TRAILER AXLES ALIGNED BY
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LASER
Bill Brock reports on an Eighties alternative to a ball of string
SOON after Derek Godden started his axle alignment business in 1978 he realised the impossibility of expanding beyond his 30-40 regular clients so long as he remained a one-man band.
Three years later he was joined by Douglas Pipe of Auto-Tek to form Auto-Tek Lasalign. As the sole UK importers of the American laser equipment their intention was to market the system nationally on a franchise basis.
To date the company has divided the Country into nine areas, retaining two for its own operation. It considers about 20 operating units to be the optimum number for England and Wales. With the total trailer park approaching 230,000 units Douglas Pipe says (with tongue in cheek); "We can get by if we provide our service for 25 per cent of them!"
In practice, each operating unit would expect to handle about 1,600 semitrailer/trailer units a year.
Lasalign supplies all of the equipment, including a van. It provides training over three months and operates a full accounting service. The cost to the licencee is £10,000.
Dependent upon the number of units for inspection at the one site and whether they are single tandem or triaxle semi-trailers, the cost to the customer ranges from £15 to £45. But if a semi-trailer needs no rectification, the charge is waived.
The laser alignment system provides an Eighties solution to an age-old problem usually dealt with using a ball of string.
One degree of axle misalignment on a semi-trailer tandem bogie has been shown to equate with a three per cent increase in fuel consumption. A tri-axle bogie similarly misaligned could increase this to 4.5 per cent, while two degrees out of true for a tandem bogie could increase fuel consumption by as much as eight per cent.
Excessive tyre wear can also often be traced to the misalignment of one or more axles on the semi-trailer. Just one axle out of line can cause all three to scrub to some extent.
Derek Godden recommends that the inspection should be carried out annu ally. A convenient time for this might be immediately before or just after the MoT test. Up to 11/2 hours should be allowed for each vehicle.
Of the customers using the service 25 per cent are own-account operators, but they provide about 80 per cent of Lasalign's business. Conversions are often worth checking but even new vehicles are being put through the test by major manufacturers of trailers.
For testing, which can be carried out at customers' premises, semi-trailers are placed on a level stretch of ground.
The test equipment consists of a set of rollers connected by a beam. The rollers are placed against the tyres and locked in position so that the beam, which also carries the laser projector, is parallel with the axle. The laser beam is set at the centre point of the axle by aiming it at a sell centring frame gauge placed only a couple of feet along the chassis. It is then projected with a clear line of sight to a marker hanging from the kingpin at the front of the trailer.
If the axle is aligned correctly the laser beam will strike the marker board in the centre. Any deviation will show misalignment — 1.5in for instance, equals about one degree.
Correction means adjustment of the radius arms, which on new trailers are easy to free off and reset so that the spot of light comes back to dead centre. But with older units the threads may be rusted solid or damaged. If bushes are worn they must be replaced before any adjustment is made.