No cheap forklift is without problems

[justin1]

I bought a forklift recently and have been dicking around with. For the most part everything works and besides the half a dozen weld repairs done on the thing and a few leaks it works.

I'm not the most knowledgeable in forklifts but I know the main cylinder shouldnt just random drop every once and a while and should give down smoothly with its own weight. I think it's seal related but figured it wouldn't hurt to seek 2nd opinion as forklifts and hydraulics arnt my bread and butter.

Anyways here is a video of me raising and lower the main cylinder

And video of another problem I think? I believe both bearings should be riding on track. But maybe I'm wrong and it's an overload bearing? But I think when who ever broke fork rack and fixed it may of warped the supports during welding.

I appreciate some feedback from anyone who may know more about forklifts look forward to learning somthing.

 

[Martin w]

I kind of think it's a problem with the fork rack when lowering. How in heck did they break the fork rack?
Is this a Clark?
I don't know a lot about lift trucks, but I own two. My Eaton/Yale will drop sometimes on the 2nd stage mast. Not when there is weight, but only when it's lowering with no load.
Check the rollers on the mast, make sure the mast has plenty of grease.
I have a Clark as well if you want me to take some pictures of the mast?
Martin

 

[historicalarms]

Any "lifting devise" that drops unexpectedly aint a lifting devise anymore....its an accident that hasnt happened yet!!!

 

[Ironman]

This sounds like a hydraulic issue.
I have a similar thing on my JD 544 loader. I was lifting a building, and noticed when I wanted to feather it up a tiny bit, the boom would drop about 4 inches before going up. Happens only with a heavy weight, so I am suspecting it is a cylinder bypass issue.
I would put a weight on the forks, maybe lift the front of your pickup about 3-4 inches off the ground and see how long before it sinks. My Yale forklift sinks overnight in this test.

 

[justin1]

I kind of think it's a problem with the fork rack when lowering. How in heck did they break the fork rack?
Is this a Clark?
I don't know a lot about lift trucks, but I own two. My Eaton/Yale will drop sometimes on the 2nd stage mast. Not when there is weight, but only when it's lowering with no load.
Check the rollers on the mast, make sure the mast has plenty of grease.
I have a Clark as well if you want me to take some pictures of the mast?
Martin

Possible that its rack related the bearings seem to work and the chain seems fine and is balanced. When I get a extra body I can examine it better when it goes up and down. Can't see all the bearing in action when I'm operating.

Ye mine does the same thing when it's unloaded Hasn't dropped loaded and I hope it doesn't.

Sure mine is a Clark c500 y45 doesn't hurt.

And they broke the fork rack and the side shift rack. In multiple places it's pretty impressive and I'm not sure what they were doing that did so much damage. Don't know if they liked to ram walls? The side shift bottom rack is 1" thick and they snapped it in half.

This sounds like a hydraulic issue.
I have a similar thing on my JD 544 loader. I was lifting a building, and noticed when I wanted to feather it up a tiny bit, the boom would drop about 4 inches before going up. Happens only with a heavy weight, so I am suspecting it is a cylinder bypass issue.
I would put a weight on the forks, maybe lift the front of your pickup about 3-4 inches off the ground and see how long before it sinks. My Yale forklift sinks overnight in this test.

The main cylinder doesn't seem to sink to much but it does sink slowly. The tilt cylinders are pretty shot tho they sink rather fast.

 

[justin1]

Any "lifting devise" that drops unexpectedly aint a lifting devise anymore....its an accident that hasnt happened yet!!!

Usually when I talk about the quality of rigging or a weld that holds something important, I describe it as "I would stand under that" in the case of the forklift I would not stand under it or too close beside it.

 

[140mower]

And they broke the fork rack and the side shift rack. In multiple places it's pretty impressive and I'm not sure what they were doing that did so much damage. Don't know if they liked to ram walls? The side shift bottom rack is 1" thick and they snapped it in half.

It almost sounds like someone drove it off the loading dock and did a nose dive..... Hopefully they survived and learned something by it, I won't get my hopes too high though.....

 

[justin1]

It almost sounds like someone drove it off the loading dock and did a nose dive..... Hopefully they survived and learned something by it, I won't get my hopes too high though.....

That actually makes lots of sense how some of that damage could of happened either that or it spent a lot of time driving over pop holes in a yard fully loaded at full speed.

I plan on repairing the damage as it was not fixed properly and was definitely not inspected after. But currently I'm just addressing the leaks then want to get some hours on it make sure there isn't any other surprises then just gonna pick at it.

