Heavy vehicle wheel service gear and what makes it different
Truck wheel service equipment is not passenger equipment with a bigger clamping range. The loads are different, the physical handling problem is different, and a machine built for a hatchback will not safely take a wheel that weighs more than the operator.
If you run a transport fleet, a truck tyre service, or a rural workshop dealing with agricultural and earthmoving wheels, this is the gear built for it.
Why it is a different machine
Weight handling
A truck wheel is a two person lift, or a one person injury. Heavy vehicle machines are built around getting the wheel into position without that being the hard part of the job.
Clamping force and bead breaking
Truck sidewalls do not move for a passenger bead breaker. The forces involved are an order of magnitude up, and the machine has to be built to apply them repeatedly without flexing.
Rim range
Truck, bus, agricultural and OTR rims cover a spread no passenger machine is specified for.
Safety
The consequences of a failure while a truck tyre is under inflation pressure are in a different category. That is engineered into these machines, and it is a large part of what you are paying for.
The two machines
Ranger R26FLT truck tyre changer
Built for truck, bus and off-road tyre work, taking the physical labour out of the change. Ranger R26FLT.
Ranger RB30T truck wheel balancer
Handles the full range from OTR down to passenger cars, so one machine covers the fleet rather than needing a second balancer for the utes. Ranger RB30T.
Who this suits
Transport and fleet workshops
If you are paying an external tyre service to come to you, the arithmetic on bringing it in house is usually shorter than people expect once downtime is counted rather than just the invoice.
Truck tyre retailers
Volume work where machine capability is the constraint on how many jobs fit in a day.
Rural and agricultural workshops
Tractor, header and earthmoving wheels, where getting the machine to the wheel is not an option and the nearest alternative service is hours away.
Before you order
Power and air
Heavy vehicle machines have real power and air requirements. Confirm what your site has before ordering, and check your compressor's actual air delivery rather than its horsepower rating. See air compressors.
Space and access
Allow working room for a truck wheel, which is a lot more than the machine footprint suggests. These arrive on pallets and need proper unloading access.
Finance
These are substantial capital items that displace an ongoing external service cost, which is close to the textbook case for financing rather than paying cash. See equipment finance, or call 1300 405 581 and we will run the numbers against the machine you are looking at.
Passenger vehicle equipment
If you also service cars and light commercials, the passenger range is on the tyre changers and wheel balancers pages, and the wheel service equipment overview covers specifying a full bay.