INTRODUCING: For the first time, TECHPLUS  introduces laser diode technology to shop and fleet tire diagnostics.  Through a special laser/software combination developed form expertise gained in Formula 1 racing, tire diagnostics are now possible using scientifically derived data.  This laser/software package makes non-contact measurement of tire treads accurate and reportable.  TAC-Scan is a completely new way to analyze tire wear, diagnose root-cause problems, and trend tire performance.

Rapid profiling of tire surfaces to:

• Calculate accurate tread depths, wear per mile rates etc.
• Determine excessive wear caused by misalignment, defective shock absorbers, over/under pressure.
• Allow tire replacement centers to scan customers tires and provide them with a clear wear report and documentation regarding tire condition.  Generate customer confidence and loyalty and additional business (e.g. front-end alignment).
• Provides a marketing tool to tire replacement centers for customer follow up and increased tire sales.
• TreadScanner is a tool for new car dealers to increase their market share of the tire replacement business.
• Provide digital record of tire tread profile and wear trends for vehicle fleet management.  Excellent tool for use in a truck or bus depot.
• Determine optimum time to retread truck, bus and airplane tires – optimize life cycle costs.
• Provides digital records on tire condition for vehicle auction houses
• Provide digital tire condition records for police departments at accident sites.

Potential TreadScanner Customers

• Tire Replacement Centers and Tire Chains
• Tire Fleet Management Organizations
• Police Departments, Auction Houses, Car Rental Centers
• R&D Departments of Tire Manufacturers
• Vehicle Inspection Centers

CONTACT  Brian O'Neill for further information and on site demo at 087 2551077

In recent years the requirements in tyre service have become more and more challenging both for equipment and operators. Wheels are increasing in diameter, width and weight. More and more UHP and run-flat tyres with their extremely stiff sidewalls become popular. So that tyre shops are in a position to efficiently change tyres, while preserving the material without stressing the operator, Snap-on Equipment developed the Quadriga – a tyre changer which sets new standards at its higher end of the market. Owing to substantially automated processes wheels of up to 30" rim diameter and up to 47" overall diameter can be handled in an incredibly short time. This technology is implemented in the John Bean Quadriga and Hofmann monty quadriga 1.

For more information about any of our products or services, please email us at: info@techplus.ie or call: 00353 (0)1 404 9060.

For more information about any of our products or services, please email us at: info@techplus.ie or call: 00353 (0)1 404 9060.

The newflanged design of the four sided joint-legs grants platforms perfectly firm, without distortion in any loading condition. Max movement’s freedom under platforms and around the lift is granted from the absence of structural connections either on ground and between the platforms.

For more information about any of our products or services, please email us at: info@techplus.ie or call: 00353 (0)1 404 9060.

Bead Breakers play an on-going important role in the agricultural tire industry by ensuring a safe and successful removal of these heavy and large tires from their rim. Most agricultural bead breakers these days are hydraulic but as such, consist of three products which make the process quite slow and cumbersome. However a revolutionary new type of agricultural bead breaker from leading tire tool specialist, Gaither Tools is about to change the way this important process is carried out in the future.

The all new and totally unique Gaither GT ABB-01 Agricultural Bead Breaker is a completely different product from all current agricultural bead breakers as it comprises of just one single product and almost resembles an impact gun.

Ralph Dubbeldam, Gaither Europe's Sales Director states, "With breaking the bead essential when changing an agricultural tire, our new bead breaker is going to make a significant difference in time and ease of use to the entire global farming market. These large tires have never been easy to remove from the rim but with the introduction of Gaither's totally redesigned tool, the process will suddenly become more convenient and productive with farm workers benefitting from a simple operation with maximum effect."

Gaither believes that whenever possible, farmers and other agricultural workers using farm vehicles prefer to carry out their own tire servicing and the GT ABB-01 bead breaker has now made this not just possible but essential.At the same time the tool looks set to become a popular product for international tire service companies who attend to agricultural tires.

Measuring just 380 mm in length and weighing a lightweight 4.6 kilograms, the Gaither GT ABB- 01 agricultural bead breaker is going to make a big difference from working with three separate products. Other important features of the tool include a Race Actuator 80mm and an Opening Jaw performance of 68mm, an air regulator and a handle exhaust system. The tool can also be used directly onto a vehicle to remove a rim.

Ralph adds, "In our opinion the Gaither GT ABB-01 Agricultural Bead Breaker is going to take the agricultural market by storm and the product will be making its initial European debut at the Autopromotec 2011 show in Bologna, Italy in May followed by taking centre stage on the Gaither stand at the Agri Technika Show in Hanover, Germany towards the end of the year."

For a comprehensive overview of Gaither's entire product range and services please visit www.gaithertool.com.

For more information about any of our products or services, please email us at: info@techplus.ie or call: 00353 (0)1 404 9060.

Snap-on Equipment has introduced two new ‘lever-less' semi-automatic tyre changers under the Hofmann and John Bean brands for the gentle and user-friendly mounting and demounting of run-flat and ultra high performance (UHP) tyres.

Both the Hofmann monty® 3300 racing AT plus and John Bean T4500-24 AT plus feature a reinforced tilt back post design and an automatic mounting head with an integrated ‘finger' incorporated into a pneumatic mounting tool, which enables tyres to be handled without a tyre lever. The machines have an outer clamping range of up to 24 inches to meet the growing need for tyre shops and garages to handle the larger wheel diameters fitted to an increasing number of cars on the road. Other standard features include a two-speed turntable for faster tyre changing and a double-acting bead breaker cylinder and both machines are certified by WDK, the Association of the German Rubber Industry, for the safe handling of run-flat and UHP tyres.

