Floor Jack Repair

**astroracer** · Dec 13, 2015, 05:26 PM

A friend of mine broke the diecast universal joint in his Craftsman floor jack. He couldn't find a replacement universal so, in looking at the broke pieces, I figured it wouldn't be that hard to make a new one out of steel.

The pieces aren't that big. Only 3/4" in diameter. All of the parts after dis-assembly.

I found a piece of 3/4" diameter steel in the drop pile.

I cleaned up the OD in the lathe, faced off the ends and drilled out the bore's for the mating parts. Test fitting the parts.

Continued in next post.

**astroracer** · Dec 13, 2015, 05:32 PM

With that done I clamped the piece in the vise on the mill and machined off both sides.

With that done I picked up the ends and center drilled for the pin holes.

After drilling out the pin holes I flipped the part 90 degrees in the vise and hogged out the center portion with a 1/2" end mill.

Continued in next post.

**astroracer** · Dec 13, 2015, 05:37 PM

After some deburring and cleanup.

I split the piece into two.

Rounding over the cut ends and a bit of assembly and I had a new U-Joint!

This was fun project and it will save an old jack from the scrap pile.

Mark

**DIYer** · Dec 15, 2015, 06:06 AM

Thanks astroracer! We've added your Floor Jack Universal Joint to our Jacks and Lifts category, as well as to your builder page: astroracer's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Floor Jack Universal Joint by astroracer

tags: floor jack