The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Raising a dump bed manually

I'm going to replace my old lift pump and manifold to the ram with a stand alone pump and hoses. How can I lift the bed safely? I can get it started up with floor jacks and 4x4's but that's going to get scary the higher I go. I really don't want to die so any input would be appreciated.

One of my neighbors plumbed up hoses to his non running truck so he could raise the box with the hydraulic system from his farm tractor. Would something like that work for you?

I have raised a bed by turning the pump shaft with a 1/2 inch ratchet. A tractor front end loader is easier.

I wish I had access to a front end loader or a backhoe, but that would be too easy. . The pump is bad so that leaves me no choice but to jack it up. I was reading a thread about a year ago on jacking up a bed but my memory fails me on what it said and which forum it was on. I tried a search on here but nothing came up. Thanks for the ideas guys

It would be safest to lift it from above, a large tree, or engine lift would work, prop it up along the way. Lots of angles there so dangerous lifting it from below.

Ed

Chevys til Id Be extra careful with that not only dangerous but CAN bend your frame if not metered hydraulically--which it may not be if raised some other way !

Hiring a wrecker with an extendable hydraulic boom would be some cheap life insurance, and it would probably also minimize the risk of damage to the frame or the dump box. Have some type of support structure ready to install as soon as the lift is made to prevent paying for "standby time" as you cobble up something to hold it up safely. Sometimes shade tree methods are just too dangerous to even consider.
Jerry

The guys across the road from the shop borrow our big forklift for this. They leave the truck in neutral so it can creep forward as the bed comes up. I saw where you stated you don't have such a machine but big junkyards, lumber yards, and sand/gravel operations do. If you had your "up" positions braces made up one of them would probably lift it and then once fixed you could remove the bracing yourself.

Coilovers, you just set off a bell in my head. I live about 5 lot down from a semi truck repair shop. I know they have a fairly large forklift plus overhead hoists in there shop. Don't know if they'll do it, insurance liability, but it's worth asking. I crunched some numbers last night, trigonometry finally came in handy. I owe my math teachers an apology, I told them trig was stupid and I would never use it. Lol anyway, measured from the pivot point to the front of the bed, did the math and figured out I need to raise the front of the bed around 6 1/5 feet to give me about 2 feet of working space at the rear of the ram. I'm going to fabricate brackets that I can weld onto both sides of the bed frame to securely hold a couple oak 4x4s plus a railroad tie across the frame and chained into place just in case. I think that's about as safe as I can make it.

You could unpin the body and have them lift it off completely...just a thought!

Mike B