Understanding Forklift Replacement Parts from Two Complementary Perspectives
When it comes to forklift maintenance management, most companies lean towards one of two schools of thought: preventative maintenance or wear-based maintenance.
With preventative maintenance, fleet managers set up their service regiments according to predefined maintenance schedules, performing service tasks strictly when the schedule dictates (such as after a set number of operating hours).
With wear-based maintenance, fleet managers favor performing service tasks based on physical indications of deterioration. While each perspective has its virtues, the very best material handling businesses manage their fleets using a combination of both.
All parts of a forklift experience wear-and-tear over time, from seat cushions to side panels and everything in between. As parts wear, there will come a point when their physical or functional condition is no longer sufficient to ensure safe, reliable operation.
For example, worn tires may lead to tip-overs, fouled transmission filters may lead to long-term drivetrain damage, and worn lift chains may lead to load drops.
Using these examples alone, we can see that easily inspectable parts with low risk of sudden failure (such as tires) are well suited to be monitored and replaced only once verifiably needed.
On the other hand, difficult to evaluate parts with high risk of costly failure (such as transmission filters) are better suited for scheduled replacement regardless of their verifiable condition.
This is the underlying balancing act that exists between preventative maintenance and wear-based maintenance – replacing parts before they enter the “danger zone” of probable failure without overspending on premature replacements that could have reasonably waited.
To get this balance right, fleet managers must have a visceral understanding of how parts wear and what risk factors are associated with prolonged delays between replacements.
At the end of the day, the wider industry has largely determined which parts best fall in which camp, which we’ll walk through in the next sections.
The Top 10 Most Common Replacement Parts Used in Preventative Maintenance
By quantity alone, the top 10 most common replacement parts used in forklift maintenance are driven by the preventative maintenance perspective we described above.
In this category, forklift service is performed according to a forklift manufacturer’s prescribed maintenance schedule. Every forklift manufacturer and model will have their own published service schedule and task list, which are all based on typical operating conditions and applications.
While your forklift make and model may vary, the below list of replacement parts and their replacement frequencies is an average snapshot:
- Engine Oil & Filter (LP & Gas Engines) – every 250 hours or once a month
- Transmission Filter – every 500 hours or every 3 months
- Drive Axel Oil & Strainer – every 500 hours or 3 months
- Engine Oil & Filter (Diesel Engines) – every 500 hours or 3 months
- Fuel Filter (Diesel Engines) – every 500 hours or 3 months
- Air Intake Filters & Seals – every 1,000 hours or 6 months
- Hydraulic Return Filter, Breather, & Strainer – every 1,000 hours or 6 months
- Transmission Oil, Filter, & Strainer – every 1,000 hours or 6 months
- Fuel Filter (LP Engines) – every 1,500 hours or 9 months
- Spark Plugs (LP Engines) – every 1,500 hours or 9 months
The Top 10 Most Common Replacement Parts Used in Wear & Tear Maintenance
Switching perspectives to wear-based maintenance, these top 10 most common replacement parts are driven by wide variations in wear patterns that are best evaluated on a case-by-case basis. These parts still present risks should they be allowed to fail, but are easier to inspect and evaluate directly to determine the most appropriate service intervals:
- Tires – tires are ideally replaced when the tire tread reaches minimum tread depth, as well as immediately upon detection of direct damage such as sidewall fractures, divots, bulges, UV damage, or uneven wear.
- Brakes – forklift brakes should be inspected at every service and replaced as soon as pads reach minimum wear thickness. Brake pad wear is highly variable depending on operator habits and environmental conditions (like loose gravel and outdoor weather exposure).
- Forks – forks might be heavy, thick slabs of metal, but do indeed wear out over time through normal use and incidental damage. Forks that become bent, cracked, abrased, wear-thinned, or otherwise visibly damaged should be reconditioned or replaced right away.
- Batteries – both for internal combustion and electric forklifts, batteries of all types do wear out over time and eventually need replacement. Once batteries stop holding sufficient charge, take too long to charge, excessively off-gas, or show signs of physical wear, it’s time for a swap.
- Fluids & Lubricants – though not necessarily considered to be replacement parts, forklifts do require consistent replacement of their fluids and lubricants, as these fluids are consumed over time just like wear parts (IE coolant, engine oil, transmission fluid, brake fluid, and steering fluid).
- Hydraulic Hoses & Seals – rubber materials wear over time due to both internal and external factors (such as pressure cycling and UV damage, respectively), and should be replaced at the first sign of physical damage or every 2,000 hours / 12 months.
- Spark Plugs (Gas Engines) – spark plugs on gas engines tend to wear slower than in LP engines (as mentioned above), so are typically replaced on a wear-based cadence whenever they show gap, ceramic, tip, or fouling issues, or every 2,500 hours / 15 months.
- Timing Belt – slipping timing belts lead to poor engine performance and potential engine damage, so should be replaced whenever their slack exceeds OEM specifications, or every 3,000 hours / 18 months.
- Fuel Hose – rubber and braided fuel hoses are especially important to swap out at the first indication of cracks, frays, or loosening swaged ends, or every 3,000 hours / 18 months.
- Lift Chain – a forklift’s lift chain (or mast chain / leaf chain) connects the fork carriage to the mast, and wears in different ways as it raises and lowers loads. Chains must be replaced at the first sign of elongation, stretch, pin wear, or physical damage, or every 6,000 hours / 3 years.