A privately owned two-wheeler in Mumbai might cover 6,000 km in a year. An auto rickshaw covers that in two months, fully loaded, in stop-start traffic, at a low average speed that gives the engine very little cooling airflow. Applying a private-vehicle service schedule to a commercial three-wheeler is the most common and most expensive mistake a small fleet makes.
Schedule by kilometres, never by months. A calendar schedule assumes constant usage. Fleet vehicles do not have constant usage - one is on airport runs and another is doing short local trips, and their wear diverges within weeks. Fit an odometer log per vehicle and service against distance covered.
Daily, by the driver. Tyre pressure, engine oil level, brake feel and free play, lights and indicators, horn, and a walk round for oil or fuel leaks. Two minutes. This is where the cheap catches happen - a leak found on the stand instead of on the road.
Every 2,500 km. Engine oil and oil filter. Air filter inspection, and replacement rather than cleaning if it is a paper element in dusty running. Chain slack and lubrication. Brake shoe wear check at the indicator. Clutch free play. Cable condition and lubrication - three-wheeler cables see far more actuations per kilometre than a two-wheeler and they are the most frequently replaced consumable on a working auto.
Every 5,000 km. Brake shoes are usually due here under loaded braking, and they should be replaced as a pair with the brake cables checked at the same visit. Spark plug. Carburettor idle and mixture check. Wheel bearing play. Suspension bush inspection. Battery terminals cleaned and greased.
Every 10,000 km. Drive chain and sprockets as a kit - never a chain alone against worn sprockets. Clutch plates, which on a three-wheeler in traffic are a scheduled item rather than a failure item. Fork oil seals and dust seals. Rear axle oil seals. Full electrical check including charging voltage, the regulator-rectifier and all earth points.
Every 20,000 km and beyond. Valve clearances and a compression check. Cam chain, tensioner and guides together. Shock absorbers, which by this point have almost certainly lost damping under continuous load. Piston, rings and a bore measurement if compression or oil consumption says so. Rear axle bearings.
The parts that go first, in order. Control cables. Brake shoes. Clutch plates. Air filters. Drive chain kits. Suspension bushes. Rear axle oil seals. Bulbs and switches. If you run a fleet, these are the lines to hold on your own shelf, because a vehicle waiting for a two-hundred-rupee cable is losing a day of earnings.
The economics that matter. For a fleet, the cost of a part is almost irrelevant next to the cost of downtime. Planned replacement of a wear item during a scheduled stop costs the part and an hour. The same part failing on the road costs the fare, the recovery, the driver day and often a second component that was damaged when the first let go. Fleets that move to scheduled replacement on the eight lines above usually find their parts spend rises slightly and their earnings rise considerably more.
Record the part code against the vehicle. After six months you have a stocking list built from your own fleet, your own routes and your own drivers, which is worth more than any general schedule including this one. We hold three-wheeler and auto rickshaw lines at both Mumbai counters and will help you size an opening kit against your vehicle count and monthly running - send us the numbers.
By distance, not by date. Oil, oil filter, air filter and chain attention every 2,500 km, brakes and cables checked every 5,000 km, chain kit and clutch around 10,000 km, and valve clearances and suspension from 20,000 km. A vehicle covering 120 km a day reaches each of those far sooner than a private two-wheeler.
Control cables, brake shoes, clutch plates and air filters, followed by drive chain kits, suspension bushes and rear axle oil seals. For a fleet these are worth holding in stock rather than ordering against a breakdown.
We stock it. Send the part code for same-working-day confirmation.
