Originally published by Tire Review, February 23, 2024
The Autel IA900 alignment system offers shops a value-rich opportunity to start performing alignment pre-checks and four-wheel alignments to ensure customer vehicles are aligned to OEM specifications.
As with everything related to vehicle service, how often a driver should take their vehicle into a shop for alignment can depend on several variables, but most automakers recommend an alignment check every 6,000 to 10,000 miles.
Besides the obvious causes of vehicles going out of alignment, such as severe collisions, seemingly benign driving incidents like minor collisions, rough offroad driving, rolling over curbs, dropping into potholes, or bumping into concrete parking bumpers can also throw off a vehicle’s alignment. And just like humans, aging can take a toll on a vehicle’s body and alignment as undercar rubber components start cracking or losing their elasticity, and ball and socket joints become loose. With the average age of vehicles on American roads closing in on 13 years, the alignment business should be booming. Still, it is estimated that 60 percent of registered vehicles are out of alignment.
That’s why offering an alignment check to your customers shouldn’t be an afterthought but a key component of comprehensive vehicle safety, including safe tires and an efficiently operating Tire Pressure Monitoring System.
Educating customers on the importance of alignment often falls on a trusted technician. You should inform your customers that misaligned vehicles are not only inefficient— improperly aligned cars use 10% more fuel than those aligned; they can also be dangerous. A vehicle out of alignment can be more difficult to steer and brake, cause damage to the suspension and produce increased wear and tear on tires. The increasingly common adoption of vehicle safety systems such as electronic stability control (ESC) and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) including systems using cameras and radar sensors, require even stricter attention to vehicle alignment.
The Autel IA900 alignment system offers shops a value-rich opportunity to start performing alignment pre-checks and four-wheel alignments to ensure customer vehicles are aligned to OEM specifications.
The design of the IA900 itself is elegant and efficient. It features a folding crossbar, six high- resolution positioning, and tracking cameras in the frame that automatically monitor vehicle height on the shop lift. Robotic frame movement for efficient use and alignment reading accuracy to 0.02 degrees for precise alignments. The system offers industry- leading alignment coverage for U.S., Asian, and European vehicles, 1970s and newer. On the 24″ touchscreen, the technician is guided through the complete process with illustrated alignment instructions, live readings, required tools, and adjustment locations. The MaxiSYS Ultra ADAS tablet mirrors the alignment procedure executed on the screen, allowing the technician to walk around the vehicle and make adjustments while interacting with the alignment software.
The IA900 also offers shops wanting to expand their services to include Advanced Driver Assistance System camera, lidar, radar, and night vision system calibrations the ability to upgrade with Lane Departure Warning camera calibration and All ADAS Systems calibration package options.
For the price of a typical alignment system, the Autel IA900 delivers a true turnkey approach to comprehensive vehicle repair and servicing, providing all systems diagnostics, bi-directional Active Tests and Special Functions, and vehicle inspection, including tire tread analysis, four-wheel alignment, steering angle reset, and optional ADAS calibration coverage.
As vehicle manufacturers continue to share their safety systems throughout the entire lines, and more and more vehicles with these systems enter shops, solutions that provide technicians with a repeatable, efficient process to service today’s modern vehicles have become essential.
Visit autel.com to learn more about the IA900, work the numbers with our Return-on- Investment calculator, or schedule a call with an IA900 expert.
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