The load of the wheel loader changes frequently and fluctuates violently, the peak power of the hydraulic pump is large when the loader arm is lifting, and when the boom is falling the gravitational potential energy of the boom is dissipated by the hydraulic valve port.Then, the dissipated energy is converted into thermal energy, which increases temperature of the hydraulic oil and reduces the energy efficiency of hydraulic system.A potential energy recovery system that loader arm dead-weight hydraulic-gas balance based on three-chamber hydraulic cylinder was proposed.The co-simulation model of wheel loader was built in SimulationX,then the model was verified by experiments.The potential energy recovery and loader arm dead-weight hydraulic-gas balance system was stablished, in which the original two-chamber cylinder of boom hydraulic system was replaced by the three-chamber hydraulic cylinder.Operating characteristics and energy consumption were compared during the lifting and falling simulation process of boom system in no-load conditions. The results show that the proposed system has same operating characteristics with the original machine when the initial pressure of accumulator is 6 MPa, the peak power of pump can be reduced by 57.1%, and the energy consumption can be decreased by about 39。5%.