OTC 5230 16-1/2 Ton Capacity Bench Press

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Price: $665.58    

Product Feature

• This innovative press integrates all the hydraulic elements within the chassis
• Compact and functional design saves workshop space and ensures protection during transport
• Workbench adjustable for height
• Automatic spring return piston and two V-blocks and legs with bolt-holes for fixing to bench
• Pressure gauge with damper to extend its working life-positioned at eye level for easy reading

Product Description

OTC 16-1/2 Ton Capacity Bench Press innovative press integrates all the hydraulic elements within the chassis. The compact and functional design saves workshop space and ensures protection during transport. Workbench adjustable for height. Automatic spring return piston. Pressure gauge with damper to extend its working life-positioned at eye level for easy reading. It includes set of two V-blocks and legs with bolt-holes for fixing to bench.

OTC 5230 16-1/2 Ton Capacity Bench Press Review

Determined to perform my car's polyurethane bushing upgrade myself, I spent a considerable amount of time deliberating over my available options for purchasing a press. As a "weekend warrior" car hobbyist working out of my garage both cost and available garage space for housing a press were of primary concern; however, I also didn't want to skimp too much on features and functionality for getting the job done right. I pretty quickly identified this press as a worthy contender; however, I had a hard time finding much detailed information about this press and the price seemed a bit steep for a "sight unseen" purchase. So, I continued to bide my time reviewing my options and looking for as much information about this press as I could find. Then it happened: The price for this press on Amazon dropped to a price that I could no longer resist. Albeit, there was up to a two month delivery time, but the reduced price and the fact that shipping was also free of charge pushed me over the edge. Thus, I finally placed my order and waited in anticipation for my new OTC 5230 16 1/2 ton press to arrive... and, arrive it did...

Open frame crated up and strapped to a pallet, the OTC 5230 arrived safely at my home where it was easily carted into the garage. Shortly thereafter, I went to work with a box cutter, crow bar, and 3 lb sledge hammer to liberate the press and associated components from its shipping crate. Fifteen or twenty minutes later, I had the crate disassembled to such an extent that I could carefully rotate the press up-right while simultaneously sliding it off the crate and pallet. With the press upright on the garage floor, I was then able to attach the "feet" which had been shipped loose with the unit. Though the feet for my unit differed significantly from those pictured, it was still pretty straight-forward to assemble them to the unit. Basically, the feet, which are actually somewhat triangular shaped flat steel sheets, insert into vertical slots cut in the bottom of the press frame where they can then be bolted into place. The included attachment hardware consisted of two bolts, two threaded lock nuts matching the bolts, and two over-sized nuts with ID larger than the bolt. With the feet in place, it's pretty intuitive that the over-sized nut is to be used as a spacer sleeve between the frame plate and the foot plate through which the bolt will ultimately be passed and then secured with the lock-nut. With feet secured, you're then ready to install the remaining accessories: the pressure gauge and the pump handle.

To install the pressure gauge, simply follow the included instructions to remove the temporary sealing plug on the pump and attach the gauge which was shipped loose with the unit. As per the instructions, make sure the sealing o-rings are properly positioned to prevent hydraulic fluid leakage once the gauge is installed. With gauge in place, all that is left is to snap the pump arm into position and then follow the provided instructions to prime the hydraulic pump. FYI, my unit was shipped preloaded with the appropriate quantity of hydraulic fluid, so the fluid I purchased separately was not necessary after all... which would have been a handy piece of information to have known prior to making my purchase. :)

Beyond that, the only other couple of points I can think of to mention is that the press v-blocks shown can be flipped over and used like standard v-notch press plates as there is also a v-notch cut into the base of each of these blocks (though it's not terribly obvious from the picture). Also, since the feet differ from that shown in the picture, the bench mounting will differ from the manner in which it might otherwise appear. Basically, the feet included simply have one hole drilled on one side of each of the feet, so something like a u-bolt or something similar will be needed to bolt the feet down. Guess it's up to you/me as to whether to put both mount points on one side of the press or the other... or whether to place them on opposing sides, which is what I've done for the time being...

