Cheep gear oil tank

[6011]

I have seen pressurized gear oil tanks for sale but they cost a lot. I have used a soap pump style pump on a cold day under my old dodge and it was a pain in the ass to pump that thick cold oil a few tea spoons at a time. Here are some pics of what my dad and i built. most of the stuff was just laying around the garage.

Materials:
2 gal jerry can
rubber valve stem
misc pipe fittings
length of flexable hose
one hooked pipe on a valve
one bent pipe for the pickup

Cut the vent off the back of the jerry can, then make the hole the right size for your valve stem. The tricky part is guiding the valve stem in place. To do this, remove the valve from the stem, run a length of stiff wire from the filler hole out the vent hole, then slide the stem along the wire and pull it in to place.

As for the hose, that depends on what you have laying around. Just make sure that it will hold pressure at the tank end.

Fill the thank only about half way with oil, then fill it with air till it blows up like a foot ball. Hook your filler in the fill hole, crack the valve, and wait for the oil to drip out. Much easier than pumping.

 

[Orionn]

Very KOOL! [smiley=thumb.gif]

I had done the same thing, but it attached directly to the oil bottle ...it worked great, till I got a weak bottle and it blew apart...... [nailbite]  talk about a MESS!!  [smiley=eek2.gif] [smiley=cussing.gif]


Gonna have to try this one though.  Very Kool setup 

 

[Bama Zuk]

Very very cool ,I like that idea [smiley=thumb.gif]

 

[Dr_xXx]

ho wow felicitation its relly nice idea.....but ou give me another idea...why you a use tire valve for make presure inside ? why you dont have made this directly whit quick connector for the compressor.... [idea]

 

[6011]

A quick connect would work if you were making the tank out of and old propain tank or something that could handle more pressure. I would not like to see what happens when you click the air hose on to a plastic jerry can, maybe with oily fingers, then BOOM-SPLAT! cus you couldn't get it off in time. With the valve stem it only takes a couple of seconds to pressurize the plastic tank with my shop air (about 80psi I think).

 

[Dr_xXx]

haha i know the BOOM SPLAT thay can make but i have regulator on my air hose...!!

 

[samilitant]

That is nice!  I'll be making one of those soon, but with a square 3-5 gallon tank, possibly 1/8 or 3-16" steel with reinforcements inside so I can put full 150psi to it.  Get that gear oil a squirtin' outta there!  I've been dealing with the slow sludge of the gear oil all winter.  I use the push/pull suction gun from harbor freight---they leak and take a while.   Better than a tube on a quart bottle and squeezing it in there.  I tried the soap-pump style thing too(I think it was $8 or something), and it sucked.  It was literally a soap-pump sized amount of oil per pump.  I think a diff took something like 150 pumps.  weak. 

"til it blows up like a football"!!  HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!

 

[slowmotion4x4]

cool idea. I see you used the blue push lock hose too. No cheap stuff for you there. We sell that where I work so I know 

 

[Biggerhammer]

I just set the gear lube next to the heat vent in the house till I'm ready for it. Than it runs out like 10w40!

 

[samilitant]

cool idea. I see you used the blue push lock hose too. No cheap stuff for you there. We sell that where I work so I know   

You're not kidding!  Those fittings are a few bucks a piece, plus $2+ a foot hose, plus valve, plus gas tank.

I thought of an idea...a weed sprayer!  I went to Home Depot--they have a cheapo for $15 and 2 mid-grades for $20 that were plastic, and then the bad boy steel one for $40.  It uses viton seals(which should be fine for gear oil since they can handle caustic other fluids), made of what looks like stainless steel(I think it is anyway), and you can get parts for it if you would ever need to.  The handle is plastic coated metal and has a lock-on feature, which works great.  Comes with a wand, but the tip is tiny.  I just attached a piece of hose.  Holds up to 2 gallons.  I put one gallon of 80w/90 in at about 55F degrees and 60 pumps was more than enough to pump the 2 quarts I did today in about 2-3 minutes.  All I did was sit there and watch the flow.  No more sore arm pushing and pulling those stupid little pumps.  I spent $20 over a couple years replacing those because they'd start leaking real bad after a while.  I think this will last me forever.  I'm just so excited about nothing, it's hilarious! 

 

[msmoke]

Compressed air sounds great, but that weed sprayer one you can take anywhere. Dont need an air compressor handy to fill up.

I like it alot, i think i may do it myself!

 

[samilitant]

You can get a plastic weed sprayer for just $15 that will do the job.  I'll be using mine for my business, so I wanted the best that would hopefully last a lifetime.  It works GREAT, I would recommend it.  I haven't tested it over time though...that will take time. 

 

[argogirb67]

[idea]great idea! [idea] [red_s]

 

[Vagabond]

I have a drill-pump dedicated to gear oil.  Fast, easy, cheap.  At 3.75 GPM, it will fill up your dif in 8 seconds!

 

[samilitant]

I have a drill-pump dedicated to gear oil.  Fast, easy, cheap.

I've never seen such a thing at a store.  Maybe I haven't looked in the right spot, but where would you get that?

 

[Vagabond]

I've never seen such a thing at a store.  Maybe I haven't looked in the right spot, but where would you get that?

The one in the photo is a Sears Craftsman.  $8.99  I have seen them at other places for less (Big Lots, etc.)

 

[whitfimb]

I just set the gear lube next to the heat vent in the house till I'm ready for it. Than it runs out like 10w40!

The smell of warming gear oil permiating the house would enrage my wife...

I'm thinking a metal Jerry Military Can...

 

[szki272]

I have used the drill pump. It worked for a while then blew out a seal.

Tried the weed sprayer the one I got was extermly slow.

I ended up using a old fire extinguisher. Free from a place that refills them. Many cant be refilled so they are tossed. I set it up with a regulator 1/4 in valve as well as hose. it works well at 40 to 50 psi (for gear oil ) most non pressure containers are going to hold up to that kind of pressure.

 

[ZUKIMON]

I would like to make sure that everyone that tries this realizes that if you use a metal can of any type, and you over-pressurize it you run the risk of getting hurt, or killed. There was a death last week in Boone near where I work where a guy was pumping up a wheel barrow tire, and it blew up on him taking most of his face and part of his brain across the room. I hated that it happend, and I knew and liked the guy, but this is a reality that we must face when fabricating something from parts that weren't designed for what we use them for.

**EDIT** I should have stated that I like the idea though. I've been wondering what I could do to remedy the same problem for years.

 

[szki272]

I have used the drill pump. It worked for a while then blew out a seal.

Tried the weed sprayer the one I got was extermly slow.

I ended up using a old fire extinguisher. Free from a place that refills them. Many cant be refilled so they are tossed. I set it up with a regulator 1/4 in valve as well as hose. it works well at 40 to 50 psi (for gear oil ) most non pressure containers are NOT going to hold up to that kind of pressure.

Sorry left out the NOT in the last sentence. The extinguisher tanks are rated for 100 + psi even the disposables. That is why I used it.