How to Repair Scarring on a Rod, Actuator or Cylinder

When metal or foreign objects come loose inside of a hydraulic cylinder, or when a roller faces impact from a hard object, the roll or actuator will often have gashes along the body. When our customers describe this damage to us on the phone, our first question is “Can you hang your fingernail in it?” This gives us an idea as to how deep the damage is, and what type of repair may apply.

We generally segment scarring repairs into 2 types, based on the wall thickness and part diameter.

• For thick-walled rods with diameters ~7” and above, such as press rollers and suspension rods from heavy haul trucks, scarring is almost always repairable.  We do this through our submerged arc welding repair process.  This little-known alternative to traditional remanufacture programs or replacement options could be saving your business tens of thousands of dollars per part.
• For thin-walled and small-diameter rods, scarring can still be repaired in many cases using TIG welding and grinding. In some circumstances where the scarring is deep and covers a larger percentage of the rod’s surface area, it may be more economical to replace the rod rather than pay for repair.  We usually see this in smaller rods, where replacement costs are lower.