I'm gonna keep my eye out for a parts forklift if I can find a dead one for cheaper I'll probly snag it.

I like the lifting capacity of 5500lbs and being more suited to offroading compared to other forklifts but also not being to bulky I couldn't use it inside

 

[Bandit]

Take a look at the cylinder, see if one of the rams ( as is telescoping)is bent a wee bit. The other thing with the cylinder, is if it is centered properly, sometimes it can be moved around a little bit. Some times they will not lower smoothly with out more weight on them. Then again, it may have a "twicked" mast. Likely as per other damage. As for slowly dropping, it could be wear/ leakage past the control valve, cylinder piston seals worn, allowing leakage from one side of the piston to the other, a leaking line on the pressure side of the cylinder.
General rule, DO NOT stand under things supported by hydraulics, DO NOT leave forks off the ground when leaving lift alone. Forks really mess up eyes and faces, (etc.) You can not see a raised fork (easily) anywhere around eye level!!!... Being as eye level depends on height, so be it. A few basic rules.
Once again, I am not an expert, just my nickels worth, -2cents American.

 

[140mower]

.......damned hard on shins etc as well, it gets quite painful when your toes are all the way under before you trip..... used to work with someone who loved leaving the forks in the air just a little....

 

[Martin w]

I tried to get decent pictures of the rollers, but they are pretty much inside the column.

Mine is a Y100. I have a single stage mast on this one. You have to be very careful inside the barn when lifting. The mast goes straight up. The two stage on the Eaton is much better inside, as I can lift full height and the mast doesn’t go higher than the fork back.
..

 

[DPittman]

I like the lifting capacity of 5500lbs and being more suited to offroading compared to other forklifts but also not being to bulky I couldn't use it inside

I used to work in at a business where we did quite a bit of ag machine service and maintenance and they didn't have any sort of lifts/hoists and it was surprising how much we used and how handy the forklift was.

 

[justin1]

Take a look at the cylinder, see if one of the rams ( as is telescoping)is bent a wee bit. The other thing with the cylinder, is if it is centered properly, sometimes it can be moved around a little bit. Some times they will not lower smoothly with out more weight on them. Then again, it may have a "twicked" mast. Likely as per other damage.

Eyeballing it and using small straight ish edge the cylinder rods seem fine, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some twist unless I take the fork frame off and lay on flat surface probly won't be able to really tell.

One thing I did notice when I was putting some blocks under my seacan was that I can pick up the front of my 20' seacan with tilt cylinders but couldn't really pick it up with Main cylinder.

I tried to get decent pictures of the rollers, but they are pretty much inside the column.

Mine is a Y100. I have a single stage mast on this one. You have to be very careful inside the barn when lifting. The mast goes straight up. The two stage on the Eaton is much better inside, as I can lift full height and the mast doesn’t go higher than the fork back.

The frame is quite different but mind you that lift is meant to pick up a bit more then mine. And my lift has 3 stage which is nice as the first stage does lift the mast so I get 40ish inches of free lift.

I used to work in at a business where we did quite a bit of ag machine service and maintenance and they didn't have any sort of lifts/hoists and it was surprising how much we used and how handy the forklift was.

That's basically what I want to use mine for when I can trust it more. But it is nice to be able to unload stuff and move stuff around. I'm currently building a shop ATM and it's handy just to move hand full of lumber around to areas.

Currently I'm fixing the side shift cylinder and if the seals in it are in same shape as the rest of the seals then it's looking like im gonna have to rebuild other cylinders in short order. That and not sure how they managed to damage the chrome so bad on the side shift cylinder rods but they did.

 

[Ironman]

I have been told to suck a ram into the cylinder when parked because the sun and rain will lift the chrome. I have no idea if this is correct.

 

[Bandit]

I really don't know @Ironman, however I have seen many rams with rust on them, and the chrome lifting or very pitted. One of the killers is welding or grinding sparks hitting them, seem to burn/melt? the chrome leading to trouble, to say nothing of the grit going into the seals!
I wonder if an exsposed ram's thin covering of oil attracts dirt etc., causing acids to form, then eating thru the chrome. Many chrome plated surfaces are not very thick, and many? are not as hard as thought. There seems to be some industrial chrome platings that are very, very thuff and hard, sometimes used on rams, sure cost is the problem.
Sometimes packrat pee wouldn't touch them, LOL, them that know, packrat pee seems to dam near eat up anything, given time.
@justin1, it appears that shift shaft has been rubbing on something, or something rubbing on it, metal to metal.

