THE HOLIDAYS ARE COMING

Get your jacks ready for the busy season with this checklist

Here are five important items for your checklist to make sure your warehouse is prepared.

1. Check your warehouse floors and outdoor loading areas to make sure the workplace is clean and clear of any obstacles. Make sure that debris and spills are cleaned and swept up so that your operating environment is safe for your equipment to operate in. Debris and spills can ruin or shorten the life of your wheels or get in the way of your loads. 

2. Inspect the wheels on your pallet jacks and forklifts regularly to make sure that they are rolling easily and that there are no flat spots or delamination. Over time, the poly or rubber on your wheels can crack or wear unevenly resulting in unstable and unsafe loads. This can cause additional stress on your machine and on your workers' hands and arms due to vibration and rolling instability. We offer convenient wheel kits for manual pallet jacks and electric lift trucks. 

3. Have you looked at the forks lately?  Make sure there are no cracks or damage as the forks bear the brunt of the load. Using a damaged jack can cause a load to shift and fall and may damage products or cause injuries to your workers.

4. Check the hydraulic pump for leaks and make sure that it is operating properly. Does it pump up and hold your load? Does it lower safely? 

5. Test the handles, levers, controls, and horn where applicable, so that you are confident everything is working properly before you add a heavy load. 

Check our website for replacement parts you need, and contact us for any technical support.

Here is a list of instructional videos of the most common pallet jack repairs:

How to bleed the hydraulic unit

How to remove corroded or rusty load wheel axles

How to replace load wheels

How to replace steer wheels

and more  How To Instructional Videos

Everything you need to know about Lift Truck Tires

Everything you need to know about Lift Truck Tires

Free tire pressing service available with the purchase of a new tire or tire and wheel combo. Tire and hub assemblies are available in stock for many of the most popular electric pallet trucks. If you don't see what you are looking for here, just call us at 800-331-0839 or email us at csinfo@genericparts.com.

Crown WP Series & PE Series  *  Big Joe WPT45  *  BT Prime SMX45  *  Hyster W40XT & W40Z  *  Jung Heinrich EJE120 * Mitsubishi PW23 & PW30 * Raymond 102XM * Toyota 7HBW23  *  Yale MPB040E & MPB045E

Poly tires are recommended for electric trucks, especially when ridden  or capable of lifting above 4 feet, due to the superior stability vs. rubber tires. Polyurethane also has less rolling resistance than rubber which increases efficiency.

Polyurethane tires are harder, can carry greater loads and will outlast a rubber tire by as much as 4 times.  However, they also have less cushioning ability.  Polyurethane tires offer improved traction with different tread types without sacrificing load capacity.  They are more durable and are less likely to suffer from chunking, tearing or delaminating.  Polyurethane tires are able to roll over debris and rough floors with less likelihood of cutting or tearing.

Polyurethane can be slippery when wet but tread styles, such as the Diamond Groove or XGroove are available for wet and cold floor conditions while maintaining high load capacities.

Rubber tires can offer a softer ride and are generally used outdoors on the larger propane and internal combustion lift trucks.  Rubber tires dissipate heat well and are recommended for use at higher speeds. They offer a broader footprint providing better traction, particularly in wet conditions, but have lower load capacities.  Rubber tires are typically made with carbon black and because of this will mark indoor floors.

Tread Patterns

Smooth – Smooth surface tires are best on clean floors and standard warehouse environments.  There are several types of smooth tires.  SC = smooth crown. SF = smooth flat.  These can also have tapered sidewalls TSW or straight sidewalls SSW

X-Groove, also known as Diamond Groove (XG) – These have an X or Diamond pattern cut in the tire surface, best for wet floors and freezer areas.  

Check out this video on When to Replace and How to Measure Your Drive Tire

Check out these other awesome HOW TO VIDEOS

We have the Press-On Tires you need!

Seal Kits - Do you need them? Why are there so many?