A two-year warranty, installation and training are also included as standard.

Brian O'Neill, M.D, TECHPLUS, comments: "The new ‘lever-less' AT plus tyre changers are ideal for workshops with a medium to high volume of tyre service business, enabling them to confidently handle large wheel rims and run-flat tyres with robust equipment that's purpose designed and built to be up to the job."

For more information about any of our products or services, please email us at: info@techplus.ie or call: 00353 (0)1 404 9060.

The John Bean V3D Lite offers 3-dimensional digital imaging alignment technology at a price that will not break the bank. The system provides fast and accurate performance in an easy to use package, whilst minimising the possibility of errors due to the operator or vehicle variables.

The operator simply enters basic data, mounts the four targets to the wheels and performs vehicle positioning and caster swing to get complete alignment reading - typically in less than 2 minutes!

For more information about any of our products or services, please email us at: info@techplus.ie or call: 00353 (0)1 404 9060.

Heavy-duty lifting
All major demands in heavy-duty workshops can be covered by lifts made by Blitz. One of the "basics" is the new TwinRam Jack 15 S2 pit jack. It comes along with load stroke by air motor, hydraulic-pneumatic quick lift and mechanical forced return. The PTC-System (Pro Two Control) allows the individual sensitive steering of the lift cylinder by means of it's own hand wheel. The powerful DUPEX in-ground lift series have been developed from a completely new standpoint. Special attention has been devoted to the safety factor. The outstanding features of the integrated safety device ISA-Duplex (Patent No. 198 41 894.9-14) represent a quantum leap in modern lifting technology. That which has been tried and tested for decades is now doubled. For temporary work Blitz offers the HydroLift mobile column lift series. The fully hydraulic design contains double load-safety, integrated synchronization control, safety control according to EN 1493, FS-profile to protect the wheel-hub, HYDRO-Protect system to protect the lifting cylinder and VARIO-fork to grip diverse tyre-sizes without further adapter.

Compressors
Blitz offers piston as well as screw compressors for workshop as well as industrial use. The powerful TWIN piston compressor series covers for example the demands of basic automotive workshops. For large sized car dealers MONSUN screw compressors might be the better choice.

Tyre Inflators
Beside portable tyre inflators there are also stationary systems available. Blitz can offer traditional systems like the Pneurex series with analog display as well as digital versions like the Automatic series.

BlitzRotary
BlitzRotary are the European Headquarters of Rotary Lift, the worldwide leading manufacturer in automotive lift technology. The two brands BLITZ and Rotary were united under the parent company BlitzRotary GmbH. The BLITZ brand encompasses the divisions for truck lifting technology, compressed air technology, tire filling and measuring technology and special tools. The Rotary brand covers mainly automobile lifts. Further information is available under www.blitzrotary.com.

For more information about any of our products or services, please email us at: info@techplus.ie or call: 00353 (0)1 404 9060.

With the PRISM aligners targets are fitted to the front wheels and so-called pods (POortabel Device) are provided on the rear wheels. With this special technology - a combination of single features of CCD and 3D technologies - which is used in wheel aligners geoliner 550 prism of Hofmann and Visualiner PRISM of John Bean, the optical communication on the front axle cannot be interrupted - hence no spoiler adaptor is necessary. On the other hand wheel alignment is highly flexible with these aligners so that they can be used on different alignment bays, handling all vehicles from the small Smart car to a large van.

Aligners in PRISM technology require hardly any maintenance - communication is wireless via Bluetooth, no electronic components are fitted to the front wheels. And should a pod ever be defective, the customer simply returns it and gets another one. An added advantage: the new PRISM technology allows measurements up to maximum steer without electronic turntables, which saves money, too.

Another novelty: the measurement components such as pods, targets and wheel clamps are made of magnesium and are therefore extremely light. Both geoliner 550 prism and Visualiner PRISM are equipped with modern lithium-ion batteries which have an especially long life. The batteries are software-controlled to enable the user to safely complete the alignment.

As with all Hofmann and John Bean wheel aligners the vehicle specifications are sourced directly from the OEM and are therefore complete, up to date and correct - on the whole the specifications of more than 25,000 models of the past 25 years are available.

For more information about any of our products or services, please email us at: info@techplus.ie or call: 00353 (0)1 404 9060.

After the approval of the 3D wheel aligner Visualiner 3D2 some months ago and the positive experience Volkswagen had made with the 3D alignment technology of John Bean in the meantime, Volkswagen AG have now approved the 3D wheel aligner Visualiner 3D Arago under the designation of VAS 6421.

In close co-operation with Volkswagen AG the 3D wheel aligner was customised to special alignment requirements of the vehicles of all brands of the Volkswagen Group.

Especially the Volkswagen specs for wheel alignment procedures made customising of the 3d aligners absolutely necessary. Now every contractual garage will be able to proceed exactly in line with OEM specs. For instance ACC / ADR and LDW calibration is performed using a single camera. The targets remain on the wheel, avoiding the time-consuming tack of re-location.

Moreover the VAS 6421 complies with VAG workshop standards. It can be easily integrated into garage network systems and vehicle specs can be downloaded via the intranet.

The 3D wheel aligner uses latest camera and computer technology which has the added benefit of highest precision and impressive speed. Furthermore maintenance of the equipment is reduced to a minimum as the sensitive measurement technique is at safe distance from the vehicle where mechanical adjustment procedures always are a potential source of danger.

Operation of this 3D aligner is absolutely simple. The machine guides the user logically and understandably through the entire alignment procedure. Measurement itself is substantially automatic so that only few inputs need to be made, avoiding the risk of input errors.For more information about any of our products or services, please email us at: info@techplus.ie or call: 00353 (0)1 404 9060.