The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts 1963 C-60 dump bed lifts slowly

My 1963 C-60 dump bed lifts slowly and I'm not sure that it is lifting as high as it should. I am assuming that the hydraulic fluid it low. Would I be correct?
This may sound really dumb, but how do I put more fluid in if it's low.
Please have patience with my ignorance, this is my new toy and I'm excited to learn about it. I have been reading a lot of posts and enjoying the stories and photos. I will add some photos soon.

I would start by making sure there is enough hydraulic fluid in the tank. To do this lift the bed and you should be able to see the tank that holds the hydraulic fluid,it is located between the frames. There should be a fill opening on top with a cap on it.

I bought my new toy,77 GMC 6500 Tilt-Cap dump, about a month ago and am still checking it over learning more about it.

Danny -77 GMC 6500 Tilt-Cab

Chris,

If you raise your bed to get to the tank, make sure you brace it good before going under it. You may be able to get to your tank from under the truck with the bed down, otherwise make sure to brace it.

Bill

On a lot of the dump cylinders, the housing surrounding the ram is also the fluid reservoir. There should be a pipe plug on top of the cylinder housing that's used for filling and checking the fluid level. I've seen all sorts of fluids put into dump cylinders, but non-detergent 30 weight motor oil was once a popular dump cylinder fluid, easily accessible just about everywhere, and about the right thickness. Prop the bed up with a STURDY support, like a piece of heavy pipe, or a 4X4 wood beam, etc. Then add a couple of quarts of oil, leave the plug out, and lower the bed. Any overfill will run out the plug hole. If you put the plug back into an overfilled lift cylinder, the bed will not retract fully. Be careful!
Jerry

Come on Jerry, we both this really isn't a good idea unless it's a really small dump bed. But I still really don't like it even though I have done it in the past myself. I personally have seen the outcome of a small dump bed coming down on someone.
I had to ID the body .

If you have to raise your bed to service your system, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, use a heavy wall piece of pipe, maybe even 2 if you have a large heavy bed. Make sure you have the pipe jammed into 2 points between the bed & the truck so there is no way for it to come out.
The shop I use to work at would fab up a pocket w/the pipe bolted inside it & then bolt it to the outside of the frame to use as the bed brace.

Also check the pressure of your hyd. pump if the oil isn't low...Joe

CrimsonLake.. first you don't say what type of hoist it is, underbody (most likely) or telescopic. That would indicate whether it has a reservoir or is a totally closed system. If it is an underbody twin arm them Jerry is correct about the cylinder containing the oil and the proper filling method. What I used to do on all the S/A undersbodies in my shop was to drill a hole across the square part of the pipe plug and then drill upward from the bottom to intersect to other hole. About a 3/16 hole and then put an 1/8 cotter key threw it. This allowed air to escape as it was cycled a few times w/o allowing a quart of oil all over the place. This apploes to single acting (S/A) models only. If D/A then don't use the plug trick. Also use standard hydraulic oil, 30W is too heavy for the old gear pump and newer oils have too much detergent in them for any old system thats full of crap. I really doubt that your problem has anything to do with pressure or it wouldn't lift the body off the frame. The twin arm underbodies will continue to lift any load it can start as that is where the torque requirments are the highest. It actually becomes easier to lift the further up it goes. When full of oil the hoist will simply bypass at the end of it's stroke and continue to hold or you can place the valve in the center hold position. If you can give me the brand and model number of your hoist I may have a lot more info for you.

It is a single cylinder. I will check tonight for a brand.

OK, Joe, I consider my knuckles rapped sufficiently! Actually, when I was working with a fleet of dump trucks on construction sites, we preferred wooden supports, all the way to the ground from the underside of the raised bed, rather than wedging a shorter piece into the frame. A dedicated steel pipe prop is preferrable, or the best choice was a split pipe surrounding the cylinder ram that acted as a positive stop when it was bolted around the ram. It was pretty common practice to support a D-9 Cat on railroad tie cribbing during a track change, so don't discount properly rigged wood as a support structure.
Jerry

Also, as Jerry mentioned, be sure to leave the plug out the first time you let it down after filling. Otherwise, if you're LUCKY, the bed will not come down all the way. If you're UNlucky, you'll blow the seals out of your hoist!
On mine, I just went to the farm store, and bought 2 gallons of their generic hydraulic fluid.
And, as has been stated before (but can't be repeated often enough); make darn sure it's adequately braced if you have to go under it! If at all possible, work from underneath the truck.

I have a similar lift on mine. The plug is in an elbow fitting at the rear of the cylender and can be reached from underneath.
I got one of those handy-dandy pump & hose outfits for gear oil that has a barb-clip at the end so it would stay in the hole on it's own, set the jug of fluid on an overturned 5-gal bucket, and pumped till it overflowed. Didn't have to risk life or limb, works good, last long time!

Something else I did was drain the fluid, disassemble the pump (good way to drain it by the way), and checked all the seals and bearing caps. Cleaned it all up, a dab of aviation form-a-gasket on the sealing plates, and topped it off. It used to leak a lot, haven't lost a drop since and works MUCH better than before.

I could not find any brand or model markings on the cylinder. The new link under my signature has photos.
I do not see a tank for oil, only the plug on the side.

I believe that plug on the side is the one you're looking for. Just follow the procedures outlined above, and you should be good to go.
Nice truck, by the way!!

Crimson:
I can't see enough of it in your photos to make a positive ID and what I can see is confusing. The external cap on the cylinder makes me think Heil but the fabricated lift arms don't. They are more remeniscent of something from the south or maybe that old Smith outfit in Kansas City. That is my best guestimate at this point. See if you can get a good photo of the pump which may help with some clues. It is very likely an original setup to your 63' truck and the MO address points me at Smith so far.

Incidently the subframe appears to be bent upward and a very large gap between it and the truck frame. Might want to look that area over for damage. Could be the photos however.

From the VIN I found out that the truck was built in Janesville, Wisconsin.