Vestil RR Series - Manual (Page 3)

3
ADJUSTING INSTRUCTIONS
(Review Safety Precautions before doing any work.)
The key to long term, dependable use of your dockleveler is proper maintenance.
Prior to doing adjustments on your dockleveler you need to grease and oil the friction points plus
clean all debris from leveler.
Cleaning is the first step. Remove all debris from the pit. Clean the lip hinge and the lip operating
mechanism. Wipe dirt and/or material from ratchet mechanism including the ratchet and paw. Clean
deck hinge.
Zerk fittings to be greased (lithium base preferred) as follows:
1. Lip hinge
2. Pillow block at ends of trunion
3. Rotating cam in center of dockleveler deck
4. If unit is equipped with safety stops grease both sides
Oil all moving parts liberally. The only exception is the ratchet bar and the locking paw which should
not be oiled. Use a grafite base oil. Oiling is required every thirty (30) days. Oil hooking point at the
end of the springs.
There are two primary adjustments required on your dockleveler as follows:
Lip Extending Mechanism
The lip is extended by the lip cable and the lip counterbalance spring. The function sequence should
be as follows: The deck comes up making the lip cable taught pulling the lip out with the assistance of
the counterbalance spring. The lip is momentarily held in the extended position by the two hydraulic
dampers.
It is important to know how much tension to put on the lip assist spring. You want the maximum force
you can get and still have the lip fall back to the vertical position.
Repeat the following sequence until the lip doesn’t fall back to the vertical position. Grab the lip end
and manually extend lip. Release the lip. If it falls to the vertical position tighten spring nut clockwise.
When lip doesn’t come down to vertical position you have went too far and you need to back off the
nut slightly.
Deck Raising Mechanism
It is important to know how much counterbalance force you need to achieve proper operation.
When making your counterbalancing adjustments, take up on all springs approximately the same
amount.
Your deck needs to come up with enough speed to provide the momentum to extend the lip as
previously outlined. If the lip doesn’t extend when the deck comes up you need more
counterbalancing force. Back off on counterbalance springs by turning the bolts counter clockwise.
Other causes of malfunction are as follows:
1. Platform hitting sides of pit
2. Bent ratchet bar
3. Worn ratchet or paw teeth
4. Broken activating cable