It is recommended to often inspect the front end of your forklift as part of your daily or pre-shift inspection, in order to help prevent costly forklift repairs. By catching any problems ahead of time or as they happen, you can also help prevent damage to any loads too. The following includes a few of the common guidelines on what particular things to inspect during regular inspections of your material handling fleet.
Forks
Regularly checking the forks is vital because if these are worn out or cracked, they might fail without warning. Any type of fork damage means that your forklift should instantly be removed from service until it is safe and fixed once again. Visually check your forks for any visible indications of damage or wear. If the cracks run deeper than on the surface, replace them. Any kind of wear on the forks beyond 10 percent is another sign that you need to replace the forks.
Mast
The mast must ideally tilt backward and forward while being able to move up and down. You might have to lubricate the mast strip sliding surfaces and fittings if you find that the sliding surfaces are binding. On the inner mast there is a fitting located on each side. The lift bracket side rollers are a different lubrication point and there is also one on every side roller. Once the lubricating has been done, lower and raise the mast and also tilt it backward and forward several times in order to ensure that the lubricant is worked into the fittings correctly.
Tilt Cylinders
Your daily inspection needs to involve the checking for oil leaks and damage as an uncontrolled mast movement could be a result of oil leakage. Whether the leaks are external or are located inside of the cylinder, the end result could be cylinder drift and loss of fluid. If there are any indications of leaks or damage, you may have to replace just the seals or the whole cylinder assembly.
Chains
The mast chains have to be checked to see if they are being stretched beyond their acceptable limits. What's more, inspect the chain wear guage or check the chains for signs of damage. If wear is present beyond 2 percent, replace the chain. Also replace it if the chain seems kinked or rusted. Both the chain rollers and the sheave bearings also need to be inspected for indications of wear.
Typically, mast lift chains wear at the pin-to-link connections. If you notice wear, you can experience chain failure. This can end up damaging front end components or even the product. If you do not have time on hand to perform regular fleet inspections or if you need help determining what exactly to inspect on your forklifts, simply contact your local lift truck dealer. Their trained service technicians would help your perform PM or planned maintenance inspections according to your application requirements and scheduling.