A planned maintenance program for your forklifts is crucial to operator safety and operational efficiency. Similar to your own car or truck, there are parts on your lift trucks that need regular attention to maintain performance and avert breakdowns.

Some lift truck components consistently receive unrelenting use, or are more prone to deterioration through use and time. Rubber parts and flexible hoses should be preemptively renewed on a set schedule before they start leaking or fail altogether.

Exchanging components before they weaken or fail can help you avoid far costlier repairs in the future. As the adage goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Lift truck parts that need to be replaced on a regular schedule are:

• Rubber Parts and Power Steering Hoses: Every 4,000 hours or 2 years
• Reservoir Tank Hose: Every 2 years, or 4,000 hours
• Wheel Cylinder Rubber Parts: Every 1,000 hours or annually
• Master Cylinder Rubber Parts: Every year, or 2,000 hours
• 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

There are other parts that may also need regular replacement, including:

• Lift truck battery: these will usually last at least 5 years, and with proper care they can have an even longer life. However, all batteries will eventually need to be replaced.
• Lift truck tires: once tires go further than the wear line, have shredding or general disintegration problems, or develop flat areas, they should be swapped out right away.
• Bearings: any worn out bearings need to be replaced quickly to continue smooth operation of the forklift.

Lift Truck Service

Scheduled lift truck maintenance programs should include the following:

• Routine Lubrication: the joints and moving parts of a forklift should be oiled on a regular basis.
• Fluids: Lead acid battery water and hydraulic system fluids should be monitored on a routine basis.
• Battery Charging: A regular charging schedule is imperative for your lift truck’s battery life and performance.
• Inspection of Gauges: for safety, all instruments and gauges should be examined on a routine schedule. This is not just a suggestion, it’s also an OSHA regulation under the compliance section 1910.178(q)

Forklift Safety

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has many regulations concerning forklift maintenance, and any vehicle that is deemed unsafe should be removed from service until any problems are corrected. So when is a forklift unsafe to operate? Here are some of the problems that may take a forklift out of service:

• Tires with gouges or missing chunks
• Weld failures on the truck frame or mast
• Missing bolts on any part of the vehicle
• Malfunctioning instruments or gauges
• Damage to overhead guard

Forklift Part Replacement in Orange County

If you’d like assistance in sourcing forklift parts or need forklift service, you can contact a parts professional at Raymond West by calling (714) 790-9300 .

Raymond West
Orange County Service Area:
Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Orange, Santa Ana, Tustin
Phone: (714) 790-9300