All in all, I'm very pleased with this press as it made the bushing replacement job a breeze. In particular, I would say that the pressure gauge is absolutely an essential feature of this press (or any press for that matter) and I could not imagine having attempted the same procedure without such a pressure gauge. Basically, you really cannot tell how much pressure you are applying to the work piece without this gauge... which makes this gauge an essential safety feature allowing you to monitor how close you are to the maximum operating pressure of the press at any given time. It's also great for determining when the bushing sleeves begin moving as you will see the pressure rise and fall back down with each successive pump of the handle as the sleeve/bushing is progressively pushed from the control arm. Pre-treating each bushing with "freeze-out," all of my bushings were easily removable with forces between 5 to 10 tons of pressure. Once you know the typical pressures necessary for your bushings, excessive pressure observed on this gauge serves as a good working indication that something is likely binding/interfereing and in needed of re-evaluation/resetting. I have to admit that the pressure gauge was not on my must-have list prior to doing this job, but I would most definitely consider it as a must-have feature knowing what I know now. As I said before, having used this press I can readily see how easily you could get into a dangerous situation without the vital feedback provided by such a gauge. I know it's tempting to purchase one of the many cheaper bottle type presses that are readily available; however, all these that I saw did not have a gauge which is inherently dangerous to the operator since you won't necessarily know when the limits of the pump have been reached, possibly resulting in a catastrophic failure. If you do go the bottle jack press route, do yourself a favor and try to find one with a pressure gauge. Bottle jacks are great for lifing items of known weight within the jack's rating, but putting metal items under compression without any form of feedback is quite simply reckless...

UPDATE 11 FEB 2013:

Responding to a user comment, I remembered one of the big questions I had when looking at this press online. I spent a good bit of time trying to figure out whether or not any of the OTC press tool sets were "compatible" with this press as OTC never seemed to advertise additional tools for this press. I can only assume that their higher-end presses have heads that somehow accept/mount/hold the various advertised attachments/tools; however, this does not appear to be the case with this press as the provided press head is simply a surface for pressing with no apparent way to make use of the tools advertised for the other presses. It does appear that the default head can be unscrewed/removed with the potential to replace it with an alternative head design; however, I don't know that OTC has any alternative heads readily available... or, if they do, they certainly don't make it obvious. This is, unless things have changed over the past year since I bought this press.

Also, another quick note on differences of what I received from the pictured item: In addition to the previously mentioned difference in the "feet" of the received press, the height-adjustable press shelf/surface pictured is also slightly different that what I received. The pictured press surface would appear to be something more of a formed beam; however, in the product I received, these "beams" are simply flat sheets of steel, one on each side with bolts and spacers attaching one side to the other. One added plus of the received shelf design was that it provides a little more adjustability than the pictured shelf in that the shelf received has two alternative locking pin placements: on at the bottom of the plates similar to what is shown and one set of holes drilled higher up in the place to allow a slightly lower placement at any given latching pin hole.

I'd also like to re-iterate the value of having a pressure gauge to provide feedback about the amount of pressure you are generating as you pump the press. Without such a gauge, I cannot really imagine how you would have much of a clue how much force you were applying at any given time... which surely would have to increase the dangers associated with using a gaugeless press. I must admit that the stories I'd heard about the dangers of hydraulic presses had me quite concerned as I used this press for the first time and the feedback provided by the included gauge was an indespensible tool in helping calm my nerves. As a point of reference regarding dangers of hydraulic presses, there is an "automotive skills shop" near where I work that is staffed with highly experienced automotive personnel who can either perform services for you or help train you to do them yourself on equipment there in the shop. Interestingly enough, there are a couple of hydraulic presses there in the shop; however, they pretty much refuse to allow anyone to use them due to past incidents and the increased liability associated with the use of these presses. These folks recommended that I either use a bolt and cups type setup or a sledge hammer to remove the bushings instead, but I honestly cannot imagine having done this job in that manner. In my opinion, the hydraulic press was definitely the right answer but I think you should definitely take advantage of all available means for making the use of such equipment safer... and the pressure gauge definitely falls in this category.

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