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Shop press recommendations

Desert Rat

Desert Rat

Fetch the comfy chair
Joined
Oct 19, 2002
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Thinking about picking up a shop press. I was looking at the Central Hydraulics 20 ton press at Harbor Freight. Is 20 tons overkill for pressing studs into rotors or for doing wheel bearings and other similar tasks? I also looked at the 6 ton A frame bench press.
 
We got a 50 ton press in our shop....overkill maybe but its sweet.
It`s from PRINCESS AUTO. :thumb:
 
How much are you looking to spend? Second, do you want a manual or air over hydraulic press? Keep a look on craigslist for a Nugier press.
 
For me, I think the 20T HF press is basically the minimal acceptable press for shop work on full size 4x4 type stuff. Sure, you can get by with less, you can get by with nothing, but if you want a press, then I think that's a good base line. I had one for years and it generally served my needs well. First off, anything from a bottom-feeder like HF I derate by close to half. So for reference, if they call it 20T, I figure it as a 10T.

Also, fit and finish is about what you expect from HF. The slide is loose and wobbly, so take some time to shim it a bit; basically add some "gibs". You do NOT want that thing shifting and breaking/spitting out a part with 10T of pressure applied! Second, get real steel plates instead of the cast iron crap plates. Under high localized loads they will shatter, see "shifting with 10T of pressure". I had 1" steel plates I used most of the time. And one final convenience point was adding an air-over cylinder to avoid the hassle of pumping. Oh, and some 3" channel to replace the spindly leg-things with casters to allow easy moving. Also check all welds with a critical eye. Mine was fine, but I saw another that had scary undercut.

All that said, I sold mine several years back. A good friend turned me onto a 50T Carolina he found at a yard sale. With a little cleanup and adding some 2" thick AR press plates, it's worked out rather well. Far better than the HF 20T...
 
I've been using one for 7 years with no problem. I have stiffened it up though by welding together all of the bolt-on pieces
 
Here's a pic of my press just before i finished rebuilding it. This is a 40 ton Nugier manually operated press. Someday i'll convert it to air over hydraulic.

After rebuild.jpg
 
I'm going manually operated and I guess I will go with the 20 ton. I have a mig welder so I can add on to the existing setup as needed. I am in the middle of putting new rotors and calipers on my F150 which requires new studs pressed into the rotor/hub. So now I get to decide if I want to order a press and wait to finish that project or just pound them in now and order anyway.
 
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With a little tweaking and tuning the HF press can work awesome. I have had the 12 ton press and it sucks.

The 20 ton works very well, I will post a modification thread about mine when I get around to doing it, but it should fix most of the problems
 
That 50 ton press is nice but they want an arm and a leg for them. I just cruised Craigslist and didn't find any. I haven't checked the tools for sale section before. Holy **** there is a lot of tools for sale...
 
blazinzuk said:
With a little tweaking and tuning the HF press can work awesome. I have had the 12 ton press and it sucks.

The 20 ton works very well, I will post a modification thread about mine when I get around to doing it, but it should fix most of the problems
Click to expand...

I'd like to see some pics. I am inclined to pick up the HF 20 ton and then beef it up. I can fab up some stronger braces with casters as BadDog said.
 
dont think the hub rotor will fit to let you press in the studs by letting the center of the hub drop in the cross beam.

and for years as a auto tech i just took a bit steel punch and 4 lb mini sludge hammer and beat them in with no problems. :thumb:
 
You could always bring your stuff here to Fremont and i'll press them in for you. :thumb: It's about time we meet anyways, I think I have met every local CK5er except you at this point (forgot, there's one other in Concord I haven't met yet).
 
4X4HIGH said:
You could always bring your stuff here to Fremont and i'll press them in for you. :thumb: It's about time we meet anyways, I think I have met every local CK5er except you at this point (forgot, there's one other in Concord I haven't met yet).
Click to expand...
oh geez scott. are you gonna get a gold sticker when you've met all of the bay area guys?! :thumb:
 
BadDog said:
For me, I think the 20T HF press is basically the minimal acceptable press for shop work on full size 4x4 type stuff. Sure, you can get by with less, you can get by with nothing, but if you want a press, then I think that's a good base line. I had one for years and it generally served my needs well. First off, anything from a bottom-feeder like HF I derate by close to half. So for reference, if they call it 20T, I figure it as a 10T.

Also, fit and finish is about what you expect from HF. The slide is loose and wobbly, so take some time to shim it a bit; basically add some "gibs". You do NOT want that thing shifting and breaking/spitting out a part with 10T of pressure applied! Second, get real steel plates instead of the cast iron crap plates. Under high localized loads they will shatter, see "shifting with 10T of pressure". I had 1" steel plates I used most of the time. And one final convenience point was adding an air-over cylinder to avoid the hassle of pumping. Oh, and some 3" channel to replace the spindly leg-things with casters to allow easy moving. Also check all welds with a critical eye. Mine was fine, but I saw another that had scary undercut.
Click to expand...
This is right on. I've been using mine for years with no issues, but I haven't done anything really big with it. I got it when I needed a press and my funds were low. It's great for the money, but if I had to do it again, I'd wait until I found something in the 50ton range on craigslist. As far as beefing it up, I suppose you could. It might be worth it if you've got extra steel laying around and have free time.
 
4X4HIGH said:
You could always bring your stuff here to Fremont and i'll press them in for you. :thumb: It's about time we meet anyways, I think I have met every local CK5er except you at this point (forgot, there's one other in Concord I haven't met yet).
Click to expand...

I almost showed up for the pizza gig but I had another commitment. Hit me up next time you ingest and imbibe and I can try and swing it. I will probably just pound them in as I've done many times before. I have a huge steel bolt that I use for a punch and a mini-sledge. Then to seat them I usually do the reversed lug nut on washers and ratchet them down tight.
 
Me and the boys built a press this weekend. My buddy works at DAKE press in grand haven MI, he got the side channel all predrilled out of the scrap bin because the holes were drilled a few thou off lol. Then we scrounged some angle and channel, got a military issue 10 ton porta power for welding a floor in a jeep of a friends, and a Custom Dake press head my buddy made lol. I bought a 5lb box of rod for $13 and thats all we have into it :thumb::woot:. I welded on this sob for a long time haha, you wouldnt think of how many welds are on one of these

press1.jpg


press3.jpg


press4.jpg


press5.jpg


press6.jpg


press9.jpg



Got my lady to do some modeling :woot:

press8.jpg




And our Trademark thingy, like us on FB if ya want:D
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Overkill-Kustomz/269242509811465

press7.jpg



MONEY SHOT :D
431196_269692333099816_269242509811465_648339_1527493303_n.jpg
 
only thing i would have done is open side of channel out not in. this for flat inside for good solid rub rails .

otherwise looks great. :thumb:
 
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