The American Council of Frame and Alignment Specialists (ACOFAS) will hold a technician training clinic on proper alignment procedures for medium- and heavy-duty trucks on Aug. 20-21, 2019, at Lafayette Spring Company, Inc., 1517 W. Willow St., in Scott, La.
As with all ACOFAS technician clinics, the organization says this training event will have both a classroom component and a “hands-on” opportunity to better teach technicians the proper ways to perform an alignment, as well as gain firsthand experience in putting these skills into practice. The classroom sessions will be instructed by James Roark, owner of Akron Wheel and Frame, and Gordon Botts, owner of Botts Welding and Truck Service, Inc. The “hands-on” training will be presented by Bee Line Company Trainer and ACOFAS member Chris Schutt.
ACOFAS says its course seeks to first answer the basic question of what is an alignment? The organization says service providers know that it is the process of ‘gauging and correcting’ to insure that all axles are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the vehicle centerline. What technicians frequently overlook is that this means gauging and correcting all aspects of the frame, from front to back and top to bottom.
When a customer walks into a business and asks for a service provider to align their truck, the service shop needs to know what their complaint is. Is the customer complaining that they are experiencing difficult handling of their truck or are they complaining of excessive tire wear? ACOFAS says educating the customer of all processes that may be required to correct the alignment is important. Too many truck owners have been educated in the tire shop mentality of “set the toe and let it go.” ACOFAS says a service provider’s first job is to educate the customer of all the things you are going to check on the vehicle prior to any corrections.
ACOFAS says the topics to be covered during August’s classroom sessions will include:
- Vehicle inspection: steering components, tires and wheels
- Steer axle suspension
- King pins and wheel end play
- Steering gear and linkage
- Drive axle suspension
- Chassis frame
- And much more
Additionally, ACOFAS says the “hands-on” instruction by Chris Schutt will provide real life experience for technicians in the following areas:
- Inspect and calibrate front and rear axle alignment equipment
- Review the use of a computerized laser alignment system
- Review and perform vehicle pre-assessment
- Identify tooling used for caster and camber set-ups
- Set up and adjustments of caster and camber (including toe-in adjustment)
- Rear axle alignment (setting up gauging)
ACOFAS also wants to thank Matt Andrus, owner of Lafayette Spring, for generously offering to host this event.
For additional information or to register to attend, please contact Gordon Botts at (815) 482-4255 or [email protected].
