Investing in quality equipment is only the first step towards ongoing success.

Modern wheel balancers, tire changers and alignment racks aren’t cheap. Whether you’re an independent tire retailer or a franchised car dealer, you’ve likely invested tens-of-thousands of dollars (if not more) in your equipment. In order to maximize your return on that investment, you’ll want to pay attention to three key areas of concern: training, maintenance and upgrades.

Tech training

That expensive equipment is useless if your technicians aren’t skilled enough to take full advantage of all the features you invested in. That’s why training is so important. “Investing in quality people, continued education, and an operation that consists of following manufacturer repair processes is a good start,” says Zach Christman, Undercar Training Specialist for Snap-on Equipment.

Some shops might be willing to train each and every tech, while others might opt to send out one main tech for training, and then rely on that one individual to train everyone else on the team. Which approach is correct?

“This is really subjective to the type of shop or crew at hand,” Christman adds. “If the place has a higher turnover, then sending out key individuals would be the best approach. For a long-standing tenured crew, maybe a full-on class and hands-on approach would be more fitting.”

If your staff is already experienced, then training doesn’t have to be long and expensive. “Experience is everything,” Christman explains. “Just getting into this revenue stream may require a bit of theory before equipment familiarization. Generally speaking, if someone is well experienced, then in just an hour or two, they will be comfortable with the new equipment. However, if they’re just getting started, then they may need something like several couple-hour sessions. Most individuals who are going to be the ‘specialist,’ if you will, fall into the two or three couple-hour training sessions category to be comfortable.”

Greg Meyer, Wheel Balancing Product Manager at Hunter Engineering recommends a multi-pronged training approach. “It is best for all employees to receive training in some form,” he says. “There is no such thing as too much training. Hunter equipment comes with free training upon installation, on-board training videos on almost all equipment, and additional training at off-site training facilities. The best results include all of these.”

Meyer says that training an experienced tech how to use new equipment doesn’t have to take a lot of time. “Our SmartWeight Elite and Road Force Elite balancers automate many of the different balancing procedures, and simplify the training process,” he says. “With advanced balancers, such as these, training can often be done in less than an hour.”

Once the initial training is completed, both Meyer and Christman recommend ongoing training. “It’s always helpful to refresh training in order to ensure that technicians haven’t picked up any bad habits or forgotten any useful features,” Meyer says. “This can be done in person or in video format on many pieces of equipment.”

Regular maintenance

Regular maintenance of the equipment will both extend its usable lifespan, as well as assure that it’s working properly on a day-to-day basis. “Follow the manufacturer’s recommended service intervals,” says Christman. “This stuff is designed to be robust. That said, if kept up with, it will outlast the averages.”

Meyer notes that, “Hunter wheel balancers have a ‘daily maintenance reminder’ that pops up on the screen each morning to remind techs of the basics, like keeping the machine clean and inspecting the moving parts, including the threaded wing nut. It is also a good idea to have the machines inspected and calibrated by a Hunter service representative once or twice each year to ensure the machine is performing optimally.”

Logically, if you’ve already invested a lot of money in a quality machine, it only makes sense to spend a little more to keep it running as well, and as long as possible.

“[A lack of regular] maintenance can adversely affect the life of tire equipment,” Meyer adds. “For example, if the shaft of a wheel balancer is not properly cleaned and lubricated frequently, it will see additional wear, resulting in a shortened life.”

Upgrade when necessary

As expensive as all this equipment may be, it won’t last forever. Knowing when it’s time to upgrade is key. “Most shops are going to feel the need to upgrade or replace when they experience some kind of pain point,” Christman says. “Either the equipment needs to be repaired too often, has a costly repair, or just can’t effectively do new modern assemblies very well.”

That last point is important. It seems that some of today’s trucks and SUVs are rolling off the assembly lines with larger tire and wheel packages. If your equipment is too old to handle these sizes, you’re either going to have to turn customers away, or risk doing a less-than-perfect job, and end up dealing with comebacks and other issues.

“Machine capacity is an important feature of tire equipment and can drive the need for replacement,” Meyer adds. “Wheels and tires have trended larger over the years. For example, 24-inch assemblies come standard on the battery-electric Chevrolet Silverado EV. Having a tire changer that can easily handle these assemblies without damage is critical.”

If you’re still not sure if you need to upgrade, Christman encourages shop owners to ask themselves a number of questions: “Is work being finished in a timely manner? Do you have a backlog of work at the end of the day? Are the tools you’re currently using efficient enough, and or do they leave a little to be desired in terms of their effectiveness or ability to perform the task you need in the time you have, with the tires/vehicles/wheels you have coming through the door?”

There’s no doubt that today’s wheel balancers, tire changers and alignment racks require quite an investment to purchase. However, if you’re not investing in training and maintenance, and if you’re not upgrading when necessary, it’s only a matter of time before your customers notice a problem, and your business starts to suffer. Christman sums up the matter nicely: “Reputation, word-of-mouth and returning business is everything to these operations.”