wheel alignment machine advice

[oilslick]

The shop I work at is looking at getting into alignments, I have been told to pick one out and justify why we should get it as opposed to others etc. I have had a hoffman guy stop and show me a video of the 650 $16,500and it appeared easy to use and another guy brought a cemb light aligner with bluetooth for 10k it seemed just a bit more tedious to set up although I have no firsthand experience with any machine. Any info would be appreciated as I am the oldest wrench I will be the one to establish the service once we buy in! I also need to pick out a rack that would handle cars and light trucks mainly but accomodate a dually when needed if that is even possible. Thanks in advance

 

[Brentocool]

We have a 1 year Old Hunter ! And that thing is awesome!! Set up is crazy fast!!!Rack,Calibrate sensors in 3 minutes! Best rack I have ever used. I do 6-7 alignments a week now. Never wanted to sell them before!!

 

[lynam]

We have a hunter that we just got about a year ago. Makes alignments alot less of a headache thats for sure. I do about 5 alignments a week on it and when you get good at the machine/heads it takes about 25mins to do a full 4 wheel alignment. (as long as nothing is seezed). We havnt had any real problems with it other then you have to keep the reflective part of the heads clean or they wont be picked up, which is normally just a spray of window cleaner and a glass cloth rub down once a month.
I would go with a hunter even if it was my money being spent.

 

[fordcragar]

I would think that the salesmen would let you try their machines to show you how easy they are to use. Maybe even attend some of their training classes.

Watching a video or ordering out of a catalog doesn't seem like that best way to buy something like that. Your boss is probably looking how fast it would be to set up, how much money he can make with it and what does it cost.

 

[mrholeshot]

I had a Hunter Win Align and 4 post rack in my shop. Very easy to use.

 

[binder man]

Hunter all the way. They are the leader as far as I'm concerned for alignments.

 

[FergusonTO35]

We had a Hunter Win-Align at the last shop I worked at and it was rockin'.

 

[ARAMP1]

I used a hunter in the last shop I worked in. I don't remember the model number, but it was with a 4 post lift. Took me roughly an hour to do a four wheel alignment from the moment I pulled the car in to driving out of the shop.

 

[Farmer Joe]

The shop I work in also has hunter win align. Way less than an hour for a 4 wheel alignment, as long as anything isn't badly seized.

 

[MattPersman]

another for Hunter

 

[oilslick]

wow I guess I should find a hunter dealer unless this hoffman guy is ttelling me the truth that his is the same. Also what kind of lifts are best scissor or 4 post brands etc open front important, how many special tools do we need to get started and where do you get them?

 

[t100]

our school is a Hunter training center, they put their latest and newest machines for us to use for free.

I used their HawkEye machine few times, it's pretty much "retard-proof". it takes maybe 2-3 minutes to setup a car and super simple to use. there are actual pictures on the big screen to show you where the adjuster are located, which way to turn it, when to stop. tire pressures are automatically adjusted, too.

call Hunter to find out where and when they have the demo days in your area.

only down side is your boss may get a sticker shock.

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[oilslick]

I have looked at the hunter online and can assume the price is way over what a shop in a town of 2200 can justify!! It does look super easy even for challenged people like me!

 

[Farmer Joe]

Yea, the hunter win align is great. Even when I started out at the shop not even that long ago, I didn't know about alignments. Once the other techs showed me how to set the beads up and set up the program to get everything mounted and read, it wasn't too hard. Hunter shows you illustrations of all, or pretty much all alignments, so as long as you can match pictures, you're fine. I know I was lol. Now I know a lot more, so the hunter software just helps me do it all quicker.

 

[not-required]

our school is a Hunter training center, they put their latest and newest machines for us to use for free.

I used their HawkEye machine few times, it's pretty much "retard-proof". it takes maybe 2-3 minutes to setup a car and super simple to use. there are actual pictures on the big screen to show you where the adjuster are located, which way to turn it, when to stop. tire pressures are automatically adjusted, too.

call Hunter to find out where and when they have the demo days in your area.

only down side is your boss may get a sticker shock.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/P8-Nbq_i-SI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

We also have the Hunter at our school. It is stupid simple. Our instructors tell us that it is so easy that it can be dangerous at times, because people who actually know nothing can do it!!

 

[TheFarmer]

Hunt her.

 

[Toolhorder]

Another Hunter here...Seems most shops in my area run Hunters with the infrared wheel sensors nowadays

 

[oilslick]

wish he would buck up on a hunter, but seriously doubt it!

 

[BWS]

Back in the day......think it was the Bear

I built a good sized ad-on to an already big garage 30 or so years.They filled it with Hunter equip for bus and tractor alignments.They still use Hunter........No tellin when their Bear stuff(ha) was installed?BW

 

[Lotek]

Look into a used Hunter, lots of dealers closing down lately. Scissor lift is less in the way than a 4post.
Do yourself a favor and learn the theory, what caster, camber, and the rest do, and how they affect the alignment, how to really align cars instead of just "getting it into the green". Saves time, makes the rack more profitable if your work is spot on the first time.

 

[capswin]

We have a John Bean (Snap On) at work. Works well. I've used the Hunter before, they're about the same. According the the salesman, Hunter copied much of their technology from the John Bean and quoted me different law suits to back that up. (I know, the key word here is 'salesman').
Also have a scissor lift. I prefer it over the 4 post very much. I think that some 4 posts might have a higher capacity but with the scissor at 12000 lbs, you can handle pretty much everything that will fit on it. The beauty of the scissor lift is that you don't have a cross bar between the 2 ramps the you have to duck under to get to the vehicle.

 

[AZP Installs]

Any thoughts on John Bean v. Hunter currently being offered? My guys want to get the Snapon/John Bean but I've heard the hunter can't be beat.

Thanks in advance.

-mike