The business has saved £5-6,000 a year by bringing wheel alignment in house and checking tyres more frequently, with a greater degree of accuracy.

Furness Cars cuts costs and boosts efficiency with Cam Aligner System from AES UK

Furness Cars & Commercials has saved more than £5,000 a year and transformed its workshop efficiency since using a Josam Cam Aligner wheel alignment system, supplied by Automotive Equipment Solutions (AES UK).

The family business was founded by current director Kevin Grieve’s parents in 1983, and he and his brother took the helm in 2003. It specialises in light and heavy vehicle recovery but also conducts servicing, repairs and MOTs on anything from motorbikes to articulated HGVs.

The garage previously used an external specialist for wheel alignment but purchased the Cam Aligner system three years ago, both for use on customers’ vehicles and on its own fleet, which includes four-wheel drive vehicles, vans, rigids and articulated HGVs.

“We were using a wheel alignment company a couple of times a year,” said Kevin, “we’d get them to do half the fleet one time, then come back in six months and do the other half. We’d just end up tying up the workshop doing our own alignments.”

The time between inspections took its toll on tyre wear and the checks themselves were expensive. “We were spending £4-5,000 a year just getting someone in to do the alignment,” said Kevin, “and then there was the cost of changing tyres prematurely.”

The Josam Cam Aligner compact wheel alignment system enables commercial vehicle workshops and tyre service centres to offer fast, accurate wheel alignment services, with an emphasis on ease of use.

Since Furness acquired the system, Kevin estimates the business has saved £5-6,000 a year by bringing wheel alignment in house and checking tyres more frequently, with a greater degree of accuracy.

“If we change a set of tyres – or bring a vehicle in for a safety inspection and the tyres are starting to look like they’re rubbing on the edges – then we can immediately see what’s going on and do the adjustment in less than half an hour. Adjusting it doesn’t take long. You just take the laptop with you into the pit, save the correct settings, and by the time you’ve got out of the pit and put your equipment away, the printout’s already done in the office.”

AES advise that correct tyre set-up reduces operator costs by improving fuel economy and extending tyre life. Safety is improved and steering is enhanced - which increases driver comfort.

In this regard, Furness Cars’ drivers have noted improvements in vehicle handling since the garage adopted the Josam Cam Aligner, and tyre wear has significantly reduced.  

“We’re not changing tyres because they’re wearing prematurely,” he added, “we’re changing them now because they’ve run their life.”

Kevin also speaks highly of the aftersales service he receives from AES UK, including regular visits and contact from director, Russ Coad.

“Russ comes round to do the servicing and the calibration, and if we have any problems – which are very minimal – we just ring him up and say, ‘we’ve got this or that issue’ and he sorts it. There’s no faff at all, so it’s up there with one of the best bits of kit we’ve bought for our workshop.”