Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Chapter 6 Cylinders 131
Application
The telescoping cylinders can be single acting or double acting. An example
of a single-acting telescoping cylinder application is a haul truck’s dump bed.
See Figure 6-10. A traditional cylinder would not be able to provide the overall
stroke length nor the necessary compactness of the retracted cylinder.
Plunger
Barrel
Intermediate
stages
Telescoping
cylinder
Figure 6-9. A single-acting telescoping cylinder contains a large-diameter barrel, one to four tubes, and a smaller-
diameter plunger.
Figure 6-10. Telescoping cylinders are commonly used in dump bed applications, providing very long strokes and
very short retraction lengths.