The American Council of Frame and Alignment Specialists (ACOFAS) will be presenting a technician training clinic focused on “proper alignment procedures” later this summer, on August 20th and 21st in Lafayette, Louisiana. This two-day event is being hosted by Lafayette Spring Company, Inc., 1517 W. Willow Street, in nearby Scott, Louisiana.
As with all ACOFAS technician clinics, 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.
An alignment is the process of ‘gauging and correcting’ to ensure that all axles are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the vehicle centerline. What technicians frequently overlook is the gauging and correcting of all aspects of the frame, from front to back and top to bottom.
When customers ask for a truck alignment, technicians need to know what the complaint is. Is the customer experiencing difficult handling of the truck or excessive tire wear? 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.” Your first job is to educate the customer of all the things you are going to check on the vehicle prior to any corrections.
The topics to be covered during the 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 more
The “hands-on” instruction 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 setups
- Setup and adjustments of caster and camber (including toe-in adjustment)
- Rear axle alignment (setting up gauging)
ACOFAS wants to thank Matt Andrus, owner of Lafayette Spring Co., Inc. for generously offering to host this event.
For additional information or to register to attend, please contact: Gordon Botts at (815) 482-4255 or at [email protected].
