New Ray Forklift conversion

[kdz76]

So since I am out of town with work again I have had time to work on the projects on the weekends and upload pictures during the week I was able to get a full conversion documented on the yale forklifts to help with the steering and the tilt/lift function.

After I got the circuit board removed i broke out the dremel and started to clearance for a better steering throw


Next get rid of the motor and most of the gearing for the stock steering. Once that is done cut a hole in the side of the cover so your new linkage will be able to fit. This will also clear room for the tilt servo


Once I got that sorted I moved to the tilt function. I removed the springs so it would be unobstructed while this is out I also put a drop of CA on the lift assembly so it would avoid the slipping of the stock configuration


I also cut the internal at the shoulder and drilled holes for linkage to pass through


For the tilt servo mount I used the existing mounts from the stock circuit board However you do have to modify the servo just slightly to allow for clearance of the cables



Here is what it looks like with that servo in place and the tilt linkage installed


I used just regular old 1/4 x1/4 styrene to fabricate servo mounts



Once that is in its time to make the linkage for the steering


Once you have all that done its time to move onto making the lift go up and down the wheels to go forward and backward.
There are quite a few ways to get this done I have used 1/18 scale ESC's but they were too big for my liking
I have also used servo boards they are nice and compact except for the potentiometer but you can add resistors to take the place of it if you can find the correct ones the other issue with the potentiometer is that if they get bumped or moved your center trim could go out. I have used CA glue in the past to hold it steady.

Here are a couple pictures with the potentiometer still installed



And here is what they look like installed in the lift


But on the last conversion I did I decided I would try something new. I used r/c winch controller. These motors dont need any real "speed control" they really jut need an on and off command in forward and reverse so far it is working really well plus its also a much smaller foot print here is one installed


So once that is all taken care of its time to worry about how you are going to power it. Once again there are a few options
you can use a small 2 cell lipo but you also have to use a BEC to drop the voltage to 6v or less
You can use a 5 cell receiver pack (2/3A Cell) so you can have your 6v
A 4 cell battery holder for AA batteries is yet another option

But my favorite is the 5 cell 2/3a cell pack as it fits nice and adds just a little bit of counter weight Also if you look closely you have to do some more plastic removal by getting rid of the original battery tray


The next consideration I had was the on off switch and also a charging point so I dont have to open up the lift every time the battery dies so I mounted to the existing battery cover



Once you have all that done its pretty much just give it a quick test then put it all back together. But because I spend a bunch of time lurking around the board and see all the work everyone puts into lighting I tried to add some to the lift ad it didn't come out half bad



If you have questions or want more pictures I could open one of my lifts back up and get what ever you need.

[dabears]

Nice tutorial! You did a great job with the conversion!

[FlyingBeagle]

Looks great, thanks for sharing. How about a video of it working.

[kdz76]

here is an old video of the very first conversion I did and I still have that lift

http://youtu.be/YU3mONqSeJU