A scheduled maintenance routine for your lift trucks is crucial to driver protection and operational productivity. Like your own car or truck, there are parts on your forklifts that need regular attention to maintain performance and avert breakdowns.
Some lift truck components naturally get a lot of use, or are more vulnerable to damage through use and time. All rubber components and hoses should be preemptively replaced on a planned maintenance schedule before they start leaking or fail altogether.
Replacing forklift parts before they deteriorate or break down can prevent far costlier repair work in the future. As is often said, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
The parts you should proactively replace during scheduled maintenance are:
- Master Cylinder Rubber Parts: Every 1,000 hours or annually
- Hydraulic Hose: Every 2 years, or 4,000 hours
- Lift Chain: Every 6,000 hours or 3 years
- Swing Lock Cylinder: Every 10,000 hours
- Rubber Parts and Power Steering Hoses: Every 2 years, or 4,000 hours
- Reservoir Tank Hose: Every 4,000 hours or 2 years
- Wheel Cylinder Rubber Parts: Every 1,000 hours or annually
There are other parts that may also need regular replacement, including:
- Forklift battery: these will usually last at least 5 years, and given appropriate handling they can remain functional for several more years. However, all batteries will eventually need to be replaced.
- Forklift tires: as soon as tires erode under the wear line, have splitting or cracking issues, or acquire flat areas, they should be replaced immediately.
- Bearings: any failing bearings need to be replaced quickly to maintain smooth operation of the forklift.
Forklift Service
Scheduled lift truck maintenance programs should include the following:
- Lubrication: all joints and moving parts of the lift truck should be greased on a regular basis.
- Fluid Checks: Battery water and hydraulic system fluids should be checked on a regular schedule.
- Battery Charging: A methodical charging routine is essential for your lift truck’s battery longevity and performance.
- Instrument Inspection: to maintain a safe work environment, all gauges and instruments must be examined on a regular basis. This is not only a best practice, it’s also an OSHA regulation within the compliance section 1910.178(q)
Lift Truck Safety
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has many regulations concerning lift truck maintenance, and any truck that is found to be noncompliant must be put out of commission until any deficiencies are addressed. When is a lift truck considered unsafe? These are some of the issues that might be cause to keep a truck sidelined:
- Tires with missing chunks or gouges
- Broken welds on the mast or frame
- Missing bolts on any part of the vehicle
- Broken gauges
- A compromised overhead guard
Forklift Parts Near Me
If you’d like assistance in sourcing forklift parts or need forklift service, you can speak with an expert at Welch Equipment Company by calling (505) 822-8043. Welch features one of the largest forklift parts divisions in the Rocky Mountain Region and has access to hundreds of thousands of part numbers from almost every manufacturer.
Welch Equipment Company
5830 Midway Park Blvd NE
Albuquerque, NM 87109
(505) 822-8043
Serving Alamogordo, Albuquerque, Carlsbad, Clovis, Farmington, Hobbs, Las Cruces, Rio Rancho, Roswell, Santa Fe, South Valley and surrounding areas.
