Daily Driver with Hydraulics in the cold states

So about 4 yrs ago i had hydraulics on a saturn, it was my DD and never had any problems till winter started. I was going through cylinder seals like crazy and the ride also got very ruff im guessing do to the oil getting thicker or the accumilators being cold? I want to put some on my DD that i have now but scared that i will have all the same problems. So i was wondering if anyone has any info on oil that i should be using during winter and what are the best cylinders out right now also any other info that would help. The one thing i remember is my cylinders shafts where always dry and i dont know if that was a problem,i have hydraulics on my van and the shafts always have some sort of oil on it. thanks for any help.

You can run any companies cylinders as long as they have a polypack seal. As far as oil goes, I use AW32.

Am i guaranteed to have problems during the winter do you think? Jeremy i know your installs are awesome and i was wondering in your opinion you think your install wouldnt have any problems in Michigan winters? im just wondering if cold and hydraulics just dont mix.

I doubt it would be a big issue. I'm sure the ride will stiffen up during the freezing days. However, once those cylinders start moving they will generate heat and the seals should be fine. I would think the more you drive it, the better it would be. I could see something like condesation getting involved and then the seals freezing to the cylinder walls, but I doubt it and the car would have to be sitting for a while for something like that to happen.

I drove a juiced s-10 around here in the winter months before. Never had a problem.

usually parked it outside at night as well.



Taylor

this is something that is good to know :)

One thing you may want to look out for is rust on the inside walls of the cylinder casing. If you leave your truck up all the time, the water and salt could potentially form rust in there. The first time you lock it up, your seals get shreaded. I see this happen often to people in very humid climates who don't drive their vehicles much. Best thing is drive it often and use the full range of the cylinders often to keep oil on the cylinder walls.

Like Jeremy said, AW32 oil helps in cooler climates.

It isn't cold here but it is pretty humid and I haven't had too much of a problem. I also run AW32 in my car.

I drove my car in North Bay, Ontario where it drops to -35C on a regular basis. I have hydroholics cylinders and and the one thing I noticed more than anything else is the battery power dropped. I did get some rust on my cylinders from locking them up at one point due to frustration from the batteries. I am sure in the long run I will need to replace them, but to answer your question it gets a bit stiffer but not all that bad. I ran AW32.

Now that you mention the rust and i think about my cylinders shafts did rust up allot. Im not a person who has hydraulics to "play" with, usually im driving a few inches of the ground and only use them to get in my drive way and such places. i will deff try using AW32 oil. I was just using hydraulic oil that i got from a local parts store in a 5gal bucket so i have no idea the weight of it but i do know it was some already thick stuff.