Aftermarket December/January 2023

W heel and body alignment is a growing area, and according to Tecalemit Marketing Manager Malc England, now could be the time for you to start undertaking your own vehicle geometry checks and adjustments. Understanding your own approach is vital here, as he explained: “Tecalemit Garage Equipment always advocate starting with the way you wish to market the alignment service and the quantity of checks and adjustments you envisage undertaking in any given day. These can usefully be categorised as low, medium and high. Looking at what will work for various scenarios, Malc started with low-use workshops: “Perhaps you are a workshop whose main work is general service and repair. Typical jobs that give rise to alignment checks and adjustments are replacement ball joints, track rod ends, steering racks and suspension bushes. Perhaps you only have the requirement to undertake a couple of wheel alignment checks and adjustments per day? You may only need a good Laser-based alignment system. These are easy to use, take up minimal workshop space with their compact wall mounting capability, and importantly, provide a cost-effective mechanism for checking alignment using a variety of environments. A level floor area, 2-Post Lift with wheel stands or full-length platform lift, such as a 4-post lift or scissor lift. The one real advantage with laser systems is that they are very visual. Often described as virtual string, it is very easy to see the geometry readings change as the adjustments are carried out. Tecalemit’s laser systems can also be configured with a PC, vehicle 42 AFTERMARKET DECEMBER/JANUARY 2023 WHEEL AND BODY ALIGNMENT www.aftermarketonline.net With every opportunity a chance to increase your revenue, why turn wheel and body alignment work away? database and printer. This enables you to produce alignment printouts for your customers, from these cost- effective alignment measurement systems.” Cost-effective Then there are workshops undertaking tyre replacements, who could be defined as medium-use: “Here you may have customers presenting vehicles with heavy tyre wear due to vehicle geometry issues. A higher throughput of vehicles requiring alignment checks and adjustments could substantiate an increased investment in a CCD-based cameral alignment system. These systems are typically quicker to set-up and obtain front and rear vehicle geometry readings. The extra cost of these systems can often be recuperated through the time saved in undertaking the geometry checks and adjustments. Tecalemit’s CCD-based alignment systems also produce colour printouts that can be included with your customers invoices. These CCD systems have the same versatility as the Tecalemit laser systems, they can be deployed into various workshop bays or clear floor areas.” Then there are those who have wheel alignment as a specifically marketed bespoke service, who would be high- use. “In such instances, you will be maximising bay utilisation, requiring speed of set-up. These type of bespoke alignment bays lends themselves to a 3D fixed camera alignment system with a vehicle lift comprising rear slip plates. These totem pole-based systems are typically the fastest to set up. They require the quick installation of individual alignment targets to each wheel. The eight cameras provide an instant geometry read out for both the Above: Wheel alignment kit from Supertracker ALIGNED FOR SUCCESS?