Significant investment by the team at Auckland Truck Alignment in new state-of-the-art heavy- vehicle wheel alignment and balancing technology from the respected American brand Hunter is now paying dividends for clients in reduced tyre wear and operational savings.
A guided tour with general manager Grant Ranger of new equipment recently purchased and installed by Auckland Truck Alignment in its Papatoetoe workshop is proof service has been stepped up a notch.
“We already prided ourselves on an accurate approach to the services we offered and the results we achieved for our customers,” says Grant. “But this combination of new equipment takes our workshop to a level not really seen here in New Zealand, not only regarding accuracy but also speed, agility and the ability to turn the vehicle around faster and have it back on the road, working again as soon as possible for the client. Time is money.”
The new Hunter four-post lift bay has a full Hunter WinAlign wheel-alignment system, as does the heavy-duty pit installation alongside. Both installations are dynamic leaps ahead in technology. Based around multiple wireless wheel- mounted sensors, they are incredibly fast to set up and communicate live back to the controller via proprietary software. This allows the technician to see at a glance the state of the entire vehicle’s footprint and where issues with its alignment lie.
The speed and ease of operation of both these installations are impressive; the likes of a 6×4 tractor unit or an 8×4 rigid pose no challenge at all and set the bar for heavy-truck alignments Auckland-wide.
The new Hunter HD Elite wheel balancer is the other technological advancement within the workshop. Working alongside a new Hunter TCX635HD heavy-duty tyre changer, the HD Elite wheel balancer removes all the guesswork. Older wheel balancers generally used cones to centre the wheel onto the spindle, a method that worked but not that accurately. The new HD Elite machine utilises backing plates with the correct stud pattern, guaranteeing the rim sits square and true on the machine while the wheel is spun and analysed.
An example of the HD Elite machine’s smarts is when balancing a set of four steer tyres off a twin steer, you can load into the machine the exact locations where the tyres are currently located on the truck. One by one, the complete wheels are then loaded onto the machine, which analyses the rim and the tyre separately (although combined) using a load roller and a patented laser-vision system.
Once the assessment has been carried out, it provides two reference location points – one for the rim and one for the tyre. Using the reference points, the mark on the tyre is aligned with the mark on the rim to achieve the optimum match between the two pieces. This greatly reduces the need for wheel weights – possibly none in some cases, especially where good tyres are used. After analysing and remedying all four steerers, it’s time for the HD Elite’s party trick. Within its summary, the HD Elite provides recommendations as to the exact placement locations on the rig to achieve the smoothest ride and best wear characteristics.
The bottom line? Tyres are a science, and as we were taught in school, successful science is all about accurate measurements, something that the Auckland Truck Alignment team are dedicated to, focused on and, with this level of investment, most definitely.
