Is this a good hydraulic press?

[In The Ten Ring]

My Honda Accord needs a new wheel bearing and the shop wants $350.00 to do it. What are your thoughts on this press from Harbor Fake Tools?

https://www.harborfreight.com/20-ton...ess-60603.html

Would you suggest something else? Several reviews cite the frame being off/bad welds.

[NaturalSnapple]

I have the exact press. It gets the job done but because it bolts together you'll have issues getting it perfectly square without welding it. Also, the horizontal bar that moves up and down wobbles, so you'll need to weld in a couple nuts on the side to get it to move perfectly up and down.

[NaturalSnapple]

See the gap I'm talking about that causes the wobble. You can square it up and weld a nut or something on each side to keep it from moving around.

[In The Ten Ring]

Thanks man. I found this video on the same press, this guy used bolts to take out the play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaTh9UWidzI

Thanks for the tip on welding it into square, I could handle that/get it done with some guys I know.

[Tx Firefighter]

I've been building trucks and cars with that press for a long time now. I bought mine back when they were orange.

You don't understand the value of a press until you have one. That's when you start to realize that you've been doing stuff hack your whole life.

[abig84]

we literally have the same one at our shop and do press out bearings all the time with it. only ones we have difficulty doing is the ford explorer rear bearings as they are always rotted solid in there. but for any kinda smaller car or truck they work great.

youre also going to need some kinda of adapters to be able to push the bearing in and out. for pushing it back in we usually just use the old wheel bearing you pushed out, and be sure to support the middle of the new bearing when pushing the hub back in. i destroyed my first bearing when i did one.... or forget the snap ring lol

[Jason Banks]

I too have the same press. You won't be disappointed for the price. I believe they have the 25% coupon this weekend.

[Tom Vogel]

I've had the old orange one for years. Can't really go wrong here.

[RPBurris]

I bought the smaller one (12 ton?) to do some bushings on my car. Well worth the investment and it pays for itself the first time.

[Warrens69GMC]

I bought one (12 ton) in preparation for our 1969 GMC rehab.

[ghalperin]

Get the biggest that you have room for.

I've had my 20 ton HF since 2000. The only limitation is the size of the frame. I use it all the time and it's never let me down. A couple of weeks ago, I straightened a bent crossmember to almost perfect.

You'll also need a bearing splitter. I use impact sockets and old bearing races to push and support. Sometimes I stack the races and zap them together with the mig. I've also collected a few steel blocks, 4x1x6, 1x1x6, etc...

I'd also buy on Craigslist, if one was available and it was perfect. Probably half the price.

Make sure the Honda hub will fit through the frame on the press, some wont.

HTH

[neal64ss]

I use that press and have no problems with it. You be surprised how much you need it once you have it. I put mine on swivel casters so I can roll it to my work area.

[SJLenz1340]

I have one of the old orange units as well, it was a failed unit that HF did not want back. It was given to me by a friend. So I welded the entire frame back together given the scientists at the factory in China didn't even hit the weld at all. I then proceeded to reinforce all the pin locations by welding in large washers. So a free press and a little of my time produced a very usable shop tool.

[In The Ten Ring]

Oh gosh, that does sound good. I may try and buy one/order one this weekend. Jason Banks, thanks for the coupon info!

I am about to put my truck back together and when I do that, it'll clear up a ton of room in my garage, giving me space for this thing. In the meantime, I can use it/store it in my dad's garage.

[davepl]

I too have the older orange 12T and have had good luck with it. But here's a tip:

Those arbor plates are HEAVY. I've only knocked one off once, and it missed my foot, but I bet they could crush or amputate a toe if you got unlucky.

So either wear steel toed boots when working with it (ideally) or (also ideally at the same time) be very cautious that you don't knock the unsecured plates off onto your toes!

[RichardJ]

Years ago, I looked at the orange ones that many of you have mentioned in the HF store.
Someone had been playing with it and pushed directly on one of those included arbor plates, as they call them.
It had snapped in half. They are made out of Chinese cast iron instead of real steel. It turned me off to the press and built my own. I had the Metal Supply cut the Channel steel to lengths needed and had them cut several 1/2" and 3/4" thick steel blanks to use on the table.

I'm happy no one has had a problem with the cast plates.

The guy in the YouTube in post #4 mentioned threading the ram pin under the jack. I made my ram pin 1 1/2" in Dia, internally threaded to accept a 1" threaded extension pin or any other foot of my choosing. I also spaced the holes on the side posts so that two pins could be used on anything really stuborn.

[Slowboat]

If I recall there are two silver presses at HF with different part numbers. one has cast plates and one has torch cut steel plates. Get the one with steel...

[Gromit]

The press is fine for the price and I'd say reasonable to go for it but I'd like to second slowboat's comment - don't trust those cast plates. Use a plexiglass shield if you are using them or replace the plates with steel before you crank on them - someone posted a photo and described an injury from this on swagofforad.com - I would have never expected this because hefting one of those cast plates it is so heavy I wouldn't have expected it to be so brittle.. but 20 tons can be an awful lot if concentrated on one square inch. I think it is just cast iron and not ductile at all..

http://www.swagoffroad.com/ARBOR-PRESS-PLATES_p_7.html

Force = mass times acceleration.. the formula works multiple ways.. kerpow! -ow!

