We were looking at an old scraper and though we want to walk away because the lift cylinders are toast, we are getting a little desperate to get a job done. The cylinders in question have obvious wear through the chrome all the way down one side of the rod. That side of the rod is rough and has linear grooves in it. I think we can get the rods out but I am more concerned with getting the rods repaired.
If the wear pattern is as you describe the most likely scenario is that the rods are bent. You need to ask yourself why this happened before attempting a re-crhoming job that may well not tackle the root cause of the problem. Could be the whole back end of the scraper is out of whack.
Might be cheaper to get new Rods made over re-chroming the old ones..............
Probably cheapest to just not buy the machine with the problems....lol I already pointed out this major issue but the owner seems oblivious to it regardless... He just keeps adding oil....
If it's a Cat, Use Cat reman rods only. Do not remove current rods and have then rebuilt, just exchange them instead. Take a very close look at the cylinder bores. If the rods are bent, there is a good chance that the pistons have been scraping the bores. If thats the case, you can also get reman cylinders, or a complete cylinder assembly from Cat. If it's another brand of scraper, I'd walk away.
Usually Cat will sell a Reman rod and a Reman cylinder barrel separately, so you can buy one or the other, or both if you need them. But if you want a completely assembled cylinder you'll have to buy a new one.
if you want to pay with your arm and leg buy the Reman rod, I recommend taking them apart to inspect all the parts, if they are bent you might be into a rod, gland and maybe a bore as well. if the chrome is just coming off and the diameter is less then 2'' take the rod to a hydraulic or machine shop to replace it with induction hardened chrome rod. the machining of the rod and the extra cost of the induction will be still 10x cheaper than going through CAT. induction chrome is a lot harder and more durable than just chrome