Hino Wet Kit Installation in Ames, Iowa
If you’re running a Hino truck and you need a dump body, hoist, or walking floor to actually move, you need a hino wet kit installation that’s sized right the first time. We’ve been doing hino wet kit installation work on straight trucks and cabovers coming through our Ames Hydraulics shop on Freel Dr for years, and the mistakes we see over and over come from kits that were slapped together with the wrong pump or an undersized PTO stub. We don’t do that. We spec the gear pump, the PTO, and the plumbing to match your dump angle, hoist cycle, or floor drive, then we cut, weld, and pressure test it on the truck.
How We Do Hino Wet Kit Installation
Every hino wet kit installation starts with the transmission. We pull the side cover or inspection plate, figure out what PTO opening you’ve got, and match a hot-shift or direct-mount unit that’ll bolt up clean. From there we run through the same process on every job:
- Mount and align the PTO to the transmission opening, using a stub shaft weld or a hub setup like a 1 7/8 Orb-6 output when the application calls for it
- Install a gear pump sized to the job — we’ve spec’d 1BL-D style pumps rated around 0.94L displacement running up to 18,000 RPM on Hino applications where the dump or hoist cycle demands steady flow
- Set a relief valve, typically an adjustable unit rated to 7,000 PSI, so the system protects itself instead of blowing a hose or cracking a cylinder wall
- Run and route steel and hydraulic hose lines along the frame rail, clear of exhaust and driveline, with proper clamping every 24-30 inches
- Mount and plumb the cylinder — whether that’s a hoist cylinder for a dump body or a set of cylinders for a walking floor trailer
- Fill, bleed, and cycle the system under load before the truck leaves our bay
We also handle the driveline side of hino wet kit installation, because a PTO that’s misaligned or running at the wrong angle will chew through U-joints and bearings inside a few thousand miles. If your driveline needs attention alongside the wet kit, our driveline and PTO shaft repair work covers that same day.
Common Failures We See on Hino Wet Kits
Most of the calls we get aren’t for new hino wet kit installation — they’re repair calls on kits that were installed cheap somewhere else, or original kits that finally wore out. Here’s what shows up on the bench most often:
Cylinder Leaking Past the Seals
Wiper seals and piston seals wear out, especially on hoist cylinders that see daily dump cycles. We rebuild these with proper wiper seals (we stock sizes like 195×39 and 175×39 MICO wipers), U-seals, piston seals, and the O-rings that go with them. A worn cylinder usually shows up as a slow drift when the bed’s raised, or fluid weeping down the rod.
PTO Won’t Engage or Grinds Going In
This is almost always alignment or a worn shift fork, sometimes a bad hub. We’ve replaced PTO hubs and matching output shaft hubs where the splines had worn enough that engagement got sloppy and started grinding.
Pump Losing Pressure Under Load
If the dump bed rises slow, or the hoist stalls partway up, the gear pump is usually worn internally or the relief valve is set wrong. We check relief valve settings first — a 7,000 PSI adjustable relief that’s crept down will rob you of lift force before the pump itself is even bad.
Hose Chafe and Fitting Leaks
Lines routed too close to the frame or exhaust wear through and start leaking or blow out entirely. Any hino wet kit installation we do gets routed and clamped to avoid this from day one.
How Much Does Hino Wet Kit Installation Cost
Pricing depends heavily on what your application needs — a simple dump bed wet kit is a different job than a walking floor system with multiple cylinders. Here’s a general range based on what we actually charge:
- Basic hino wet kit installation with PTO, gear pump, relief valve, and single-cylinder dump hoist plumbing: roughly $2,800 to $4,500 in parts and labor
- Wet kit installation with PTO hub replacement, stub shaft weld, and pump upgrade: often $3,500 to $5,500
- Cylinder rebuild alone (seal kits, wiper seals, piston seals, O-rings) when the rest of the system is sound: typically $600 to $1,200 per cylinder including shop labor
- Walking floor or multi-cylinder wet kits: usually $5,000 and up depending on cylinder count and hose routing complexity
Shop labor runs by the hour, and most straightforward jobs land in the 1-3 hour range once the pump, PTO, and hub components are matched correctly. If you’re comparing quotes, ask what pump displacement and relief valve rating they’re actually installing — that’s where corners get cut on hino wet kit installation jobs that fail early.
We also do this same work on other makes. If you’re running an International chassis, check out our wet kit installation for International trucks, and if you’re hauling grain or feed with a walking floor trailer, we’ve got a dedicated page on walking floor wet kit installation too.
If your Hino needs a wet kit built right — or your current one is leaking, grinding, or losing pressure under load — call us at 515-292-2599. We’ll get you a straight answer on parts, price, and how soon we can get your truck in the bay.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does hino wet kit installation take?
Most straightforward jobs take a day once parts are on hand — PTO mount, pump install, hose routing, and cylinder hookup. More involved jobs with a stub shaft weld or hub replacement can run into a second day.
What PTO fits my Hino transmission?
It depends on the transmission model and the opening on the side cover. We check the case and spec a PTO that bolts up clean, whether that’s a hot-shift unit or a direct-mount, before we ever order parts.
Can you fix a leaking wet kit cylinder instead of replacing the whole system?
Yes, most of the time. If the pump and PTO are still good, we rebuild the cylinder with fresh wiper seals, piston seals, and O-rings, which is a lot cheaper than replacing the whole hoist cylinder.
Why does my dump bed rise slow after the wet kit was installed elsewhere?
Usually it’s an undersized pump, a relief valve set too low, or a worn cylinder. We pressure test the whole circuit to find which one it is before we quote a fix.
Do you install wet kits for walking floor trailers too?
Yes, we handle multi-cylinder walking floor systems in addition to standard dump hoist wet kits. Give us a call at 515-292-2599 and we’ll talk through what your setup needs.
Written by Josiah Ragsdale, Ames Hydraulics