L2350DT LB400 Loader Cylinder Replacement

[bpicard]

I need to replace one of the cylinders that performs the bucket curl and I got a price from the dealer of $325 this morning. Is there a cheaper source of replacement cylinders?

Thanks.

 

[john_bud]

WHy do you need to replace? Most of the time $20-50 of seals and an hour of labor and your on your way.

jb

 

[allenr]

John echoed my thoughts exactly.

What's the problem with the old cylinder?

 

[bpicard]

My dealer rebuilt the cylinders but there is still drift in the midrange of the cylinder. The left hand side cylinder seal retaining nut had backed out and the dealer speculates that this may have worn the bore of the cylinder out. He says there was no scoring or visible sign of wear and he has no way of measuring the bore to confirm it is in spec' or not.

So I am planning to replace one and see what I get.

Thanks for your time.

Brian.

 

[bpicard]

Is there a way that I can trouble shoot the joystick/valve to make sure that my problem is indeed with the cylinders and not the valve?

The dealer said that he tested this, but I'd like to confirm his conclusion independently.

Thanks again.

 

[allenr]

I reckon you might be on to the more likely cause of your problem.
Can you undo the cylinder hoses by the cyl. or the valve and then screw plugs into the ports or hoses? You obviously wont be able to use it like this but it should allow you to see whether any drift occurs over a time.

I think a loose nut would have left obvious damage inside the cylinder but normal wear would be hard to pick.

If it is wear inside the cyl. I once had a backhoe sideshift lock cyl. chromed in the bore, not sure how they got it to spec, but it's still working and was less expensive than a new cylinder.

 

[bpicard]

Allen,

Thanks for the note and tip about rechroming the cylinders. I might check into that to see if this is available locally.

I was thinking of switching the lines between the up/down cylinders and the curl cylinders and seeing if the bucket still drifted down when pressure was applied. This would allow confirmation of the problem--right?

Thanks again.

 

[RobJ]

Yeaqh there are hydraulic places in town that just rebuild cylinders. A friend of mine owns one down here. For examble he'll cut the end off and replace the rod and such if needed.

 

[allenr]

I was thinking of switching the lines between the up/down cylinders and the curl cylinders and seeing if the bucket still drifted down when pressure was applied. This would allow confirmation of the problem--right?

Yes it should, but thinking more about it this morning - if it only occurs in the mid range of the cylinder, then maybe it's not the valve after all.
Especially as most cylinder's geometry gives them maximum force around the middle and less at each end of the stroke.

Good luck!

 

[Wayne County Hose]

You can have a shop replace the cylinder barrel for much less than the cost of a new cylinder. Unless this dealer has a hydraulic shop with testing facilities, I would not let them touch a cylinder. Sure, anyone can rebuild them. But when you have a problem, their solution is replace the whole darn thing. Not what I want to hear when I am paying a premium for dealer service.