A few years back I brought myself something I always wanted, a commercial grade Hydraulic Trolley Jack. 2 Tonne (2000 Kilogram), low profile and in perfect working order but well used from an Auto workshop clearing sale.
I never used it much but it was so convenient for those times when I did want to take a wheel off or do something under the cars (with jack stands too of course).
Well a month or so back I wheel it out to do some work on the old Ute (Pickup to you North of the equator
) and it would not jack up. No oil leaks, no apparent seizure or any reason I could figure.
I rang around and got a few quotes and ended up paying over $200 to get it fixed.
The reason for the failure, was not used enough and the seals shrunk, plus it had a bit of rust and scoring in the hydraulic cylinder bore.
Moral of the story, use it regularly if you have one, even if it is to just jack it up every month or so with no load to keep it's internals lubricated.
I have a Craftsman 3 1/2 ton and a AC Hydraulics 4400 lb floor jack. Between our 3 cars they both see regular use. I also spray the working parts with a synthetic spray lube peridically.
Linear Mode