Have a pallet jack that's sinking down under a load, or it won't release when you pull the lever?  Maybe it's stuck up and won't come back down to Earth. Whatever the issue is we have some tips to help you identify the cause and the parts to get you moving.

One way to trouble shoot a unit that will not lower all the way, or that you are unable to get full handle strokes is to rule out air in the system. It's quick and easy!  All you need to do is Pump the handle 15-20 times while activating the release lever.  Make sure you remove the fill cap first!  This is where the air will escape from. If oil is coming out while you are working through this process it's an indicator that you are not fully in release mode.

If your lift sinks down under a load, you can unhook the chain from the release pin and allow the pin to come out of the valve.  This allows the ball to seat, and may remedy the issue.  If not, it can be an indicator that the valve is honed out and no longer creates a tight seal when the ball seats.

If you have a unit that will not go down, check the release rod and make sure everything is moving freely.  Do the same on the underside of the jack.

Sometimes you just need to do a tear down of the hydraulic unit and rebuild it with a seal kit. Every manufacturer originally included a variation of different parts.  We have found in many cases that there are additional parts that should be replaced at the same time.  Below are outlined the differences between a super seal kit, standard and slim seal kit. 

Slim seal kits include only the most essential and commonly replaced seals. A cost saving option if you know what you need. A Standard or Super seal kit is a better choice if a complete hydraulic unit rebuild is necessary.

BT 11131-Slim

Standard seal kits have all of the parts included in the manufacturers' standard seal kit.

CR 44648 (ex. of a Standard Kit)

Super seal kits contain all parts that are included in a standard seal kit, as well as the most commonly needed parts beyond the standard seal kit to do a complete hydraulic unit rebuild.

MU 200064-901-Super (Ex. of a Super Seal Kit)

When doing the repair, we encourage you to disassemble one section at a time and line up the pieces in the order you take them out.  This will save your you-know-what when you go to install the new pieces.

If you need help deciding which kit to get you can take advantage of our unmatched Customer Service. Our staff has the knowledge and experience to help you with technical problems and even assist with identifying mystery jacks.  (See this post for more on that!) We also track model changes so you can be sure to receive the correct part the first time you place an order.

On select units we have the Rebuild hydraulic unit program  available also. Email or call us today (800)331-0839!

New String Guard Design, Load & Caster Wheel Assemblies

When you're ready to replace load and caster wheels on your electric lift truck, you may consider an improved wheel design that includes string guards.

String guards prevent debris from winding around the shaft, which can cause excess heat and premature wheel bearing failure.

GW 9143-A-SG
Poly caster assembly w/ string guards

Wheel assemblies including string guards are available for the following models of lift trucks:

• Crown PE3000, PE4000, PE4500, PW Series & PC Series 
• Yale MPE060, MPE080 
• Hyster W60Z, W80Z & B60Z, B80Z
• Raymond 111,112, & 8400 Series
• Toyota 8HBW30, 8HBE30, 8HBE40 and more!

Visit our website: www.genericparts.com. You can login with your customer ID # to view net prices and availability of wheel assemblies and replacement parts.

Email or call our friendly knowledgeable customer service (800)331-0839 today.

Prevent Costly Weather Damage To Your Material Handling Equipment

• Check unit for maintenance issues that may be lingering from warm summer temperatures.
• Oil needs to be changed every 150-200 run time hours & grease those fittings !
• Winterize your cooling system, adjust the water to coolant ratio in order to prevent broken radiators or worse, potential cracked blocks and heads.
• Use optimum levels for oil, lubricants, & coolants.
• Make daily inspections of your machinery

View our expansive inventory of replacement parts specifically for both internal combustion and electric forklifts. 

FREE Tire Pressing – Limited Time

Generic Parts is committed to providing services that benefit you. We now press drive tires with hubs up to 12” in diameter and for a limited time are offering free tire pressing with the purchase of a drive tire or hub. 

We also offer competitive pricing on a range of drive tires, hubs and assemblies. Call today for information on price and availability.

Thank you for making Generic Parts your material handling parts resource!