Shop-Built Jack Lifts Transmission In Place
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A friend called Frank Surber a few years ago and asked if he could install a clutch and rear main seal in his Mack truck. Surber said, “Sure, come on over.” Then he realized he didn’t have the heavy-duty jack he’d used several years ago, and his neighbor’s jack, which he thought he could borrow, was broken.
“I offered to rebuild the one my neighbor had, but he’d already taken it for repair, and it wouldn’t be back when I needed it,” Surber says. “I decided it was easier to build my own rather than hunt for one to borrow or rent.”
Surber knew what parts he needed for the build, so he went to his scrap pile. He pulled a couple of 4-in. by 4-in. by 1/4-in. square tubes, various lengths of 1-in. pipe, a large piece of 1/2-in. plate steel and a few feet of 3/4-in. 1018 cold roll rod for the pivot shafts. His storage van had four heavy-duty casters, two rigid and two swivel, and an 8-ton engine hoist jack. He also had a chromed cylinder rod for the pivots and set collars that he’d made for another project.
“I guess it was a stroke of luck that I had all the parts I needed, and all I had to do was put it together,” Surber says. He used two 1-in. holes in his welding table as a jig to hold the 1-in. pipes so he could weld them together to make the link arms. After the ends cooled, he reamed the bores with a #7 tap handle. He pre-assembled the parts, tack-welded the connection points, and checked to make sure it worked.
“Right from the start, it worked great,” Surber says, “which really didn’t surprise me because I always double-check measurements on everything I build.”
Surber removed surface rust with KBS rust blast to provide a smooth pre-paint primer surface. He says that leaves a zinc coating that can be brushed off or left in place. He didn’t have etching primer, so he just rubbed off the surface residue and left the remaining material as primer. He finished the lift in machinery gray with a full coat of KBS rust seal.
Surber says it only took him a couple of hours to build the jack, and when his friend arrived to have him work on the Mack, the new tool worked exactly as planned.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Frank Surber, Peacock, Texas.
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Shop-Built Jack Lifts Transmission In Place FARM SHOP Tools A friend called Frank Surber a few years ago and asked if he could install a clutch and rear main seal in his Mack truck Surber said “Sure come on over ” Then he realized he didn’t have the heavy-duty jack he’d used several years ago and his neighbor’s jack which he thought he could borrow was broken “I offered to rebuild the one my neighbor had but he’d already taken it for repair and it wouldn’t be back when I needed it ” Surber says “I decided it was easier to build my own rather than hunt for one to borrow or rent ” Surber knew what parts he needed for the build so he went to his scrap pile He pulled a couple of 4-in by 4-in by 1/4-in square tubes various lengths of 1-in pipe a large piece of 1/2-in plate steel and a few feet of 3/4-in 1018 cold roll rod for the pivot shafts His storage van had four heavy-duty casters two rigid and two swivel and an 8-ton engine hoist jack He also had a chromed cylinder rod for the pivots and set collars that he’d made for another project “I guess it was a stroke of luck that I had all the parts I needed and all I had to do was put it together ” Surber says He used two 1-in holes in his welding table as a jig to hold the 1-in pipes so he could weld them together to make the link arms After the ends cooled he reamed the bores with a #7 tap handle He pre-assembled the parts tack-welded the connection points and checked to make sure it worked “Right from the start it worked great ” Surber says “which really didn’t surprise me because I always double-check measurements on everything I build ” Surber removed surface rust with KBS rust blast to provide a smooth pre-paint primer surface He says that leaves a zinc coating that can be brushed off or left in place He didn’t have etching primer so he just rubbed off the surface residue and left the remaining material as primer He finished the lift in machinery gray with a full coat of KBS rust seal Surber says it only took him a couple of hours to build the jack and when his friend arrived to have him work on the Mack the new tool worked exactly as planned Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Frank Surber Peacock Texas
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