Ccogg,
You came to the right door. Did the same thing. Bought a little dump to work on my project house. Next thing you know, I'm doing restoration on the truck! The good thing about these old iron horses is that they are simple. Every box contains a lubricant that can benefit from being changed. Start with the basics of replacing brakes to make it safe at any speed. Stopping is more important than going fast. Never seen a lift that didn't have a resevoir. That's a new one for me. Many years ago I serviced hydraulic lift gates and so the basic concept of either electric or power take off activated pump is familiar to me. Common sense would lead one to search for the way the hydraulic ram is activated and where the fluid is stored. That same thought process would lead one to the unavoidable fact that hydraulic systems have the capability of simple failure to one or more components. When that happens to a lift gate, it usually stays on the ground and a pool of fluid follows. What goes up must come down and if a dump bed decided to come down on its own perhaps thru the work of a terrorist or aliens, it would ruin your whole day if you were under it.
Last but not least, you absulutely must post pictures of the truck in question. It's a rule. The punishment for breaking that rule is one thousand lashes with a wet shoestring. You wouldn't want the shoelace squad to show up at your house in sunny Oregon now would ya?
