Need recommendation for alignment/tire changer/wheel balancer

[needrecommendation]

Hi everyone, I am looking for some tire equipments to open my tire and auto repair shop and need your recommendations. Any advice or comment will be appreciated.

I am trying to get the best machines out there but I do have a budget. So I would be reluctant to buy anything that is over-priced or with a low ROI.

Below are some specific questions:

1. Speaking of alignment, is Hunter always the best? What about John Bean (is it the 2nd best choice)? Which one would have a high ROI?

2. As for tire changer and wheel balancer, which brand is the best or offers the best deal? Hunter, Coats, Corghi, Ranger or any other?

3. Is it necessary to buy the newest model? For example, should I get a new Hunter alignment system (but not the newest model) or a John Bean?

4. Do anyone have any idea how to get a better deal/lower the total costs in equipments? Like buy from any agents or website or buying more at the same time or buy combinations from different brands?

Again, any advice or comments will be appreciated.

 

[needrecommendation]

Did anyone see this thread?

 

[DanInVA]

Hello and welcome to GJ. First off, congratulations your upcoming shop. I don't own a shop, so I am not really privy to cost and roi for shop equipment, but hunter machines are great imo. I am not familiar with John Beam. Given your circumstances, calling a hunter (or equipment company of your choice) rep would probably be your best bet. IMO there are too many potential variables to consider to really give you sound advice.

For example, how much of your business are you planning on getting from tires, and how much are you hoping to get from auto repair work. My advice, for what it is worth, is to buy the best equipment you can for what you anticipate you will be doing.

Running a high volume tire shop that pulls in some light mechanical work occasionally? Better tire machines are probably the way to go, don't bother buying the high end alignment machine.

On the flip side, if you are trying to run an auto repair business that does primarily mechanical repair, and does tire work only occasionally, you may be well advised to save the money on the high end tire equipment and get the best alignment machine you can afford. A machine like the Hunter Hawk Eye Elite can get you an alignment audit in about 90 seconds if you know what you are doing with it. A lot of shops will give pretty much every car a complimentary alignment check.

Ultimately, what is going to be best for you depends on how much money you can afford to spend, as well as what kind of work you anticipate doing. Best of luck.

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[needrecommendation]

Thank you so much DanInVA!!! I am so glad that someone finally saw my post!

Also thank you for your advice and good questions. Basically I plan to run a tire shop but also want to differentiate my shop from other tire shops that offer similar products. And I heard that a good alignment machine would be a bonus. That's why I am considering whether I should get a Hunter alignment machine. Not sure if it will work.

 

[DanInVA]

My employer handles a pretty high volume of both tire work and alignments. All of our tire/alignment equipment happens to be hunter. I'm sure hunter isn't the only game in town, but the vast majority of my exposure is with hunter equipment.

For tire machines, we use a Hunter Auto 34. It is definitely on the higher end of the cost spectrum, but it has its advantages. It is able to accommodate wheels up to 34 inches. It makes handling runflat tires much easier, pretty much as easy as a regular tire. It also allows you to flip the rims over on the machines and work on them upside down, a must for deep dish rims.

As for alignment, most of my time recently has been spent with the Hawk Eye. It makes getting your alignment measurements very fast and efficient because you don't have to jack up each axle on the car and turn the wheels to compensate your sensors. All you have to do is mount the sensors on the car and then push the car forward about a foot and you are good to go. Again, this is a pricey option. You will probably need to do a lot of alignments to justify it. I talked to a friend once who ran a dealership where one was recently installed. He said that they planned to offer a free alignment check with pretty much every job. That's a perk for your customer because they get their alignment checked for free, and it is a perk for you because it can help you sell more alignments.

I hope that you have a successful business plan and everything goes well for you. I'm sorry I can't really give you any insight into other brands, but at least from the perspective of a tech on the shop floor, I love the Hunter stuff. Also, you may want to check out General Garage Discussion for more ideas. Most of what comes through General tool discussion revolves around hand tools.


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[matt01073]

We have hunter alignment a fairly new machine, its the 3rd one ive had over 25 years or so . they have been excellent no break downs , service is pretty quick when you do need it . when looking to but one I would try to get as modern as possible , if you have limited space and dont have room for a camera system the wireless heads are nice and you dont need the goal post taking up a bunch of room , we changed our alignmen rack a couple years ago from a 4 post rotary to a four post hunter . the hunter is a much better rack however it comes at almost twice the money . personaly i do not like sizzor lifts for alignments as it limits what you can do on the rck other than alignments . I would strongly suggest that you do not even look at a 2 post alignment rack they are a much cheaper option and they are not a good option the rack will need to be on its four fold down stands to do an alignmnet because the rack flexes so much , this limits you to 1 working hight and that ***** . also look to get an open front rack as the front rail will be in your way and you will hit your head every day on it . As far as tire equipment I have a coats 950 balancer i bought new a few years ago and it has never been any problem , and a coats rim clamp maybe 5 years old now its a 5030e the e is for the electric turn table as opossed to air turntable i prefer the electric . never had any problems with the rim clamp except the cheap air drier they supply always leaked after 2 repacments i bought a better one and plumbed it in. that said i would look at what size rims the rim clamp can handle as i think 20 is as big as mine will do , i keep meaning to see if the jaws can be swapped to do bigger wheels but never get to it its only been a problem a few times and my tire supplier has done the few ive not been able to do . I have no input on the other brands always had hunter and coats but i can say a shop down the street bought snap on which is jim beam and the rack is less than 3 years old and powdercoat is peeling all over it my hunter is not as of now

 

[needrecommendation]

Thank you DanInVA for your patience and helpful answers!!! I really appreciate it.

 

[needrecommendation]

Thank you Matt!!! Your reply is really helpful, especially the information about Coats and Snap on!!

 

[nh_yota]

I would think tires and alignments go hand in hand - no?