[jocko]

I went back and forth with apparently the only guy in the US who can sell a 59 Massey Ferguson water pump WITH the pulley installed. Three times it wasn't pressed on the right amount and wouldn't budge. I won't be going back to that vendor any time soon, but I AM enjoying my new (put it off for YEARS) Northern Tool or whatever it's called press. I probably waited so long because I used to move around a lot. Don't anymore, so am glad to have it. Solved my wp problem in about 30 seconds. As said above, can't really go wrong and they have many uses.

[ebaccm26]

Like most others in this thread I have this press and it has been great for me. The only thing I will say is don't pay $175 for it. It goes on sale regularly for $150 or you can get it even cheaper than that if you can find a 20 or 25% off coupon.

[mike16]

I wanted old king pins pressed out of the front axle on my 57 gmc. Fools quoted me 500 dollars to press out the pair. I told them I would remove the whole axle from the truck bring it to them and all they gotta do is press out the two king pins... still 500 dollars.

I told him I could drive all the way up to Tucson 100 miles, buy a harbour freight 20 ton press and lunch, and a full tank of gas and drive home and still have 230 bucks left over. He shrugged and said 500 bucks.

I went to tucson bought a 20 ton press, lunch and a tank of gas, drove back to his shop and showed him what I got, honked and waved "goodbuy".

I have rebuilt 3 front ends for my own vehicles and 2 for others and various side jobs... for free, essentialy.

went back to harbour freight with the money I saved and bought a beed blaster, lunch and a tank of gas..

went by that shop to honk at the owner. the place had been raided by theFeds. owner was a meth dealer

go figure

those 20% off coupons make the deal even better. Its a hydraulic jack so its a simple thing, not medical equipment.

[In The Ten Ring]

Originally Posted by mike16

I wanted old king pins pressed out of the front axle on my 57 gmc. Fools quoted me 500 dollars to press out the pair. I told them I would remove the whole axle from the truck bring it to them and all they gotta do is press out the two king pins... still 500 dollars.

I told him I could drive all the way up to Tucson 100 miles, buy a harbour freight 20 ton press and lunch, and a full tank of gas and drive home and still have 230 bucks left over. He shrugged and said 500 bucks.

I went to tucson bought a 20 ton press, lunch and a tank of gas, drove back to his shop and showed him what I got, honked and waved "goodbuy".

I have rebuilt 3 front ends for my own vehicles and 2 for others and various side jobs... for free, essentialy.

went back to harbour freight with the money I saved and bought a beed blaster, lunch and a tank of gas..

went by that shop to honk at the owner. the place had been raided by theFeds. owner was a meth dealer

go figure

those 20% off coupons make the deal even better. Its a hydraulic jack so its a simple thing, not medical equipment.

There are LOTS of crooks and downright criminals out there. Just imagine the suckers that had their cars seized when that place was raided.

[In The Ten Ring]

Originally Posted by RichardJ

Years ago, I looked at the orange ones that many of you have mentioned in the HF store.
Someone had been playing with it and pushed directly on one of those included arbor plates, as they call them.
It had snapped in half. They are made out of Chinese cast iron instead of real steel. It turned me off to the press and built my own. I had the Metal Supply cut the Channel steel to lengths needed and had them cut several 1/2" and 3/4" thick steel blanks to use on the table.

I'm happy no one has had a problem with the cast plates.

The guy in the YouTube in post #4 mentioned threading the ram pin under the jack. I made my ram pin 1 1/2" in Dia, internally threaded to accept a 1" threaded extension pin or any other foot of my choosing. I also spaced the holes on the side posts so that two pins could be used on anything really stuborn.

Could you show us more pics of your press? I'm curious about building my own also after hearing about yours.

[RichardJ]

It's made with 4" x 1.7" Steel Channel which I think is heavier than used on the HF. I have two pieces of the 4" channel on the bottom, just like at the top. That and the eight 5" x 1/2" bolts holding it together has never once made me think it should be welded together.

I used vertical 5/8" steel rods to guide the 1/2 x 3" plate, but had to weld on those chunks of steel to help keep it lined up square.

The cable clamps holding the guide rods were crudely made, but were perfect for the job. I just had to machine the back side flat and to the same height so they held both rods square and equal distance from each other.

On the table, I used EMT tubing to space the halves together before welding the 5/8" rods in place, inside them. The tubing was cut on the lathe, to get square ends and all the same length.

Not only is the press a great addition to your home shop, a small lath comes in super handy to make specialized pieces to help with the press work.

You can never have too many tools.

[In The Ten Ring]

Oh that is impressive but it's a bit out of my reach at the moment. I have no room to work on anything and no lathe. If I buy one I'll probably go for the Harbor Fake Tools version, it's popular on this thread and should do the job for me. Storing even it will be a challenge but I can take it back apart.

I may run over to Harbor Fake and see if they can order the unit for me or if they have one in stock, I printed out a 20% off coupon. (Thanks again to the member that suggested that).

I can weld a bit and my father has a welder, after I get some room I could weld the press together for square and put in some brass set screws to take out the play in the bar, as shown in a video I linked above.