Problem: Makes no difference what or which type of bottle jack to fit this lift, the bottles fails and starts to leak. Rebuild it. No leaks until it is set in a leaning mode to fit the jack
Solution: Take a trailer tongue jack.. Placeit as you would on a tongue of a trailer. Bolt to the fram or make a "J" type steel hook, bolt it to the jack shaft (plate the comes on the jack) slide it under the bar. foot on the base. You can drill and bole this in two places.
You now have a never to fail jack again. How far does the tongue jack stick out. No further than the foot pedal that used to be for the bottle hack. Plus the handle folds in .... The lift has never failed since. note: The jack needs the minimum of 16.75 " in lift. (this includes the lowest postion of the lift bar where the jack fits in the sweet spot. must be at 2K lift capability. (manual or electric. your choice, mine, manual.. never going to be stuck in the up position again!
You may spend the same amount $ replacing the jack but after twice, the option noted is cheaper and more practical. If you find the tongue jack sticks out to far for storage, Remove it. It will lay flat on the jack while you store it with no LEAKS! Have a great day... Let's RIDE!
Disclaimer: This solution was planned and organized by the poster. NO help from J&S except the 89.00 plus shipping before they close their doors. Great Product, poor parts and support. Sorry to see them go... long live the jack with this replacement repair.
@mrmatw I'm trying to visualize your solution using a trailer tongue jack. Is it similar to the hand crank jack used on the HD service lift?
The base of this jack would be mounted (bolted) to the J&S bottle jack base mounting plate. This tongue jack's vertical (rotating) mounting plate would be bolted to the upper horizontal lift member of the J&S jack (where the bottle jack ram now mounts to and pushes up on).
Bolting to the J&S jack lift member might look similar to this....
Except rotate the mounting plate 90 degrees so appropriate bolt holes can be used to fit the dimensions of the J&S jack lift member.
Cheaper tongue jacks might require some new holes to be drilled in the mounting plate to facilitate the size of the J&S jack member (so the bolts on the top and bottom are snug). Or maybe not.
Have to choose which type of crank you want... Horizontal (like above) or vertical....
I think i'd just buy another bottle jack to fit and bolt it in place........
Just before J&S went "belly-up" (and took many deposits with them) I finally got the replacement bottle jack I had ordered 6 months prior. What they sent me was a Blackhawk Automotive 6 Ton Bottle Jack #BH2060B. They are available from Amazon, Northern Tool, Tool Discounter and others. They sell for between about $50 to $60....but a buyer would need to drill the two mounting holes in its base. It also will not have the pressure release **** that J&S moded. It will come with a handle to turn the release.
I'm sure there are many other bottle jacks out there that will fit the J&S with just a bit of modification and still operate just as it originally came from J&S.
Hopefully this may help some of you in the same situation. My black bottle jack started to leak. The black jack is made by OmegaLifts Model 10065B. They do sell rebuild kits with seals thru a 3rd part called Lazzar's HCRCNow (hcrcnow.com) located in California. I spoke to a very helpful gentleman named Pete (562-596-5477) and mentioned there maybe some Harley Folks calling him.
If you have the same black bottle and search model 10065B on their site - you will see 2 rebuild kits incl all the seals for about $20 (check your Serial number for the correct kit), a new 6 ton replacement jack ($59) and the release valve seal ($8). I ordered a kit and will post back once it arrives.
From what I've read the "rebuilding" of a Chinese bottle jack is a real PITA. Difficult to open and messy from what I've read and seen on YouTube. While I realize $60 isn't cheap, these bottles are manufactured "cheaply"...... I prefer to not spend the $28 to rebuild a $60 item....after all, buying new is only a difference of $32.and my only labor is to mount the new bottle to my existing jack.
Smart man. Many people don't even consider the value of their time either.
I'm with you on this calculation.
Originally Posted by Rob175
From what I've read the "rebuilding" of a Chinese bottle jack is a real PITA. Difficult to open and messy from what I've read and seen on YouTube. While I realize $60 isn't cheap, these bottles are manufactured "cheaply"...... I prefer to not spend the $28 to rebuild a $60 item....after all, buying new is only a difference of $32.and my only labor is to mount the new bottle to my existing jack.
From what I've read the "rebuilding" of a Chinese bottle jack is a real PITA. Difficult to open and messy from what I've read and seen on YouTube. While I realize $60 isn't cheap, these bottles are manufactured "cheaply"...... I prefer to not spend the $28 to rebuild a $60 item....after all, buying new is only a difference of $32.and my only labor is to mount the new bottle to my existing jack.
Bottom line (to me) is why bother to save $32?
Generally... I'd agree with this POV. In my case, I replaced the J&S bottle jack with the Sunex 6 ton bottle jack...
Had to drill new holes in the base of the bottle jack and new holes in the mounting plate on the J&S jack. Once done... Seems to work perfectly. Only downside - if you want to call it that- I didn't transplant the foot pump lever. Meh... To me it works just as well pumping it by hand, so it wasn't worth bothering with.
Overall, the only downside... What will be available when this bottle jack goes ****-up? Will this same jack be available? If not, will I be able to find one that has a suitable base plate that can be bolted to the J&S jack? Will I have to drill more holes (turning the J&S jack mounting plate into Swiss cheese)? Who knows? I might attempt to rebuild the J&S bottle jack - if time ever permits - just so I have a spare that I know can be mounted.
Just a suggestion......if the Sunex I first suggested in this thread can be purchased for $38 each at Home Depot......why not buy a couple more as "future backstock"? I don't know how many years of use you got out of your original bottle jack, that came with the J&S Jack, but my original bottle jack lasted 7 years before it began leaking (still worked but made a mess). So on that basis, installing a new Sunex bottle with 2 more new Sunex bottle jacks on a shelf in my basement, could give me maybe 20+ years to never worry about finding additional replacements.
Just putting the information out there in case someone might need it.
It's $19 for the kit.. I told the gentlemen that I would try replacing the seals and if that didn't work, be back for the $59 jack.
I suspect my problem is the $8 release valve seal, so might try that first and then the full kit if that doesn't work.
It's not that messy, I have changed and refilled the jack oil before. It only holds about half a cup of oil, so not too bad. The recommended
oil seems to be:
Bar's Leaks Jack Oil with Stop Leak - 12.5 oz
$5.88 on Amazon
I will let you all know how it works out once it gets here. I did see it shipped from SoCal today.
Last edited by amarzano17; 11-28-2023 at 06:19 PM.
10-06-2023, 11:53 AM
