You can inspect a forklift competently without standing next to it, but not by watching a video somebody else recorded. The whole value of a remote inspection is that you direct it live: you decide what gets started, in what order, and where the camera points. Done properly it takes about twenty minutes and finds the problems that cost thousands. Done as a passive viewing of a seller-produced clip, it finds nothing, because nobody films their own leak. This guide is the walkaround in order, with what each step actually tells you.
Get Free Quotes 👑Tell the seller three things in advance. The truck must be cold, meaning not started that morning. You want the call live, not a recording. And you want it to last twenty minutes. A seller who agrees to all three is probably selling an honest machine, because the single easiest way to hide a hard start, a smoking engine or a weak battery is to warm the truck up before anyone looks at it. If the seller insists on sending a prepared video instead, that refusal is itself the most useful piece of information you will get.
Before anything moves, have the camera held steady on the capacity data plate until you can read the serial number, the rated capacity, the load centre, the mast type and the maximum fork height. Photograph the screen if you have to. Then the hour meter, readable. These two frames anchor everything else: the serial lets you verify the machine independently with a brand dealer, and the capacity plate tells you what the truck is actually rated for, which is not always what the listing says, particularly if an attachment has been fitted.
Have them film the floor under the machine, then move the truck forward a few feet and film the ground where it was sitting. Hydraulic fluid, engine oil, coolant and battery acid all leave different marks and all cost money. A truck that has sat overnight on clean concrete and left nothing is telling you something genuinely useful. This is thirty seconds of video and it is the single highest-yield moment of the whole inspection, which is why you do it before the seller has a chance to position the machine over a stain.
Now have them start it on camera, in one continuous shot, without cutting. On an internal combustion truck you are watching for how long it cranks, whether it catches cleanly, what comes out of the exhaust in the first ten seconds, and whether it settles to a steady idle. Blue smoke is oil, white is coolant or condensation, black is fuel. On an electric truck you are watching the battery discharge indicator the moment it wakes, because a pack that drops noticeably under no load is a pack near the end of its life.
Ask for the forks to be raised to full height slowly while the camera watches the mast channels and the chains, then lowered just as slowly. You are looking for jerky or uneven movement, which indicates worn channels or a tired pump; chains that are not evenly tensioned; and any hesitation at the point where a two-stage mast transitions. Then full forward tilt and full back tilt. The mast is the most expensive assembly on the truck after the engine or battery, and this is the only way to assess it remotely.
Put a load on the forks, raise it to full height, stop, and have the camera hold still on the mast for a full two minutes without moving. Then do the same with the tilt. Any visible settling means worn cylinder seals or a leaking control valve, and that is a repair in the thousands. Sellers sometimes claim no load is available; a pallet of almost anything will do, and reluctance to find one is itself an answer. This single test is worth more than everything else on the call combined.
Have the camera go in close on both forks where the vertical shank meets the horizontal blade. That inside corner is where load concentrates and where cracks begin, and a cracked fork is a catastrophic failure rather than a gradual one. Also check fork thickness against each other, since forks wear thin and must be replaced in matched pairs, and look at the top of the blade for gouging. Forks are consumable and replaceable, but a set is not cheap and you should know whether you are buying one.
Cushion tires wear down toward the steel band and most carry a moulded wear line; running past it damages the rim. Pneumatic tires need tread depth and sidewall condition checked, and solid pneumatics should be examined for chunking, which indicates the truck has been working a surface rougher than the tire is rated for. Uneven wear side to side suggests a steering or alignment problem or consistently off-centre loading. A set of tires at any size is a four-figure item, so this is price negotiation material as much as condition assessment.
Have them open the compartment and film the date code stamped on the battery case, the cell tops, and the terminals. You are looking for the age, for corrosion, for signs of electrolyte overflow and for any cell that has obviously been replaced, because a mixed-age pack performs like its weakest cell. Ask whether it has been load tested and ask for the written result. A flooded pack over about five years old should be priced as a near-term replacement no matter how well it tests today.
Finish by having them drive the truck forward and reverse, turn both directions, and brake firmly, with the camera on the operator position so you can hear it. Then ask three things. Why is this machine for sale. What has been repaired or replaced in the last year. What would you fix if you were keeping it. The answers to those matter less than the hesitation before them, and a seller who answers all three plainly after a twenty-minute directed inspection is a seller you can probably buy from.
Compare quotes from trusted dealers. No obligation, no pressure.
A forklift specialist will reach out shortly with your free quotes.
Yes, if you direct it live rather than watch a recording. A directed twenty-minute walkaround finds the expensive problems. A seller-produced clip finds nothing, because nobody films their own leak. Insist on live, cold, and twenty minutes.
The hydraulic drift test. Load the forks, raise to full height, and hold the camera still for two minutes. Visible settling means worn cylinder seals or a leaking valve, a repair in the thousands. It is impossible to hide and worth more than everything else combined.
Because warming a truck up beforehand hides a hard start, exhaust smoke and a weak battery, which are among the most expensive problems to find later. Specify a cold start in advance, and treat a refusal as information in itself.
The heel, where the vertical shank meets the horizontal blade. That inside corner is where load concentrates and cracks begin, and fork failure is catastrophic rather than gradual. Also compare thickness between the two, since worn forks must be replaced as a matched pair.
Have the compartment opened on camera and film the date code on the case, the cell tops and the terminals. Look for corrosion, electrolyte overflow and any replaced cell, since a mixed-age pack performs like its weakest. Ask for a written load test result.
Why the machine is for sale, what has been repaired or replaced in the last year, and what they would fix if they were keeping it. The content of the answers matters less than whether they come without hesitation after a full directed inspection.