OP
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Sorry for the delay in replying to everyone. Steph and I took the kids to San Antonio for Spring break and we just got home. Thank you to everyone for you replies, support and encouragement.
Bluecheck546,
The toughest part of this was those lines. I seriously considerd just cutting them and dealing with it later. There is very little room to get to anything with the bed down, so I knew I had to get it up before doing anything else.
kmdigital,
The second hose, is much larger than the one that lifts the bed. The area above the cylinder is also the resevoir. When the piston moves up, the fluid flows from the top of the cylinder to the pump through the second, larger hose. There are no valves for this, just a hole in the side of the cylinder that the hose attaches to. There is also a small threaded access hole on top of the cylinder for filling the cylinder.
It's just a one way cylinder. Gravity forces it back down.
cp1969,
There isn't any sort of safety bar or anything else on there to hold up the bed. I've looked every time I have it up. I grease it once a day and each time, I look again in case I missed it. I really should put something in there, but I'm an optimist and each time I fix what's busted, I hope it's the last time. hahaha
Kendall69,
If you think it looks like an accident waiting to happen, you should see what it looks like when your actually under it and crawling around on top of the frame. To me, it becomes a skull crusher that I'll never have a chance of surviving. Very scary!!!
TrippleT,
There is constant build up of material after so many dumps. The wetter the clay, the worse this is. When dumping a load, I like to give it a little pop to get it all. I've been doing this since I've had it and I'm sure the previous owners did this too. There's no telling how many times it's happened over it's life time.
I really don't know how the system works other then the basics. There is a pump that is run from the PTO off the transmission. I engage it in the cab and a driveshaft turns the pump. Then I open the valve and the bed lifts. Then I disengage the PTO and move the lever to lower the bed. It drops by it's own weight.
John,
Thanks, but it seemed to take a very long time. The hardest part is always figuring it out. Putting it back together just took a few hours and was very easy.
Mad,
I don't understand how it all works, but with the bed up, there is no preasure on the oposite side of the piston. I can open the fill hole and add fluid to the top part of the cylinder with the bed up. There isn't any preasure on that part of the cylinder, so I think it's the resevoir.
Wushaw,
I agree, I really should put a support bar in there. One problem I have is that if this happens again, or something else breaks, I have to lift the bed high enough for the support bar. If I do it, I'm thinking it shoudl be in the highest position, but jacking the bed up that high with jacks is very, very dificult. Maybe two support bars? One for all the way up and another set for where it's up enough to work on?
gemini,
I have no idea what brand the dump is. There's nothing on it that I've seen as of yet.
Ryan,
Your explination on why it broke is probably the best reason for it. I'm not very gentle on equipment and I'm sure the previous owners weren't either. It's just the curse of buying used equipment and running it for any amount of time. It will break with use.
Nice to know I'm not the only one who's been under a bed and been afraid. hahaha
CATMAN,
I used the old lines. They are a little worn on the outside rubber, but otherwise, they look great. I'll probably have to replace them before I'm done with the truck, but figure it's worth the gamble that they will last awhile longer. No point spending $100 on hoses if I don't have to.
As for the problem, I'm not smart enough about how it all works to even know what to look for. I fix what's broken and hope for the best. Allot of what I do relies on hope. hahahaha
Steve,
Yes, it's nice to hear everyones advice and concerns. The reason I post so many things on this site is because so many of you know so more then I do and are so helpful.
tool,
Last year one of the pins on the linkage broke. When it snapped, it twisted the other parts of the linkage and wouldn't go back together. I had a local welding shop take it apart and reweld it up perfectly aligned with the other side.
The reason it failed is the zirk for the grease didn't get to the pin. There was a liner or bearing around the pin that didn't have a hole in it. The grease went through the zirk and out the sides of the liner without ever contacting the pin itself. Over the years, it just wore out the pin and failed.
At least that's my theory. hahaha
Dave,
I mistyped the bolt strenght. I meant Grade 8. oops. I thought about the bolts looseing there strength, but didn't know what else to do about it. It looked like that was what they used before, but I could easily be wrong and they will break again.
One thing that should be in my favor is there isn't allot of preasure on the top of the cylinder that holds it together. There is only one O ring holding the oil in and if I keep the cylinder from over filling, I might eliminate allot of the preasure that casued the bolts to fail.
Larry,
You described my system to the best of my knowledge. It's not like anything on my tractors, so I'm pretty unsure of how it works.
Rob,
Thanks. I'll be working on a way to put some safety support brackets on there. It definately a smart thing to do!!!
