D4D hydraulic cylinder on ripper

I have to put new seals in the hydraulic cylinder on my D4D. I spoke to the girl at the parts dept of the Cat dealer last week and she was not real helpfull finding the parts I need. The S/N of the machine was of no use to her even though the machine was originally delivered with the Cat ripper on it. She wants a number for the cylinder. I have wiped as much grime from it as I can but can't find any number. I did find two metal tags wrapped around the pipe on it and they have numbers punched into them. One has 2222 on it and the other has what I think is a 6 then a gap to 138-76. Would these numbers mean anything to identify the cylinder? I think maybe the 76 represents 1976 which is around the year I believe the machine was built.
Any help would be appreciated. I don't want to pull down the cylinder until I have the parts to rebuild it.
Ken

Ken look on the ripper frame for the serial no tag or the place it used to be, little tag with 2 rivet fixing.
tctractors

What you are looking for is info on the #4, 951, 955 ripper.
There are some variations in cylinders leading up to the one used on 78A-up D4's which would be correct for an original installation. Hope you can read the part numbers.

OK thanks tc and OM. I was looking for numbers on the cylinder itself, forgot about the frame, derrr.
Ken

There is a strong possibility they will need the change level of the cylinder to get you the correct seal kit. There should be a tag stamped on the cylinder with Chg. And then a number.

Tag should be on the RH end of the ripper mounting bar. Best place for it to get knocked off. Most likely a 58Dxxxx number.

Be careful when you're tightening down that piston onto the rod, the max torque for that nut should be around 1200 ft lbs. Wouldn't go any higher than that as the pistons have a habit of splitting in half if you over-tighten them. Piston goes on to the rod dry as well.

Yep I found the tag right where you said OM. It is a bit hard to read but what I made it out to be was 58L 5656 but of course that L could easily be a D. I hope that gives me the right info for the cylinder. I have to go to Toowoomba on Tuesday where the Cat dealer is so will take the two tags that were wrapped around the pipe on the cylinder along with that number and see what they come up with.
I won't have any big torque wrench to tighten with, I was going to mark the nut and tighten back to that mark and maybe just a little bit more to make sure. I will do that on the dozer and block it up with timber blocks so I can lean on it a bit.
Ken

wbvs58 said:

I won't have any big torque wrench to tighten with, I was going to mark the nut and tighten back to that mark and maybe just a little bit more to make sure. I will do that on the dozer and block it up with timber blocks so I can lean on it a bit.
Ken

Click to expand...

For lack of a torque wrench use 120 lbs on a 10 foot pipe or for the metric people 54.5 KG on a 3 meter pipe. Or then there is those that weigh in Stones that would be 8.5 stone!:tong

The nut will take some undoing so dont get to excited about doing it back up past the mark you put on it, the important thing is to check the rod for any damage, the seal No 16 will need clamping down to re-shrink it after it is fitted, shim stock or card and a worm drive hose clamp will do the trick of shrinking it back to size.
tctractors

Mate , If your going to Toowoomba , Try ringing Tillys First .They seem to try a bit harder when looking for the older stuff .. They have Access to Hastings Parts system as well . Brad Stallman Is the parts guy I always deal with .

OK, thanks for all the advice guys. You have supplied me with some great hands on practical advice, I feel like I will have let you down if I don't get the job done now.
ianoz, I didn't get your post until I got home today but Hastings have dug up the parts from Archerfield and they are posting them out. I will keep Tilly's in mind for next time.
Thanks Ken

Yeah, that was me,can't get away with anything these days eh?
We might be able to have a yarn next time.
Cheers, Greg

I just bought a seal kit from Tilly's over the phone for our D4D ripper ram...

Well I finally got round to doing the job on the cylinder, all the advise I got from you blokes was very relevant to the job and helped me get the job done successfully thanks very much. Every thing was much heavier and larger than cylinders I am used to on the tractor front loader but I took my time and worked through it. Of course the nut on the piston was the biggest the biggest challenge, I cut 3 hexagon shapes out of some plate I had lying around and welded them together and with a bit of filing I had a spanner that was a nice snug fit on the nut which I welded to a 3 metre length of pipe which although was a bit awkward I needed every bit of that length with me swinging on it to get it undone and again done up to get back to my marks. I was surprised at how the seals on the shaft had deteriorated, they just crumbled on trying to dig them out, no wonder she was going through the hydraulic oil.
Anyhow thanks again fellars, I am happy with the job I got done, I much prefer to do a job like this myself than to send it out to some of the vultures we have locally here plus I know what I have put inside it now.
Ken