Forks that touch the floor when they shouldnt really annoys me, I aways adjust chain's on a PM when they need adjusting, customers are also pleased they aint having to replace forks due to wear.
As far as the time required to adjust chains, etc, in my quote for the PM's I state that all adjustments/extra fluids are extra. I don't want to shortchange the pm 'cause I'm to busy making up lost time do to adjustments, etc. All extra work is OK'd before they're performed so there's no issues w/ billing.
I use a go/no guage for the chains & forks. I usually add time on a drive tire replacement quote to adjust the chains so the adjustment is on a new set of tires.
As with all leaks & adjustments, they're all judgement calls (what's a big vs little leak, so what if the forks hit the ground when fully lowered)- but I find that as soon as the little words "safety" or "liability" enter the conversation, little things seem to get taken care of quickly.
The lubricants on the upright/chain vary due to the customers conditions. I always due my best to educate the customer on how differing circumstances change the products needed.
I would think that once there is no more adjustment left on the chain anchors then the chains should be replaced. I got to believe they make them a certain length for a reason.
I have seen instances where a competitor will "lock out" a truck because there is no adjustment left on the free lift chains. In one instance it was because the drive tires were extremely worn and in another it was because the secondary chains weren't tightened properly causing the inner rail to hang down. In both of those instances we picked up a new customer.
Had fork calipers, then had fork wear gauge, then I did CFTS inspectors course & was told we should be using Vernier caliper to measure fork wear.
FB chain gauge to measure the stretch & vernier again for measuring the disc height wear.
As for adjusting the chain's, I find ratchet spanner's make the job a lot easier & quicker, I have 24mm & 30mm for these job's.
Some truck I look after chain's are adjusted 10mm of the floor with forks level, other trucks I look after due to the poor design of the mast it's impossible to adjust the chains to get the forks of the floor & even the manufacturer in the service manual points this out as not possible.
I just use a light coating forktruck chain spray.
We use fluid film for lube up here, things tend to get rusty
But I also use Wurth S2000 or transmission oil
Usually depends on the current condition of the chains and environment
I usually always keep the secondary's adjusted to where all channels are even at the top and the primary's just touching the ground when the mast is even and lowered all the way
I don't really use a chain gauge that often as it's easy to tell if a chain is worn by looking at the part of the chain that doesn't roll over the chain roller and comparing it to the part that does...
And yes I use the fork gauge
generally when i pm a truck if i have to adjust the chains i just try to figure it in with the pm labor if its a quick adjustment. Sometimes i have to compensate and spread extra time across the day if it takes too long. My employer likes for us to create a charge for doing so if it takes more than 15-20 mins. Same with blowing off the lift and radiator or checking the battery and having to add gallons of water to an electric truck battery.
I try and use the 30 minute rule, if any extra stuff i do requires me to take up to or beyond 30 minutes then the customer gets charged for it over and above the PM flatrate charge.
Being it only has to be done every so often they usually don't gripe too badly about it.
As for how to measure, we do use a chain guage which is a go/nogo guage. As for the pitch it is usually etched on the side of the links. Most of the average sized chains on 3000 to 5000 lb lifts use something like BL40 multi leaf chain.
And yes 1/4 to 1/2 in might be ok but when i worked for yale they told us to have mast vertical and adjust the forks 1 in off the ground (measuring between the heel of the fork and ground)
If you have to adjust the inner channel chains that's pretty simple, just making sure the channels are even at the top of if there are stops make sure they are not sitting dead on the stops crushing them.
What kind of lube?
I like using endura lube or permatex chain and cable lube. They both tend to solidify when the air hits it so it doesn't run too bad except for in the hot summer, then you have to be careful and spray it on light.