How does the forklift influence the vehicle?
Front Axle / Fifth wheel pin weight
The forklift is mounted on the back of the vehicle / Trailer and so the weight of the forklift removes weight from the front of the vehicle or trailer kingpin. It is vitally important that a minimum weight is maintained on the front of the vehicle / kingpin to avoid adverse handling characteristics. Most vehicles / trailers can be converted to carry a small forklift with less suitable configurations being compromised by being fitted with counter-balance weights.
Vehicle / Trailer configuration can have a large influence on the weight imposed on the front of the vehicle / kingpin and is especially important with the larger forklift models. Two general rules of levers apply to all vehicles carrying a truck mounted forklift:
The longer the rear overhang the greater the effect of the forklift’s weight on the front of the vehicle
The longer the wheelbase (or distance from the wheels to kingpin) the greater the effect of the unladen weight of the front of vehicle (or kingpin) will have on counteracting the weight of the forklift.
How much weight should be on the front of the vehicle / kingpin varies depends on the manufacturer, configuration and type of vehicle / trailer. For more information follow the links at the bottom of the page, if your vehicle or trailer configuration is not included in the list contact us for more specific advice.
Vehicle Free Weight
A vehicle is designed with a proportion of `free weight’. This is the spare carrying capacity of the vehicle between it’s overall plated weight and the combined plated weight of the axles. The higher the free weight of the vehicle the greater the flexibility the operator will have in load positioning before overloading of axles becomes a problem. Fitting a forklift to the vehicle decreases not only the carrying capacity of the vehicle but also affects the free weight. A weight calculation should be done so the driver is aware of the new carrying capacity of the vehicle and the free weight available to avoid axle overloading problems (for a weight distribution calculation follow the link below to the relevant vehicle type).