 

[LenVW]

I think you better drain and flush the hydraulic oil to remove any debris that might be getting into the Check Valves and Directional Spool Valves.
If there is a Counterbalance Valve in the circuit, it could also be the problem.
Hydraulic valves will hang up if filled with dirt and paint scale, which will cause poor seating of valve components and bypass of hydraulic oil.

Always drain and flush before replacing components.

 

[justin1]

H

Not sure if currently rubbing but the cylinders wasn't protected by anything and there is few dings. I think maybe they blasted it with something and never properly cleaned it as there is this green stuff almost like shot Crete all over the transmission and there is signs of it on the cylinders aswell. I could see if this crap was left alone on a wiper seal could slowly attack the chrome.

I think you better drain and flush the hydraulic oil to remove any debris that might be getting into the Check Valves and Directional Spool Valves.
If there is a Counterbalance Valve in the circuit, it could also be the problem.
Hydraulic valves will hang up if filled with dirt and paint scale, which will cause poor seating of valve components and bypass of hydraulic oil.

I want to flush the system before reinstalling the side shift anyways because the last hydraulic filter change was 2009. But kinda want to fix all the hydraulic cylinders in one go so I don't have to do multiple flushes.

But not sure if I want to fix the cylinder that's currently on the side shift or replace the cylinder rod or just buy 2 new seals and wiper seals and just live with it leaking past the pitting slightly when being used which isn't very much.

I haven't figured out how they built the rod yet. I think it's threaded together or crimped in some way. As the depth of grove is around 1/16 which seems to deep for shrink fit? I'm working on locating a manual for my machine but I don't imagine the attachment will be in it but I think it's worth investigating more before taking a pipe wrench to it.

The middle piece spins freely and moves side to side slightly. Doesn't appear to be anything under the "seal" that is covered by a wear band.

The two seals that appear to do anything just keep hydraulic oil from escaping. And the hydraulic oil just pushes the middle piston back and forth and must be sealed just enough to function but must let some oil bypass? As it's just a wear band on the piston.

 

[Susquatch]

I have been told to suck a ram into the cylinder when parked because the sun and rain will lift the chrome. I have no idea if this is correct.

With poor quality rams, suckling them in is common practice. I've seen them peel myself. And if in doubt, that's what I do whenever possible. Sadly, it's not always possible.

Doesn't seem to happen with black nitride or other high quality rams.

 

[LenVW]

Not sure if currently rubbing but the cylinders wasn't protected by anything and there is few dings. I think maybe they blasted it with something and never properly cleaned it as there is this green stuff almost like shot Crete all over the transmission and there is signs of it on the cylinders aswell. I could see if this crap was left alone on a wiper seal could slowly attack the chrome.


I want to flush the system before reinstalling the side shift anyways because the last hydraulic filter change was 2009. But kinda want to fix all the hydraulic cylinders in one go so I don't have to do multiple flushes.

But not sure if I want to fix the cylinder that's currently on the side shift or replace the cylinder rod or just buy 2 new seals and wiper seals and just live with it leaking past the pitting slightly when being used which isn't very much.

I haven't figured out how they built the rod yet. I think it's threaded together or crimped in some way. As the depth of grove is around 1/16 which seems to deep for shrink fit? I'm working on locating a manual for my machine but I don't imagine the attachment will be in it but I think it's worth investigating more before taking a pipe wrench to it.

View attachment 48235

The middle piece spins freely and moves side to side slightly. Doesn't appear to be anything under the "seal" that is covered by a wear band.

The two seals that appear to do anything just keep hydraulic oil from escaping. And the hydraulic oil just pushes the middle piston back and forth and must be sealed just enough to function but must let some oil bypass? As it's just a wear band on the piston.
View attachment 48234

That ‘side-shift‘ cylinder might have opposing Lip Seals that are positioned in the groove area that you show. Depending on the direction of movement the oil pressure forces the Lip Seal out toward the cylinder wall.
I saw that application in large container forklifts we made for CLARK Equipment.

 

[justin1]

That ‘side-shift‘ cylinder might have opposing Lip Seals that are positioned in the groove area that you show. Depending on the direction of movement the oil pressure forces the Lip Seal out toward the cylinder wall.
I saw that application in large container forklifts we made for CLARK Equipment.

I does have 2 single lip seals but there built into the gland nuts and held in place by composite pieces the only thing on the piston is a rubber seal of some sort and a wear band over top of rubber thing. The piston isn't really sealed by anything it and just floats in a groove.