level up hydraulic lines

[jcurtis934]

I am in the process of investigating why my front levelers drop two inches in a weeks time, so I have been looking at everything while I am at it. What I have noticed is that the orange extend lines to the rearmost levelers, curbside and streetside, have lots of minute cracks in the jacket of those lines that come out of the frame. Guess this means I am going to have to change those two runs out for new and better lines sometime in the future. Using your crystal balls, how much time I can delay? On the sqatting front, I see no leaks and wonder if it is a poor seating valve on the front of the streetside ram. Anyone had that as an issue? John

[rohrmann]

The orange, and I'm sure the black too, hoses have a thin plastic cover on them, which isn't under pressure. If that is what's cracked, and there are no leaks, the hose is OK, in my opinion.

[Fire5er]

I have already had one of the orange hydraulic lines blow (just two months ago) and now wondering how long I have before the next one goes.

[rohrmann]

A couple of years ago, had the hose from the pump to the manifold develop a bulge under the plastic cover. It never did leak, and it also did not appear to affect the actual hose body, but I did replace it with a new hose. Went to an auto parts store with the old hose, which I believe was 3,000 psi rated, and left maybe 20 minutes later with a new 6,000 psi hose with new fittings that cost $20. Installed it, run jacks up and down a couple of times, and no more leaks. I asked if the 3,000 psi hose was available, and it is not used on AG or industrial equipment. If you have to change a hose, go with the better stuff.