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Sun May 18, 2014 3:53 pm

I acquired an old Bilstein jack and want to put it into service as my spare tire jack, I think this is an earlier jack than my '66 was fitted with but it seems to work well. Does anyone know how to lube the gears in the top of it? There's a rubber "cap" opposite the hex drive that might come off but I don't want to damage it. There's also a slot in the hex drive that might be made for lube, but once again I can't find any info on this in the BBB book or searching here. Lubing the lift screw is easy since it's exposed, but I'm sure the gears in the top would appreciate some lube too.

Any help?

Thanks!

Sun May 18, 2014 5:28 pm

You have a 55-63 jack.

Some jacks had a small grease fitting in the top; I believe I have a jack that does not have that fitting though. Hopefully someone will chime in as I have been curious too how to get some grease on those top gears too.

Be careful with the rubber plug; those jacks are almost always missing that plug and they can be hard to find.

Sun May 18, 2014 7:04 pm

That looks like the correct jack for your year. They didn't add the anti-tipsy till '67, I think. I'd say try to weasel as much as you can around the hex entry area and the other end where it rotates. It won't get on the bevel gears but they are only meshing to turn the lift screw. It's not like it's a continuously rotating drive shaft or steering gear so it should be fine. I agree those rubber bumpers get old and are nice if it must contact anything but it should stay angled away from the bus' curve.