A planned maintenance program for your forklifts is essential to driver protection and operational efficiency. Like your own car or truck, there are components on your lift trucks that need regular attention to maintain performance and prevent mechanical failures.

There are some forklift parts that invariably get a lot of use, or are more prone to degradation through use and time. Hoses and rubber parts should be proactively renewed on a planned maintenance schedule in order to avoid problems with leakage or failure.

Exchanging components before they degrade or break down can prevent much more expensive repair work 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:

• Power Steering Hoses & Rubber Parts: Every 2 years, or 4,000 hours
• Reservoir Tank Hose: Every 2 years, or 4,000 hours
• Wheel Cylinder Rubber Parts: Every year, or 2,000 hours
• Master Cylinder Rubber Parts: Every year, or 2,000 hours
• Hydraulic Hose: Every 4,000 hours or 2 years
• 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 adequate care they can have an even longer life. However, all batteries will eventually need to be replaced.
• Forklift tires: as soon as tires erode further than the 50% line, have shredding or chunking problems, or form flat spots, they should be swapped out right away.
• Bearings: any worn out bearings should be attended to right away to continue smooth function of the lift truck.

Lift Truck Maintenance

At a minimum, any regular forklift maintenance should include:

• Routine Lubrication: all joints and moving parts of the lift truck should be greased regularly.
• Fluids: Forklift battery water and hydraulic fluids should be inspected on a routine basis.
• Charging: A regular charging schedule is imperative for your forklift’s battery life and efficiency.
• Gauge Inspection: for safety, all gauges and instruments must be checked on a planned schedule. This is not only a best practice, it’s also an OSHA regulation under the compliance section 1910.178(q)

Forklift Safety

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has a number of rules addressing forklift maintenance, and any vehicle that is found to be substandard must be sidelined until any deficiencies are addressed. So when is a forklift unsafe to operate? Here are some of the problems that could easily justify removing a lift truck from service:

• Tires with gouges or missing chunks
• Cracked welds on the truck frame or mast
• Missing fasteners or bolts on any part of the lift truck
• Broken gauges
• Overhead guard damage

Forklift Part Replacement in Oxnard

For any brand of forklift parts, you can talk to a parts professional at Raymond West by calling (805)667-0888 .

Raymond West
Ventura County Service Area:
Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Newbury Park, Ventura, Santa Paula, Simi Valley
Phone: (805) 667-0888