Is this too much seepage on my hoist?

Ha, unfortunatly the " current " company mechanic thinks down time makes money and won't do any preventive maintence. Run it till it breaks is his mentality. We do have a new mech starting next week that hopefully will be more effectve.

Are these seals going bad for any other reason than normal wear? Could I be doing something that is accelerating the wear?
I am closing in on 1600 loads in the 7 months I have been pulling this dump box.

 

Could the colder weather be allowing the seals to shrink some and letting more oil out?

 

Yes, it passes everyday that it rolls or else it wouldn't roll. Nothing hits the ground and as far as my PTI training and CDL exam goes that is the criteria. Also, according to the FMCSA regs for not passing a inspection normal " weeping " on hydraulic systems are allowed as seen below about half way down the page.



Thanks for your concern on how I do my pre trip though. Obviously I am concerned about the oil on the hoist or else I wouldn't have solicited useful and some not so useful post by starting this thread. I will weigh the advice from the experienced and not so experienced posters in the dump truck forum very carefully.

 

i agree whole heartedly. He is getting that reality check. New head mechanic starts this week I think. Unfortunatly the old mech was the bosses longtime freind so the kitchen didn't get too hot for him. I think that is going to change here in the near future.

[QUOTE="semi" retired;4440999]Here's a REAL leak story. When I was pulling a a 24ft. dump trailer with a Mack R model, hauling salt from Milwaukee to Madison, Wis. (about 75 miles), the trailer had the oil tank on the front of the trailer, with the hoses going through the deck plate on the truck to the pump. I had to make a real tight turn at the salt pile, and unknown to me, one of the hoses broke the connection on the pump. When I got to Madison, I engaged the pump, pulled the up/down lever, nothing happened. I got out, and saw the whole underside of the trailer and the tailgate were soaked with oil. (I wondered why no one was following me close) Since I was at the county shop, I borrowed a pipe wrench, and a pipe nipple, fixed the connection, put about 30 gallons of oil (that the boss had to pay for) and got the load off. I got chewed out for that by the boss, who said, I should have come back (65 miles) and had it fixed at our shop. Never even thanked me for fixing the truck. That's gratitude for ya'. I quit shortly after.[/QUOTE]


30gal is a lot of oil to dump. A lot of smeared windshields behind you I am sure. You should have told the boss that you were just undercoating the trailer to prevent rust.