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Upgrading shop equipment When and why to consider new purchases Compiled by Mike Mavrigian
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ew equipment acquisition represents both a substantial investment as well as an enjoyable experience. After all, who doesn’t love the look, feel and smell of new equipment? Plus, staying current in terms of features and operating condition makes the shop more efficient and more profitable. Shop equipment represents the lifeblood of any automotive repair facility. Due to factors including age, wear and tear, and taking advantage of new equipment capabilities to increase productivity, you need to routinely consider when it’s time to pony-up and upgrade. In this article, we’ll briefly discuss a number of key upgrades for your shop’s arsenal.
It’s always a happy day when you take delivery of new shop equipment. Just ask Bill Caroniti of Updated Automotive Repair Inc. in North Royalton, Ohio.
Tire changers and balancers Busy shops don’t always have the luxury of time to clean and maintain their tire changing machines as much as they would like to. Shoe sliders wear out, grit and moisture accumulate
Tire changers have evolved to allow servicing larger diameter wheels and lower profile tires, and with features to eliminate chrome-clad wheel damage.
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on wear surfaces, and pressure bladders and hydraulic seals eventually wear out. In addition to the obvious wear and tear issues, consider the trend toward larger-diameter alloy wheels and shorter and stiffer tire sidewalls. If your changer isn’t designed to handle these larger sizes and increased requirements for greater rigidity during demounting and mounting, the potential for wheel and/or tire damage increases. When it’s time to upgrade, consider the selection of “notouch” demount/mount designs that both make the job easier and greatly reduce the chance of damage. Granted, the extent of demand for larger-diameter tires and alloy wheels may differ depending on your specific market, but the trend continues to grow. It’s time to review your existing changers and balancers to determine if they’re up to the task, in order to avoid losing this business to other shops in your area. Also consider adding a road force balancer, which allows you to determine stiff spots that can create road force variations in mounted tires. Eliminate noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) issues, and you will go a long way toward achieving customer satisfaction. Larger light trucks like the Ford F-350 or Ram 2500 have 10- or 12-ply 19.5-inch tires, and the stiff sidewalls are really a bear to change. You need to have a tire changer with the proper power and the helper arms to do this job. Not all tire changers can be upgraded, so consult your tire changer manufacturer to see if there are special upgrade adapters available for your machine. Chrome-clad wheels are really gaining popularity with OEMs because they aren’t as susceptible to environmental damage, so they stay looking good longer. But if your tire
MTD September 2017
