AES are specialists in commercial wheel alignment, find out more about our solutions here: commercial wheel alignment equipment.
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AES are specialists in heat inductors, find out more about our solutions here: induction heating solutions.
From product innovations to expert industry guides, our HUB keeps you informed on the latest trends. Stay ahead with in-depth articles, technical guides, and company updates - all in one place.
The simple answer is as often as possible. Many factors affect how often wheel alignment is carried out, whether that’s relying on external contractors or performing alignments in-house.
It’s the very nature of a commercial vehicles life that means alignment can be altered as soon as the vehicle leaves the workshop and therefore, should be aligned as often as possible.
Tyre Wear/Changes
Contrary to popular belief tyre wear cannot be fixed by carrying out an alignment, if a tyre is worn it cannot be retrieved and it’s unlikely to prolong the tyres lifespan. Essentially, it’s pointless carrying out an alignment check on a worn tyre unless it’s in the very early stages or, is going to be replaced in which an alignment should be carried out post tyre change.
Driver Issues
Quite often an ‘off-centre’ steering wheel or a ‘pull’ can be down to a mis-aligned vehicle, driver complaints/issues can hold vital information and combined with an alignment can help diagnose the issue. Not always will driver issues be down to an alignment but it’s a good chance to perform an alignment to at least identify/rule-out the issue.
Steering Component Changes
Replacing steering components such as drag links, track bars and ball joints etc can all throw a vehicle out of alignment, counting threads can be wildly inaccurate so it’s better to replace steering components and carry out a full alignment.
MOT
As an absolute minimum alignment should be carried out at least once per year, the stringent criteria for commercial vehicle MOTs mean that often vehicles have to go through vigorous checks prior to being sent for MOT, this is an ideal time for alignment to be carried out.
PDI
For those workshops supplying vehicles to customers, pre delivery inspections offer a perfect time to carry out a full alignment check, it also gives the workshop a chance to pre-empt any tyre wear issues that could be claimed on warranty should this be the case. Additionally, a “post break-in” alignment should be carried out between 15,000-30,000 miles or 3 months, whichever comes first.
Proactive Alignment
Proactive alignment is the most overlooked aspect when it comes to frequency of alignments, our philosophy is to carry out alignments and identify and rectify potential issues before they become an issue. Often see workshops carrying out alignments on the back of a tyre wear issue, the problem with this is that it’s too late in most cases to save the tyre, it’s this reason that alignments should be carried out at least once per year, preferably on all of the above stated, and proactively; 3 to 4 times per year to pre-empt any issues.
