The Importance of Wheel Alignment for Commercial Vehicles

Whether a customer is running a fleet of HGVs or a single van, it is essential the wheel alignment geometry is correct.

Properly aligned commercial wheels can improve driver safety, reduce costs and increase efficiency. 

Common Reasons for Misalignment are:

  • Replacement of steering parts
  • General wear and tear of a vehicle
  • Uneven roads and potholes
  • Collision damage
  • Factory defects

Our superior range of Supertracker alignment equipment ensures that your team are fully skilled in all aspects of wheel alignment, so your garage can be there to help assist a range of commercial vehicle types:

  • Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs)
  • Public Service Vehicles (PSVs)
  • Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs)
  • Plant Vehicles
  • Farm Vehicles

It’s important for companies to regularly have the wheel alignment checked on their commercial vehicles, and it’s beneficial to explain to customers why this should be part of routine vehicle checks.

Some companies may not be aware of how to wheel misalignment can have wider impacts on other elements such as driver safety, efficiency and overall maintenance cost.

Increased Driver Safety

Help customers understand the importance of correct wheel alignment in relation to employee safety, not just efficiency. Making sure employees stay safe whilst at work is paramount for an employer, including when they’re driving fleet vehicles to transport goods or for call-out services.

Ensuring the axels are aligned correctly eliminates pull and drifting of the vehicle and subsequently reduces driver fatigue.

Reducing Costs for Companies

Tight company budgets can mean that purchasing new commercial vehicles isn’t always an option and maintenance of existing vehicles is essential. When wheel geometry is out on a vehicle, tyres wear unevenly, resulting in reduced tyre life and preventable costly tyre changes.

Even a misalignment of 1mm can reduce tyre life by 7%. The STR T4LC Twin steer commercial aligner, complete with heavy-duty turn plates, makes accurate commercial alignment remarkably straight forward to perform. Correct alignment also reduces the rolling resistance of a vehicle which means companies can benefit financially from better fuel economy of their commercial vehicles. 

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