Notthat many years ago, techs made vehicle alignment their specialty, ifnot their life’s work. They often needed all day to align the familyvehicle and they did a fine, but time consuming job.
We can nowforget about the alignment strings and plumb bobs that existed inanother lifetime. Today, from the smallest passenger vehicle to thelargest 18-wheeler, alignment work is controlled by computers, sensorsand software. Of course, a highly-trained technician is a given – andwe do mean highly trained.
A good middle of the road alignmentsystem employs a Windows-based operating system, which incorporatescustom hardware and software optimized for wheel alignment. Consolefeatures will include such things as a 17-inch SVGA color monitor, amembrane-covered keyboard sloped for easy use and a color printer.
Often,this type of unit comes with a hand-held wireless remote control thatallows operation from anywhere in the service bay. Adding life to thistype of alignment system is the ability of the supplier to offerupgrades in software programs.
One such heavy-duty alignmentsoftware system selects the vehicle being aligned from an on-screenlist and provides the OEM alignment specifications. Next, it comparesthe truck’s current alignment measurements with those specs and showsthe technician the needed adjustments, automatically calculating thecorrection.
Even more amazing, an arrow moves across anon-screen bar graph target as it guides the tech. When the adjustmentcomes within specification, the bar graph changes from red to green.
Anotheralignment rack system comes with four high resolution digital camerasthat provide continuous alignment measurements. There are no movingparts to break and the cameras are mounted up high and out of harm’sway. Targets are placed on each wheel and the full range of motion ispicked up through the camera lens.
According to its manufacturer, it’s as easy as mounting the targets, rolling the vehicle to compensate and viewing measurements.
Durabilityis key since there are no electronics at the wheel, no circuitry todamage if targets are dropped, no moving parts, virtually nomaintenance and no target calibration.