Re-assembling Hydro Cylinder

[jd3l88]

Hey everyone,
I'm reassembling the lift cylinder on a model 1200 FEL. I stripped and repainted everything and got rebuild kits because all four cylinders were leaking. So far I did one of the bucket cylinders with no problem, but the lift cylinder is giving me trouble. The repair manual says to install the new V packing into the cylinder head with the lips facing in and then place the washer on top and secure the whole thing with a snap ring. I did all of that, and after I compress the V packing down enough to get the snap ring in the groove it makes it impossible to slide the piston rod into it. I soaked it in hydro fluid too. Anyone have any tricks to get the cylinder head over the piston rod? I already ruined my new paint job and probably a v packing trying to force it, and am going to have to repaint it.

 

[LRP]

take the packing out , reassemble with the piston rod in place and use oil
when assembleing.
Louis

 

[jd3l88]

Ok, Took the packing out and slid everything over the piston rod in order. Then put the rod into the cylinder head. I still can't get the snap ring down into the groove. It's real close. I'm using a punch to knock it down into the groove but when I hit one side the other side 180 degrees around the ring starts to raise up. Maybe make a collar out of a piece of pipe to fit the snap ring and use a press? This cylinder is really killing me. Never had one give me trouble like this

 

[LRP]

your on the right track, u know the old saying,
u can,t have all male pups!!!
Louis

 

[jd3l88]

Well I fought with it long enough and finally found the answer. The v packings I got from kubota won't fit on that cylinder, they are a fraction of an inch off. A hydraulic repair company we deal with at work came and took a look at it for me and made me a new top bushing for the vee pack a few thousandths shorter. I put it all back together and it fit perfectly. He said it never would have went back together no matter how hard I tried.

 

[savethetractors]

Very dead thread, obviously but... I'm doing the same job and having the same issue.

First, I tried a lift cylinder w/ a kit from e-parts. I compressed all the packing into the cylinder head w/ a vice and it was bulging substantially. But I had faith in e-parts & the kubota loader manual. I ground the sharp edge of the rod w/ a flap disc. Then, tried hammering & ratchet straps to get the cylinder head onto the rod. It didn't go on at all; so onto the next method. I was avoiding marring up all the parts but this seemed like the best option at the time. Used a pipe wrench on the nut, which successfully got the cylinder head on!! And sheared the lips off 3 v-rings

Next, I tried a tilt cylinder w/ a kit from kubota. Same issue with packing bulging significantly.
The original v-ring adapters are shorter so I'm thinking of using those...

 

[TheOldHokie]

Very dead thread, obviously but... I'm doing the same job and having the same issue.

First, I tried a lift cylinder w/ a kit from e-parts. I compressed all the packing into the cylinder head w/ a vice and it was bulging substantially. But I had faith in e-parts & the kubota loader manual. I ground the sharp edge of the rod w/ a flap disc. Then, tried hammering & ratchet straps to get the cylinder head onto the rod. It didn't go on at all; so onto the next method. I was avoiding marring up all the parts but this seemed like the best option at the time. Used a pipe wrench on the nut, which successfully got the cylinder head on!! And sheared the lips off 3 v-rings

Next, I tried a tilt cylinder w/ a kit from kubota. Same issue with packing bulging significantly.
The original v-ring adapters are shorter so I'm thinking of using those...

You use more or fewer rings to get the right amount of "squeeze".

Dan

 

[savethetractors]

You use more or fewer rings to get the right amount of "squeeze".

Dan

Thanks for the tip! I tried many combinations of materials & methods to keep OEM number of rings but it wasn't happening. Had to source new seals at a hydraulic shop and online, after damaging some.

I assembled all 4 with 1 less v-ring and the old, shorter adapters (used 1 new one bc I destroyed an old one, due to loosening the piston nut too much; the adapter got caught one the snap ring groove and broke a lip off). The tilt cylinders tolerated a little compression of the stack and snap ring. The lift cylinders would not go together, undamaged, with any amount of compression.

Assembly: I chamfered the edge of the rods, lubricated all packing in oil, installed it in head/gland, lubricated it more with dish soap, and spun it on with a pipe wrench while applying slight pressure with another pipe wrench on the piston nut. The tilt cylinders didn't have a hole to hold the retaining wire (so you can install it by spinning the nut), but clamping it lengthwise with vise grips and hammering the vise grips worked.

They are all impossible to cycle by hand, after tightening the piston nut. Thats not really an issue, but I was painting and there was .5" of unpainted chrome rod sticking out. So its either finish assembly and do some masking or apply paint and scuff it up during final assembly. I painted before disassembly (a mistake), so I just did some touch up after assembly and avoided the chrome. The wiper handled any overspray.

V-rings wouldn't be too bad with a threaded compression adjustment. But the snap rings made it a very laborious process, with reworking each cylinder several times. It wouldn't be too bad, with the lessons learned. Hopefully this info helps someone!