Technology has improved the safety of vehicles, but for garages the price is the need to work to an even more precise standard. Mark Bristow, Technical Director at ISN Garage Assist said: “The monocoque design of today’s vehicles, combined with complex suspension set-ups means there’s more that can go wrong but technology to check wheel alignment is advancing at a fair pace, so in some respects it’s becoming easier to check whether a vehicle’s wheels are properly aligned.” Potential, professionalism and profitability On what ISN Garage Assist can offer, Mark observed: “We market a drive-through wheel alignment and tyre inspection system from Hofmann Megaplan, called megaCheck. It’s a smart, simple, touchless inspection system for vehicles entering a workshop.” Focusing on how megaCheck can run the wheel alignment inspection, Mark said: “As you drive a vehicle into a workshop, an ANPR camera identifies the vehicle and sends the appropriate suspension geometry data to the megaCheck unit, which consists of drive-through posts containing very clever electronics and an infra-red scanner. As you drive through, megaCheck assesses the actual geometry against the specific vehicle data it’s received and highlights any issues.” On what it can do for a garage business, Mark noted: “megaCheck can transform the potential, professionalism and profitability of your business. Every vehicle you work on becomes a tyre/alignment opportunity, without any 38 AFTERMARKET APRIL 2024 WHEEL AND BODY ALIGNMENT www.aftermarketonline.net additional hassle, time or input from your technicians. It’s the ‘silent salesman’ that will provide instant alignment and tyre tread readings for every vehicle passing through the workshop, driving profit for your business.” On the ANPR side, Mark said: “it’s something we’re beginning to offer with our wheel alignment equipment. With the Hofmann Megaplan megaline 88 Pro, for example, we now offer our Sentry ANPR camera, which identifies a vehicle as you drive into an alignment bay and automatically inputs the vehicle specific suspension geometry information into the wheel alignment unit. There’s no longer any need to input any data manually. “Another advancement worthy of note is wireless connected tablet operation which we employ on entire Balco range of wheel alignment equipment. This allows for complete portability around a vehicle – you take your computer screen with you and it’s magnetic, so you can even attach it to a lift, to view it while you’re making adjustments. Bluetooth connectivity with the alignment measuring heads means the base unit no longer needs to be in view, it can be tucked away, anywhere in your workshop.” Mark added: “The wheel alignment opportunity for garages is immense and alignment checks and adjustments are going to become a regular necessity. Modern power steering systems take away some of the feel you used to get through your steering wheel, so even if your customer doesn’t mention that the car is pulling’ to one side, or that the steering wheel isn’t central when driving in a straight line, there are things you can do to identify that something’s not right. Tyre wear provides the tell-tale signs WALK THE ALIGN Wheel and body alignment is now an absolute necessity for working on vehicles, but can also be a great profit centre too Above: ISN Garage Assist
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