Rotary introduced its new R5000HD commercial truck alignment system, which the company said was designed to make aligning heavy-duty trucks, buses and other vehicles easy, including by eliminating the need for rolling compensation that is required by other systems.
“Many heavy-duty shops are looking to increase revenue by adding wheel alignment services or improving their alignment efficiency,” said Jeff Vervoort, Rotary wheel service sales and technical trainer. “Heavy-duty alignment is a lucrative business. The average cost for a typical wheel alignment on a car is about $100-$120, but for a tractor trailer, it’s $250 and up, so the equipment can pay for itself pretty quickly.”
According to Rotary, typical alignments are performed by attaching a four-point clamp to the outer edge of the wheel. Unfortunately, if the wheel is damaged, the clamp is being mounted to an untrue surface, which can result in an inaccurate alignment. Rotary’s R5000HD alignment system contacts the wheel at the bolt circle, which is the strongest portion of the wheel, instead of the outer edge. That takes the guesswork out of alignments, and eliminates the added labor time, expense and physical effort associated with compensation, the company said.
The system is made for aligning trucks with a GVWR of 19,500 lbs. and above and features infrared transmission among measuring heads.
