rodwerkz said:
I have a 64 YALE forlift . A few questions about maintenance:
1. What type of motor oil should i be using in this thing.. I've been using 20w50 but a friend just told me that is too heavy..
2. My front axle was dry intially so i filled it up with 80w90. Now i have problems with the front right wheel locking? Is it too heavy.. Any ideas? The trans is a manual unit.
As a diesel/forkift mechanic for the last 15 years I'm confident I can answer your questions. the 20w50 oil will be fine well used gas or LPG engine. Continental engine?
The wheel locking up is most likley caused by a bad axle seal. The gear oil is getting on the brake shoes causing them to lock up. Another cause of wheel lockup could be a leakey wheel cylinder OR a broken piece of brake hardware jamming things up but I doubt it's the latter since this only happened since you filled the axle.
You should see some gear oil on the bottom of the backing plate & inside of the wheel. You could always pull the wheel/drum & take a look. If you've never worked on a forklift before, BE CAREFUL, they're heavy. If you want to pull the wheels don't attempt to jack it up with your normal 4ton floor jack. Besides the fact that there may not even be enough clearence for the jack to get under the machine, the weight of the machine will blow the jack seals out by the 3rd pump.. HAHA
Use the mast to lift the front so you can get the wheel off. Chock the rear (steering) wheels. Tilt the mast all the way back, put a block of hardwood under the outer mast channel on the side that you want to remove the wheel, then tilt the mast forward & it will pick the wheel up off the ground. You only want the wheel up high enough to get the wheel off. Put support blocks under the side of machine, don't rely soley on the tilt cylinders to hold the machine up. Use an old street sign or sheetmetal with a coat of grease on it to slide the wheel on & off the hub. They're heavy! Just make sure you have a source for the seals before you go pull the seal out. A good forklift dealer or bearing/seal supply house should be able to match them up with something. Use plenty of locktite on reassembly. If you need any other info PM me.
Billy