Scotty,
There was six posts holding up the bed. I figure one on each side will do, but two on each side is even better. Since that was better, I knew that two more would make it better still!!! I looked and tried, but couldn't find anything to fit for 8 posts, so I stoped at six. hahaha
Eddie
Bluecheck546,
The toughest part of this was those lines. I seriously considerd just cutting them and dealing with it later. There is very little room to get to anything with the bed down, so I knew I had to get it up before doing anything else.
kmdigital,
The second hose, is much larger than the one that lifts the bed. The area above the cylinder is also the resevoir. When the piston moves up, the fluid flows from the top of the cylinder to the pump through the second, larger hose. There are no valves for this, just a hole in the side of the cylinder that the hose attaches to. There is also a small threaded access hole on top of the cylinder for filling the cylinder.
It's just a one way cylinder. Gravity forces it back down.
cp1969,
There isn't any sort of safety bar or anything else on there to hold up the bed. I've looked every time I have it up. I grease it once a day and each time, I look again in case I missed it. I really should put something in there, but I'm an optimist and each time I fix what's busted, I hope it's the last time. hahaha
Kendall69,
If you think it looks like an accident waiting to happen, you should see what it looks like when your actually under it and crawling around on top of the frame. To me, it becomes a skull crusher that I'll never have a chance of surviving. Very scary!!!
TrippleT,
There is constant build up of material after so many dumps. The wetter the clay, the worse this is. When dumping a load, I like to give it a little pop to get it all. I've been doing this since I've had it and I'm sure the previous owners did this too. There's no telling how many times it's happened over it's life time.
I really don't know how the system works other then the basics. There is a pump that is run from the PTO off the transmission. I engage it in the cab and a driveshaft turns the pump. Then I open the valve and the bed lifts. Then I disengage the PTO and move the lever to lower the bed. It drops by it's own weight.
John,
Thanks, but it seemed to take a very long time. The hardest part is always figuring it out. Putting it back together just took a few hours and was very easy.
Mad,
I don't understand how it all works, but with the bed up, there is no preasure on the oposite side of the piston. I can open the fill hole and add fluid to the top part of the cylinder with the bed up. There isn't any preasure on that part of the cylinder, so I think it's the resevoir.
Wushaw,
I agree, I really should put a support bar in there. One problem I have is that if this happens again, or something else breaks, I have to lift the bed high enough for the support bar. If I do it, I'm thinking it shoudl be in the highest position, but jacking the bed up that high with jacks is very, very dificult. Maybe two support bars? One for all the way up and another set for where it's up enough to work on?
gemini,
I have no idea what brand the dump is. There's nothing on it that I've seen as of yet.
Ryan,
Your explination on why it broke is probably the best reason for it. I'm not very gentle on equipment and I'm sure the previous owners weren't either. It's just the curse of buying used equipment and running it for any amount of time. It will break with use.
Nice to know I'm not the only one who's been under a bed and been afraid. hahaha
CATMAN,
I used the old lines. They are a little worn on the outside rubber, but otherwise, they look great. I'll probably have to replace them before I'm done with the truck, but figure it's worth the gamble that they will last awhile longer. No point spending $100 on hoses if I don't have to.
As for the problem, I'm not smart enough about how it all works to even know what to look for. I fix what's broken and hope for the best. Allot of what I do relies on hope. hahahaha
Steve,
Yes, it's nice to hear everyones advice and concerns. The reason I post so many things on this site is because so many of you know so more then I do and are so helpful.
tool,
Last year one of the pins on the linkage broke. When it snapped, it twisted the other parts of the linkage and wouldn't go back together. I had a local welding shop take it apart and reweld it up perfectly aligned with the other side.
The reason it failed is the zirk for the grease didn't get to the pin. There was a liner or bearing around the pin that didn't have a hole in it. The grease went through the zirk and out the sides of the liner without ever contacting the pin itself. Over the years, it just wore out the pin and failed.
At least that's my theory. hahaha
Dave,
I mistyped the bolt strenght. I meant Grade 8. oops. I thought about the bolts looseing there strength, but didn't know what else to do about it. It looked like that was what they used before, but I could easily be wrong and they will break again.
One thing that should be in my favor is there isn't allot of preasure on the top of the cylinder that holds it together. There is only one O ring holding the oil in and if I keep the cylinder from over filling, I might eliminate allot of the preasure that casued the bolts to fail.
Larry,
You described my system to the best of my knowledge. It's not like anything on my tractors, so I'm pretty unsure of how it works.
Rob,
Thanks. I'll be working on a way to put some safety support brackets on there. It definately a smart thing to do!!!
Scotty,
There was six posts holding up the bed. I figure one on each side will do, but two on each side is even better. Since that was better, I knew that two more would make it better still!!! I looked and tried, but couldn't find anything to fit for 8 posts, so I stoped at six. hahaha
Eddie
