zz4x4
02-01-2002, 01:00 PM
I got my JD2 bender a couple weeks ago, and tried to bend .134 wall 2" tubing. Right. Not likely without a 10ft breaker bar. Decided to look into a porta-power etc... Then I wondered why the long stroke ram on my engine hoist wouldn't work. I mounted the ram and the jD2 to a 3 ft long piece of C channel steel with a few bolts. The 8 ton ram has a 22 inch push and is more than enough. This ram is available from Harbor Freight for about $49 and has a hole in the bottom pad (round bottom) and the in the ram for easy mounting to the JD2. I filled the ram with a little extra fluid for horizontal operation and it works great. Took a bunch of pumping, but it bent the .134 with no problem. For an upgrade , get the $89 air / hydraulic long ram and let the air compressor do the work. Just FYI for those who wondered about a regular hyd ram for a JD2. JT:usa:
weldpro
02-01-2002, 01:07 PM
Glad to see thats working for you. Make sure you put the ram all the way back in for storage because there is no "suface treatment" on those cheap POS rams! It'll be cool to think it could work for a long time but I would not count on it.
weldpro
zz4x4
02-01-2002, 01:19 PM
The ram has not failed me yet after 2 years of lifting motors, doors, axles etc... But anyway, cheap is the key here. You could buy 4 of them for the price of a cheap porta-power and 10 of them for the price of a JD2 hydraulic set-up. But, I agree, always store with the ram retracted. JT
emsoffroad
02-01-2002, 03:07 PM
Didn't someone else make a setup for theirs with a motor pump and cylinder?
MdntRdr
02-01-2002, 03:48 PM
Either you are right or the Texan took over and is BS'ing us.:rasta: I've been wondering about that ram myself since I'm going the poor man's hydro route myself. I have the mount almost done. Guess I'll be getting a ram sometime next week.
TERRA-IZER
02-01-2002, 07:14 PM
Hye you guys got any pics of how you mounted the ram?
zz4x4
02-01-2002, 07:34 PM
A while back RokToy posted a bunch of pics of his set-up with motor, ram etc.. on a table he built. Search this forum under JD2 and you'll find it. I used a similar positioning of JD2 and ram, but mounted them to a single 4" wide C-channel which I bolted to my workbench. Of course my ram doesn't have the motor, pump, hoses or cool fabrication work. JT