982.
Dont **** around with jacks and jack stands.
Buy the absolute best you can buy.

 

[man-a-fre]

Look for a old Hein Werner WS model there built like tanks , I have three I picked up at various garage sales cheap. Always wanted a new Milwaukee jack from the Milwaukee jack co but could never justify the price.