Tyres and Rims on your forklift

moboclassified November 4, 2026 No Comments

Most forklift used in warehouses and production houses always make use of solid tires. although there are some forklift that make use of inflatable tires. forklift tires are chosen based on the type of terrain that they would be moving on. In-short, the tires, rims and axle of a forklift is designed based on the work area specified to the manufacturer. These tires wear out after some time depending on the usage of the fork-lift. Most times if the forklift is used very frequently 24/7, the tires will deteriorate faster. 18 x 7 – 8 forklift size tires have a small surface area and they wear faster in about three months.

6.0 x 9 and 6.50 x 10 tires can last for about 4 – 6 months, while bigger tires like 250 x 15 and 300 x 15 can last for up to a year with minimal use. while These tires always have a safety mark limit, some of them can still become defective before they get to the safety limit where they are required to be changed. poor work terrain or quality issues can make a tire split into two, in situations like this an investigation has to be done to determine why the tire got defective before the expected time.

If the tires are corroded to the point that you cannot see the safety limit lines on the tires again, then the tire is due for a change. When the tires are due for a change and you do not change them promptly, it will affect the health of the person driving the forklift. not only will it affect the health of the person, it will affect the forklift itself. forklifts do not come with shock-absorbers, the tires are the shock-absorbers, so a defective tire will send shocks to the bearings and other parts of the forklift and also to the person operating the forklift, this will result in the wearing out of the bearings and axle.

If the tires are not eventually replaced in time, the axle might become damaged and you would have to fix the axle and the other affected parts which will automatically up-shoot the maintenance cost of the forklift. This is because the fork-lift does not have a shock-absorber. The tires of the fork-lift act as shock-absorber, but when the tires are no longer good, you would find the operators of the fork-lift complaining of back ache. Do not under estimate the fatality of these back aches it can cause for the operators. Most married man who have experienced these pains complain of their unwillingness to satisfy their wives in the other room because when ever they get back from work, they are always very tired and just ant to lie down and sleep.

Some times it becomes so serious that they have to visit the hospital for treatment. In Nigeria, most of these operators work for 12 hours per day on these trucks. If the trucks are due for a tire change and they are not changed, it affects the operators drastically. Don’t let me forget to mention more of that complain comes from the wives of these operators.
This is the more reason why you have to change the tires of your fork-lift whenever it is due for a change.

How do you change the tires of your fork-lift?

You are going to need a jack, wheel spanner, and a pipe.

• Use the jack and the pipe to loosen the nuts of the wheels. You need to use a pipe because you might not be able to loose it with your strength, so you need to make use of some mechanical principles to reduce the work done when you want to loose the nuts easily. The longer the pipe the easier it is for you to loose the nuts.
• After you’ve loosened the nuts, place the jack in a suitable position where the tires will be lifted and can be easily removed. Note that you can use of some electrical tools that have been specially designed to make the loosening of nuts more easier.
• After you jacked the truck up, completely loose out the nuts and bring out the defective tires.
• Place the new tire in position, guide the nuts properly and tightly. Jack the machine down and tighten the nuts even more tightly with your pipe and spanner or maybe your electrical device designed solely for the purpose of loosening and tightening of your nuts.

The tires of a fork-lift are always pressed with a pressing machine. You must be trained to use a pressing machine before you will attempt to use it. Your pressing machine could be electrically powered or diesel powered.
Whenever you are using the pressing machine, you need to have an assistant. You cannot do it alone, you need to have hand-gloves and a face mask, most especially when you are using a diesel powered pressing machine. This is because the fumes coming from the pressing machine can be very dangerous to your health. Remember safety first, safety always. If it is not safe, do not do it. we also have electrical pressing machines that do not emit any fumes, but the are more expensive to procure. which ever one you have available, you need to ensure that you take every required safety precaution that is stated in the workshop.

You would also need some spanners to loosen some bolts on the rims of the tires, and to tighten them back in the process of pressing the new tires back. Most times the rims might be defective due to the fact that they have cracks. When your rims have cracks, you can weld them to put them back in a good condition while you make an order for a brand new one. You need to note that, when you have welded a rim before, it is not advisable to weld it again if it has another crack. At that point the rim will need a replacement.

Do not wait for the tires to become overly defective before you change them so you won’t have difficulties when you want to press new tires for the machine. Remember, Safety First – Safety Always.