RoofRite - Malfunctioning Dump Bed

If this is a hydrolic system, you probably are either low on oil, or have contaminate in your oil. Check the oil cap for white residue (water) and smell it. Bad smells could mean biological contaminates. Air is also a common problem, check the oil level in the lift unit then bleed air out (if possible).

If your unit is electric, your motor may be worn out, you could take it to an auto-electric shop and have it tested.

Drew

I filled the hydraulic tank. Then I raised the bed allthe way it still lowered on it's own and pushed out most of the oil I just put in out the filler cap on the on the hydraulic tank. There are no other oil leaks.

Did you catch the oil?

Please describe a little more how your system operates. Is it electric, or are the valves manual?

It might be easier for you to think of it like this. If your master cylinder on your brakes went bad and was leaking past an o-ring, you could stomp on the brakes and your foot would slowly go to the floor. If the brake fluid didn't go on the ground, it had to go back into the master cylinder past the o-rings.

It sounds like you are having a similar problem with the lift, if the valve that holds the fluid in the cylinder is allowing fluid to bypass, the bed will drop. If you don't see oil on the ground, but did see it overflow your tank, it tells you the leak is internal to the system.

As some of the other guys here have asked (probably because they know more about the system than I do), how do you control your lift? Is it just an electric switch you flip for up and down, or are there manual valves that you have to manipulate to raise and lower the bed? This matters because it will help they guys who know more than me to pinpoint your problem.

You seem smart and aware enough to stay out of the way of the descending bed, but don't get irritated by posts cautioning you.

Drew

Give us more information. Any symptoms? noise? power draw?

How old?

We're just a bunch of people, not a searchable data base.

Drew K started things off, now it's your turn again.

Sounds like a bad seal to me. Or motor. Or valve...............................

Sounds like Good Advice to me.

Welcome to the insanity.

Among other things, many times a cylinder that won't hold a load is due to internal leakage within the cylinder itself. Is the system new? Used? Could you be exceeding the capacity of the system? Several previous posts provided good advice. To repeat, many people have been injured, killed with truck dump bodies coming down unexpectedly.

We don't take chances when working on these systems , always provide a safety to keep the body from pinning you under it.

h